BC Guide for Independent SchoolsSpecial Education Funding Levels and CategoriesLevel 1 ($32,000)A: Physically dependentA student with dependent needs is completely dependent on others for meeting all major daily living needs. She/he will require assistance at all times for feeding, dressing, toileting, mobility and personal hygiene. Without such assistance and personal care support, attendance at school would not be possible. Many students may also require health care as defined in the Inter-Ministerial Protocols. The estimated prevalence in British Columbia of school-age students requiring this very intense level of service is .07% of the student population. These students must be receiving an additional special educational service on a regular and ongoing basis to be eligible for special education funding in this category, and a current IEP must be in place. Some students are born with conditions or disabilities that make them dependent, while others acquire conditions or disabilities. For some students, increasing independence as they learn and grow is a reasonable expectation. For other students, decreasing independence may occur due to degenerative conditions or terminal illness.
B: Deaf/BlindA student with deafblindness has a degree of visual and auditory impairment which, when compounded, results in significant difficulties in developing communicative, educational, vocational, avocational, and social skills. To be considered deafblind the student's vision and auditory impairments can range from partial sight to total blindness and from moderate to profound hearing loss. Students who are identified and assessed as deafblind are eligible for supplemental funding as students with multiple disabilities when the following conditions are met:
Level 2 ($16,000)C: Moderate to Profound Intellectually DisabledA student is considered to have a moderate to profound intellectual disability if intellectual functioning is greater than 3 standard deviations below the norm on an individually administered Level C assessment instrument of intellectual functioning, and there is delayed adaptive behaviour and functioning of similar degree. These students have particular learning characteristics. They require support in the development of academic skills, communication skills, cognitive skills, fine and gross motor skills, self-care, life skills and socialization skills. Generally, a student with this level of intellectual functioning is also significantly delayed in social-emotional development. There may also be accompanying sensory, physical and health disabilities. To be eligible for special education funding for Moderate to Profound Intellectual Disabilities the student must also meet the following criteria:
D: Physically Disabled, Chronic Health ImpairmentA student is considered to have a physical disability or chronic health impairment based on the need for special educational services due to one or more of the following:
Medical diagnosis, by itself, does not determine the special educational services required by students with physical disabilities or chronic health impairments. Students are only eligible for funding in this category if their education is adversely affected by their physical disabilities or chronic health impairments. Two students with the same physical disability may have very different levels of need. For example, one student with cerebral palsy may be seriously impaired in mobility, independence, cognitive ability and using a wheelchair, while another student with the same diagnosis may participate completely independently in a regular education program. In some cases, students diagnosed through the Complex Developmental Behavioural Conditions (CDBC) Network as children and youth with complex needs may be included in this category. Regionally, the CDBC Network has been established to assess children and youth with complex needs, including children and youth who may have fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). A clinical diagnostic assessment by the CDBC Network or by a qualified specialists (psychiatrist, registered psychologist with specialized training, or medical professional specializing in developmental disorder) is required. The assessment must include and integrate information from multiple sources and various professions from different disciplines that indicates the student with FASD or the complex developmental behavioural conditions is exhibiting an array of complex needs, with two or more domains being impacted (social-emotional functioning, communication, physical functioning, self-determination/independence, and academic/intellectual functioning). If reported in this category, such students might be receiving extensive intervention and support. To be eligible for supplemental funding for a student in this category, the following conditions must be met:
E: Visually ImpairedVisual impairment is a generic term which covers a range of difficulties with vision and includes the following categories: blind, legally blind, partially sighted, low vision, and cortically visually impaired. For educational purposes, a student with visual impairment is one whose visual acuity is not sufficient for the student to participate with ease in everyday activities. The impairment interferes with optimal learning and achievement and can result in a substantial educational disadvantage, unless adaptations are made in the methods of presenting learning opportunities, the nature of the materials used and/or the learning environment. It is not intended to include students described as having visual perceptual difficulties unless they also have a vision loss as described below. F: Deaf/Hearing ImpairedFor educational purposes a student considered to be deaf or hard of hearing is one who has a medically diagnosed hearing loss which results in such a substantial educational difficulty that he/she requires direct services on a regular, frequent and ongoing basis by a qualified teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing. Students with a diagnosis of central auditory processing dysfunction are not traditionally served by teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing unless there is an additional diagnosis of peripheral hearing loss. To be eligible for supplemental funding as a deaf or hard of hearing student the following conditions must be met:
G: AutisticThe syndrome of autism is a condition characterized by a marked disorder of communication and a severe disturbance of intellectual, emotional and behavioural development. It is a syndrome defined and diagnosed through the observation of behaviours. The syndrome is caused by an underlying physical dysfunction within the brain or central nervous system, the exact nature of which is as yet unknown. The Ministry of Education uses the definition of autism as defined by the American Psychiatric Association. Based on this definition, a student with autism exhibits impairment in:
To be eligible for supplemental funding, the following conditions must be met:
Level 3 ($8,000)H: Intensive Behaviour Intervention/Serious Mental IllnessStudents identified in this special education funding category are those most in need of intensive interventions. They are expected to be less than 1 percent of the student population province-wide. These students should have access to co-ordinated school/community interventions. These should be based on inter-service/agency assessment processes that are required to manage, educate, and maintain the students in school and in their community.
Serious Mental Health
In addition, these conditions must be:
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