Special Programs

Special Education in Pleasant Grove ISD is designed to provide specialized instructional and related services that are not available through general education services to students identified with disabilities. Specialized services are designed to meet the individual needs of each student for now and for the future.

Pleasant Grove ISD believes in educating students in the least restrictive environment. A full continuum of instructional and related services is available to eligible students, with initial consideration given to provision of services in the general education classroom to the greatest extent possible.

Parents are vital members of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Committee, which develops an appropriate program of services for each student.

Our Mission
The Pleasant Grove ISD Department of Special Education's mission is to prepare each child from birth through 21 to contribute to their communities in meaningful and positive ways, by providing specialized instruction, allowing for individual differences and learning styles and developing independence.

Our Core Purpose
We recognize that each child is an individual; that all children are creative; that all children need to succeed. Therefore, Pleasant Grove ISD respects the individual needs of children; fosters a caring and creative learning environment and emphasizes the social, emotional, physical, intellectual development of each individual child. 

• PEOPLE FIRST
  Everything we do is centered on the people we serve.
• COLLABORATION
  Our impact is strengthened by teamwork, trust, and community partnerships.
• INCLUSION  
  We champion and promote universal inclusion.
• DEDICATION
  We are passionately committed to those we serve.
• INNOVATION
  We innovate and adapt to deliver the highest quality services.
• COMMUNITY
  We create communities of support for individuals with special needs and their families.

Child Find (English)
Child Find (Spanish)

Pleasant Grove Independent School District (PGISD) has special services available to eligible children and young adults identified with a disability. Federal and State laws require that school districts maintain a Child Find system for identifying, locating, and evaluating individuals with disabilities within its jurisdiction who are in need of special education or related services.

Child Find is a free referral and information service available through local education agencies (PGISD) and Education Service Center Region VIII. Your child must have an educational need for services which cannot be provided in general education. The Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee must determine how the disability affects participation in age appropriate activities.

Our Child Find efforts include advertising the availability of special education and related services through public notices, connections with private schools and daycares, staff training, community health fairs, and school meetings. Resources such as letters, posters, or brochures can be made available to pediatricians, community agencies, campuses, churches, and other children organizations.

Early Childhood: If you are a parent of a 3-5 year old who is not enrolled at a PGISD campus, please contact Dr. Tina Antley or Summer Gibson at (903) 831-4086.

School Age: If you are a parent of a 3-21 year old who is enrolled at a PGISD campus, please contact your child's campus administrator or teacher to begin the referral process.

Private School/Proportionate Share: Each year Pleasant Grove ISD must set aside a proportion of federal funds for children placed in private schools by their parents, and who have been identified with special needs. If you are a parent of a child enrolled in a private school who resides in PGISD boundaries or attends a private school within PGISD boundaries, please contact your residential campus (PGISD residents) or the campus closest to your child's private school. Please note that proportionate share funds are limited and distributed on a first come, first serve basis.

Referral Process: Referrals may be initiated by parents, (ECI) Early Childhood Intervention agencies or campus staff. Students receiving services through ECI will be transitioned into the public school system starting as early as 120 days prior to their 3rd birthday. A physician or community agency may recommend that your child be referred for evaluation, however the parent must initiate the request with the district.

Eligibility: Your child must have a disability as defined within federal and state guidelines. As a result of this disability, your child must demonstrate an educational need for services. Special services are available to eligible children and young adults who may be experiencing difficulties in one or more of the following areas:

• Auditory Impairment
• Autism
• Deaf-Blindness
• Emotional Disturbance
• Intellectual Disability
• Other Health Impairment
• Multiple Impairment
• Orthopedic Impairment
• Specific Learning Disability
• Speech/Language Impairment
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Visual Impairment

Procedural Safeguards

• Notice of Procedural Safeguards (esc18.net) English
• Pro Safeguards (esc18.net) Spanish
• Additional languages can be found at Procedural Safeguards - SPEDTex

Texas Education Agency Special Education in Texas

The Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process

STAAR Alt-2

STAAR Resources

STAAR Autism Support

Evaluations For Special Education Eligibility

Written notice must be given to the parents of a child with a disability a reasonable time before the public agency proposes to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the child; or refuses to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the child. The written notice must contain required elements .

The public agency (Pleasant Grove ISD) proposing to conduct an initial evaluation to determine if a child qualifies as a child with a disability after providing notice consistent with the provision outlined in the Prior Written Notice, obtain informed consent, from the parent of the child before conducting the evaluation.

Parent's Guide to the Admission, Review, and Dismissal Process

Purpose of Special Education: Specially Designed Instruction

Special education is defined as specially designed instruction provided to meet the unique needs of a student with a disability. Specially designed instruction is designed to ensure access to the general curriculum through modifications so that the student can meet the same academic standards as his/her nondisabled peers and to ensure progress toward meeting IEP goals and objectives.
Specially designed instruction means organized and planned instructional activities typically provided by an appropriately qualified special education professional that modify, as appropriate the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction. What makes instruction truly individualized and specially designed for a student with a disability and different from what a general education student receives is how the instruction is linked to the student's IEP goals and objectives.
It should be noted, however, that specially designed instruction is fundamentally different than accommodations. Accommodations are something that teachers provide to support access to the general curriculum. Accommodations do not change what is taught, change the strategies used to teach the content or change how instruction is delivered to students. Accommodations may be considered as a means for providing differentiated instruction that is responsive to a variety of learning styles. Because of their basic nature and ease of implementation, an individual does not have to have specialized training to provide accommodations. Moreover, many accommodations are common-sense approaches for responding to the learning needs of students with or without disabilities. Students who are able to have their learning needs met effectively and sufficiently within the general education environment through the exclusive use of individual accommodations rather than specially designed instruction would not be considered a special education student in this area.

Parent Consent for Evaluation

• The activities under the IDEA cannot take place unless the school obtains the parent’s consent.
• The school must fully inform a parent of all the information needed to be able to make a decision including a description of the proposed activity.
• The information must be in the parent’s native language or other mode of communication.
• If there are records to be released, the school must list the records and to whom they will be released to.
• When a parent gives consent, it means that the parent understands and agrees in writing that the school will carry out the activity (evaluation) for which consent is sought. It is important that the parent understands that consent is voluntary and may be revoked at any time prior to the activity taking place. If a parent revokes consent for an activity, it is not retroactive. The school must maintain documentation of reasonable efforts to:
  • Obtain parental consent for initial evaluations (including detailed telephone records, copies of correspondence, and detailed records of visits made to the student’s home)
  • Provide special education and related services for the first time
  • Complete a reevaluation
  • Locate parents of wards of the state for initial evaluation.

Initial Evaluation

• The school may not evaluate a child for special education services without the parent's consent.
• Informed parental consent means that the parent understands and agrees in writing to allow the school to test his/her child.
• If the parent does not consent to the initial evaluation, the school district may, but is not required to, ask for mediation or request a due process hearing to evaluate the child.
• If the school district decides not to ask for mediation or to request a due process hearing to override a parent's refusal to consent for evaluation of their child, the school district is not in violation of the Child Find requirements under the IDEA.

Pleasant Grove Independent School District Parent-Family Engagement Policy 2024-2025

What is it?
Pleasant Grove Independent School District is committed to our mission to ensure high-levels of learning for all students. We do this by aligning our policies, programs and practices to reflect the commitment to ensuring high levels of learning for all students. One way we continue to do this is by participating in the Title I, Part A State Program. This program provides funding for low-socioeconomic schools. In return, we promise to meet the expectations laid out for us by the Texas Education Agency and the United States Department of Education.

Expectations and Objectives
Parents and families are a child's first teacher.They imitate you from the moment they are born. Therefore, a mutually beneficial relationship between school and home is in the best interest of every child. The expectation of our PFE Program is to foster communication and decision-making with parents about student performance and to collaboratively support learning. Our objectives are:

• Effective two-way communication between school and home which is linked to a higher completion rate on homework, better attention during instructional tasks, increased participation by all parties, and improved interactions and relationships between parents, teachers, and students.

We believe:

• If a child's parents are more involved in school experiences, the child is more likely to have higher grades, improved behavior, better attendance, higher social skills, and adaption.
• Learning together leads to better school and home life.
• Being a life-long learner can prevent some health issues that often occur later in life.

PGISD will:

To engage more parents in our school community, PGISD will:

• Include parents in the development of our Parent Family Engagement Plan through campus meetings and parent surveys.
• Distribute the PFE Policy, this document, to parents and the communities by:
  • Posting it on our district website, and keeping it up to date
  • Distributing printed copies to local businesses
  • Distributing printed copies and QR codes to the electronic version at all the school's annual meetings
  • Have a district representative at every school's annual Title I meeting
  • Have a district representative at every school PFE event
  • Per request, provide the qualifications of a child's teacher
  • Conduct evaluations of every PFE event at each school, collect that data and review that information with the school
  • Assist schools in the evaluation and revision of their PFE policy and school-parent
  • Evaluate the District Parent and Family Program and its policy throughout the year and revise it as needed
  • Provide training to every district employee on the most effective PFE strategies

Parent Events: To assist parents in navigating the school system, the following parent training opportunities will be provided:

• Meet and Greet on every campus
• Campus Literacy Events
• Campus Math Events
• High School FAFSA information
• Secondary School course selection
• Campus Art Nights with exhibits
• Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Title I meetings on Title I campuses (MFDES and PGIS)

Parent and Family Engagement Policy