SMART Academy, an Ohio community school sponsored by Buckeye Community Hope Foundation is participating in the effort to identify, locate, and evaluate all children from birth through 21 years of age who may have disabilities.

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If you have or know of a child who may have a disability, contact the school for more information and help. Ohio Administrative Code 3301-51-01 (B)(10) defines “Child with a disability” as a child evaluated in accordance with rule 3301-51-06 of the Administrative Code as having a cognitive disability (mental retardation), a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance, an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, other impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

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The school will ask for information specifically about the nature of the child’s disability, specific steps taken to address the disability, and what background or testing information is available regarding the child’s disability. The answers to these questions along with additional information gathered by the community school will be used to determine if the school suspects a disability. If the community school suspects a disability the school will conduct an evaluation which may consist of interviews, observations, screenings, and testing. This information may be obtained from parents and the student, or from other agencies that have information about the student. This information will be used to decide whether the child has a disability what special services the child may need. All information collected will be held in strict confidence and released to others only with parent permission or as allowed by law.

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Parents have the right to: Review their child’s records; Refuse permission to release information (except as required by or permitted by law to be released); and Request that information they believe to be inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of their child’s privacy or other rights be changed. The school has a process to resolve disagreements about information collected. If you or someone you know has a child who needs assistance specifically related to a disability, you may contact:

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Administrator/Superintendent: Robert Aitken

Contact number: (216) 714-3801

Address: 4351 E. 131st Street

Garfield Heights, Ohio 44105

Email: aitken@smartacademycle.org