2017 Vermont Statutes
Title 16 - Education
Chapter 99 - General Policy
§ 2902 Tiered system of supports and educational support team
§ 2902. Tiered system of supports and educational support team
(a) Within each school district's comprehensive system of educational services, each public school shall develop and maintain a tiered system of academic and behavioral supports for the purpose of providing all students with the opportunity to succeed or to be challenged in the general education environment. For each school it maintains, a school district board shall assign responsibility for developing and maintaining the tiered system of supports either to the superintendent pursuant to a contract entered into under section 267 of this title or to the school principal. The school shall provide all students a full and fair opportunity to access the system of supports and achieve educational success. The tiered system of supports shall, at a minimum, include an educational support team, instructional and behavioral interventions, and accommodations that are available as needed for any student who requires support beyond what can be provided in the general education classroom, and may include intensive, individualized interventions for any student requiring a higher level of support.
(b) The tiered system of supports shall:
(1) be aligned as appropriate with the general education curriculum;
(2) be designed to enhance the ability of the general education system to meet the needs of all students;
(3) be designed to provide necessary supports promptly, regardless of an individual student's eligibility for categorical programs;
(4) seek to identify and respond to students in need of support for at-risk behaviors and to students in need of specialized, individualized behavior supports; and
(5) provide all students with a continuum of evidence-based and research-based behavior practices that teach and encourage prosocial skills and behaviors schoolwide;
(6) promote collaboration with families, community supports, and the system of health and human services.
(c) The educational support team for each public school in the district shall be composed of staff from a variety of teaching and support positions and shall:
(1) Determine which enrolled students require additional assistance to be successful in school or to complete secondary school based on indicators set forth in guidelines developed by the Secretary, such as academic progress, attendance, behavior, or poverty. The educational support team shall pay particular attention to students during times of academic or personal transition.
(2) Identify the classroom accommodations, remedial services, and other supports that have been provided to the identified student.
(3) Assist teachers to plan for and provide services and accommodations to students in need of classroom supports or enrichment activities.
(4) Develop an individualized strategy, in collaboration with the student's parents or legal guardian whenever possible, to assist the identified student to succeed in school and to complete his or her secondary education.
(5) Maintain a written record of its actions.
(6) Report no less than annually to the Secretary, in a form the Secretary prescribes, on the ways in which the educational support system has addressed the needs of students who require additional assistance in order to succeed in school or to complete secondary school and on the additional financial costs of complying with this subsection (c).
(d) No individual entitlement or private right of action is created by this section.
(e) The Secretary shall establish guidelines for teachers and administrators in following federal laws relating to provision of services for children with disabilities and the implementation of this section.
(f) It is the intent of the General Assembly that a gifted and talented student shall be able to take advantage of services that an educational support team can provide. It is not the intent of the General Assembly that funding under chapter 101 of this title shall be available for a gifted and talented student unless the student has been otherwise determined to be a student for whom funding under that chapter is available. (Added 1989, No. 230 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; amended 1995, No. 157 (Adj. Sess.), § 9; 1997, No. 87 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1999, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 10; 1999, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2009, No. 44, § 40, eff. May 21, 2009; 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 192, 302, eff. Feb. 14, 2014; 2015, No. 48, § 5.)
