Special Education Department
Amie Talarico, Director of Special Education, talaricoa@ltsd.org
Shannon Kuchak, Assistant Director of Special Education, kuchaks@ltsd.org
Kelly Carey, Certified School Psychologist, careyk@ltsd.org
Brink Powell, Special Education Department Secretary, powellb@ltsd.org
Diane Kilmer, Medical Access Billing Secretary, kilmerd@ltsd.org
ACT 55 of 2022
On July 8, 2022, Governor Tom Wolf signed Act 55 of 2022 into law.
This Act permits the following for the 2022-23 school year:
• A student with a disability who was enrolled during the 2021-22 school year and turned age 21 (either during the 2021-22 school year or between the end of the 2021-22 and the beginning of the 2022-23 school year) may attend a school entity during the 2022-23 school year and receive services as outlined in their most recent Individualized Education Program (IEP) with all the protections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
To qualify for an additional year, a student had to be enrolled in one of the following school entities in Pennsylvania during the 2021-22 school year: a school district, intermediate unit, area career and technical school, charter school, cyber charter school, regional charter school, approved private school, or chartered school for the education of the deaf and blind.
Parents/guardians and students interested in the above option for the 2022-23 school year must submit this Act 55 of 2022 Student Enrollment Notification Form to the school entity that the student will attend in the 2022-23 school year on or before August 1, 2022. Do not submit the form to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).
Special Education Comprehensive Plan
Summary and Updates
The Special Education Comprehensive Plan is a subset of the Lackawanna Trail School District Comprehensive Plan. The current plan began on July 1, 2018, and was set to expire on June 30, 2021. The LTSD is in Cohort III for Special Education Planning. The Special Education Plan runs on a separate schedule than the larger district level plan. Due to the COVID 19 Pandemic, all districts in Cohort III will now submit their plan in Spring 2022, which puts us in line with the larger district timelines.
The Special Education Comprehensive Plan consists of the following:
- A description of how we identify students with special needs.
- A description of special education programs offered by the district, as well as programs and placements we utilize outside of our district.
- A description of practices used to ensure students receive their education in the Least Restrictive Environment.
- Explanations of how Positive School Wide Behavior and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support act as pre-referral systems and support students with and without disabilities.
- A description of the related services provided by the district.
- A description of professional development related to special education.
- A list of the strengths and highlights of our programming.