Special Education
Winfree Academy’s Special Education department strives to provide a comprehensive educational program with complete educational opportunities essential to the full intellectual and social development of students with disabilities. Special education and related services are specially designed services developed to support students with disabilities within the general curriculum. The intent of the support services is to enable all students with disabilities to make progress in the general curriculum, to participate in extracurricular and nonacademic activities, and to be educated and participate with disabled and non disabled peers in the public school system. Every effort will be made to provide a free, appropriate public education of feasible, flexible programs and services for maximum involvement of all students with disabilities.
Beginning with the 2017 school year, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) changed the way it reports special education enrollment in school systems. For more information about this change, eligibility for service within Special Education, and how to begin the referral process, please see the brochures below.
The guide is divided into sections on Self Advocacy, Transition Services, Employment and Supported Employment, Social Security Programs, Community and Long Term Services and Supports, Postsecondary Educational Programs and Services, Information Sharing, and Guardianship and Alternatives. Each section has phone numbers, emails, and websites to help you find what you need. At the end of each section and at the end of the guide, you will find a timeline of steps that you and your parents can take as you make the transition from student to adult. If you have questions about this guide or the information in it, please send us an email at sped@tea.state.tx.us
Section 504
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is Congress’s directive to schools receiving any federal funding to eliminate discrimination based on disability from all aspects of school operation. Since Jefferson County Schools receive federal dollars, it is required to provide eligible disabled students with equal access to services, programs, and activities offered by our District. Section 504 is a civil rights statute and not a special education statute. Therefore, it is the responsibility of regular education staff and building administration to implement those practices and procedures necessary for a school to fulfill the requirements of this law. It is also important to understand that schools receive no additional funding to implement Section 504 accommodations. At each school, the responsibility for insuring Section 504 compliance rests with the building principal or principal’s designee.
Department of Education Office for Civil Rights
Click below for more information on post high school options for students with disabilities.