North Santa Cruz County Special Education Local Plan Area - Procedural Guidelines Handbook

Sep 16, 2026

The North Santa Cruz County Special Education Local Plan Area Procedural Guidelines Handbook explains how special education mandates are implemented to ensure eligible students receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). It provides a user-friendly reference for procedures covering identification, referral, assessment, IEP development, and program placement, and it details SELPA policies, procedures, and local agreements for consistent services. Legal citation conventions are included, and the handbook clarifies the respective roles of SELPA and local education agencies, supported by required forms for IEP, IFSP, and ISP planning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages434

Reading Time2 h 32 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Legal citation conventions

SELPA-approved forms and resources

The Role of the SELPA

SELPA purpose and governance overview

Administrative Unit (AU) responsibilities

Agency Responsibilities in Providing Special Education

Federal/State governments responsibilities

SELPAs responsibilities

LEAs responsibilities

NORTH SANTA CRUZ COUNTY SPECIAL EDUCATION LOCAL PLAN AREA PROCEDURAL GUIDELINES HANDBOOK Revised Fall 2014 INTRODUCTION Students who are eligible to receive special education are guaranteed a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) . Federal, state, and local mandates provide a vast array of requirements that special educators must follow when implementing the programs designed to provide students with FAPE. These mandates are extensive and often confusing. This handbook is to provide a user-friendly resource manual for special educators and administrators that will guide them through the procedures for identification, referral, assessment, IEP development, and program placement of students in special education and related services. The handbook also outlines the policies, procedures, and local agreements that have been developed to assist in the provision of equitable and consistent program operation throughout the SELPA. And finally, the handbook contains a wealth of valuable resources available to all those who work diligently to serve students with disabilities and their families. When applicable, legal citations are provided. Citations inserted at the end of a sentence refer specifically to that sentence. Citations found following a paragraph or section relate generally to that paragraph or section. The legal citations refer to various sources: California Code of Regulations (C.C.R.; Title V regulations are cited as 5 C.C.R.) California Education Code (E.C.) Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.F.) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) The handbook is reviewed annually and updated as needed. If questions arise that are not answered in this handbook, please contact your special education administrator for assistance. The SELPA administrator is also available for questions. Contact information can be found on the SELPA webpage at [http://www.nsccselpa.org/](http://www.nsccselpa.org/) SELPA-approved and required forms for developing the Individualized Education Program (IEP), Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP), and Individual Services Plan (ISP) are integrated into the web-based software and/or are available on the SELPA webpage. A special thanks to all the North Santa Cruz County SELPA’s local education agency’s special education directors for their contributions, as well as other SELPA’s throughout the State of California for sharing their procedural handbooks. The Role of the SELPA Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs) were created by the state legislation to assist in assuring that districts and county offices of education provide a full continuum of programs and services to students with disabilities and that these programs and services are provided according to all legal mandates. Every district and county office of education belongs to a SELPA. The districts and county offices of education that belong to each SELPA are referred to as local education agencies (LEAs) . North Santa Cruz County SELPA (NSCC) is a multipledistrict SELPA. The NSCC SELPA is comprised of the thirteen local education agencies (LEAs) of North Santa Cruz County including the ten school districts, two charter school LEAs and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education (SCCOE) . Each SELPA has an administrator and must have an assigned Administrative Unit (AU) . The purpose of the AU is to provide support to the SELPA in areas such as office facilities, personnel services, and fiscal management. The AU can be assigned to any of the LEAs within the SELPA. The SELPA, however, is a separate organization from the LEA that is selected to act as the SELPA’s AU. In the North Santa Cruz County SELPA, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education has been selected as the AU. Confusion is often expressed about the differing roles of the federal and state governments, the SELPA, and the LEAs. The charts on the next few pages are provided to assist in defining and differentiating the roles of each of those agencies, outlining the

FAQs

What is the purpose of the handbook for North Santa Cruz County SELPA?

It serves as a user-friendly procedural resource guiding educators and administrators through identification, referral, assessment, IEP development, and program placement, while outlining policies, procedures, and local agreements for equitable implementation.

How does the handbook handle legal citations?

Legal citations are provided when applicable. Citations at the end of a sentence refer specifically to that sentence, while citations after a paragraph or section generally relate to that section.

How are responsibilities divided among federal/state governments, SELPAs, and LEAs?

Federal/state governments enact legislation and fund and hold systems accountable. The SELPA develops and maintains the local plan and related policies, ensures appropriate programs within the SELPA, and supports LEAs. LEAs conduct child-find, operate district special education programs, hire staff, provide transportation as needed, and respond to compliance and due process concerns.

Sep 16, 2026

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