Special Education Laws, Operating Standards and Procedures
How Ohio fulfills its legal obligation to provide education to children with disabilities.

Consent Order

A link to the ODE Consent Order regarding special education students and their access to a free and appropriate public education.

Students with Disabilities
Students with physical, mental or emotional impairments that interfere with or prevent normal achievement in the classroom.

Westlake City Schools Board of Education has adopted policies and regulations governing all aspects of the operation of Westlake City Schools. Specific information regarding Board Policy can be found here.

Westlake City School District Section 504 Procedures: Determining Eligibility and Services Unders Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Westlake City Schools Board of Education discourages student absences from school for family trips or other planned absences. Absences for these purposes should be kept to a minimum and must comply with Board regulations governing these types of absences.

Help Locate Children with Disabilities (Child Find Notice)

In accordance with rule 3301-51-03 of the Operating Standards for Ohio’s Schools Serving Children with Disabilities, the Westlake City School District participates in an on-going effort to identify, locate, and evaluate all children aged three through twenty-one with disabilities who may be in need of special education and/or related services. This applies to all children aged three through twenty-one residing within the district, including children with disabilities who are homeless; are wards of the state; or who are attending nonpublic schools located within Westlake, regardless of the severity of their disability.

A child is considered to be a child with a disability under rule 3301-51-03 if they have a intellectual disability (mental retardation), hearing impairment (including deafness), visual impairment (including blindness), a speech or language impairment, an emotional disturbance, an orthopedicimpairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairment, specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, developmental delay, or multiple disabilities.

Some parents may not be aware of the programs and services that are available. If you suspect your child has a disability or if you know of a child who you suspect may have a disability, or if you have questions about special education for children with disabilities, please contact the Student Services Department by calling (440)250-1264 or emailing pupilservices@wlake.org

Additional information about child find obligations and special education in general may be found in A Guide to Parent Rights in Special Education: Special Education Procedural Safeguards Notice available by contacting the Student Services Department or accessed online by clicking here.

The Westlake City Schools District Board of Education supports equal educational opportunities through the Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1974 for students free from limitations based upon ethnic or racial backgrounds, religious beliefs, economic and social conditions, disability or gender.

When the parents of a child with disabilities are involved and informed, they are an extra assurance that the student will receive needed educational services. But some students with disabilities don't have parents to represent them.

Westlake City Schools is seeking representatives from each of our buildings to serve as surrogate parents. If you have already volunteered for this, we thank you, but we'd like to give others the opportunity to make a difference in a student's educational career. If this is something you are interested in.

What is a surrogate parent?
This document answers the questions; What is a surrogate parent? What does a surrogate parent do? and more.

Interested? Training is available online,

Let us know once you complete the training and we'll add you to our list of available surrogates.

Thank you!

The State of Ohio, the Governor, the Ohio Department of Education, and other state-level defendants to a class action lawsuit have reached a proposed settlement and have requested our District's assistance in informing students and parents of the proposed settlement. Here is a link to the settlement. To be clear, our District is not a defendant in this lawsuit and is not accused of any wrongdoing in this lawsuit. We are sharing this information as a courtesy to the Ohio Department of Education and our community.