The Nonpublic School and the Public District of Location

Kent ISD provides services to twenty local public districts, 15 public school academies, and to all nonpublic schools within its boundaries. Directly or indirectly, we serve almost 400 schools, more than 120,000 students and 7,000 educators, of which about 10,000 students attend nonpublic schools. Under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Michigan Auxiliary Services Act, nonpublic schools are entitled to certain provisions from the public district of location. Such provisions include:

• Consultation between the nonpublic and public district of location regarding available special education services and resources
• Evaluation of nonpublic students with a suspected disability
• Reevaluation of eligibile nonpublic students
• For RESIDENT nonpublic eligible students, an offer of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Service Plan from the resident public district
• For NONRESIDENT nonpublic eligible students, an offer of a Service Plan from the public district of location 
• Provision of services to nonpublic schools includes registered home schools
• These provisions only apply to eligible K-12 students - nonpublic preschool students in all special education cases are served by the RESIDENT public district.

For a more detailed explanation of procedures and services:

• See this Powerpoint presentation
• Go to the nonpublic information page provided by the Michigan Association of Administrators of Special Education (MAASE)