Scholarships
NOTICE TO PARENTS:
The Department of Education, under 20 U.S.C 1415(d), requires that each time a school district completes an evaluation for a child with a disability or undertakes the development, review, or revision of the child’s IEP, the district shall notify the child’s parent, by letter or electronic means, about both the autism scholarship program, under section 3310.41 of the Revised Code, and the Jon Peterson special needs scholarship program, under sections 3310.51 to 3310.64 of the Revised Code.
“Your child may be eligible for a scholarship under the Autism Scholarship Program or the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program to attend a special education program that implements the child’s individualized education program and that is operated by an alternative public provider or by a registered private provider.”
John Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program
Eligibility – Children who are enrolled in grades K-12, have been identified as a child with a disability and have a current, finalized IEP from their school district of residence.
Contact – Susan L. Cosmo (877) OHIO EDU (toll free)
Autism Scholarship Program
Eligibility – Children who are at least three years old, but less than twenty-two years old, who are eligible for special education services from their school district as a child with Autism, and have a current IEP from their school district of residence
Contact – Lisa Huckins (877) OHIO EDU (toll free)
There is also a provision in the law that requires students with disabilities to undergo a comprehensive eye exam within three months after being placed on an IEP. The legislation does not require school districts to pay for this eye exam. The latest provision within this law, S.B. 316, requires that each school district track and maintain data indicating how many students in their district were subject to this provision and of those students, how many actually did receive an eye exam.