Student Support - Special Education Assessment/Evaluation

SFUSD Assessment Process:  Link to this section

Do you think your child might have a disability and would benefit from an Assessment for Special Education ?

Printable translations: English | Español | 中文 | عربي | Tagalog | Tiếng Việt

All children develop at different rates and in different ways. If you think that your child may have a disability, in one or more of the following areas:

• autism
• deafness
• hearing impairment
• multiple disabilities
• other health impairment
• speech or language impairment
• visual impairment
• deaf/blind
• emotional disability
• cognitively impaired
• orthopedic impairment
• specific learning disability
• traumatic brain injury
   

Please contact one of the following:

In an SFUSD public school Link to this section

Email the School Principal about your request for a special education assessment.

  Link to this section

Birth to 3

Golden Gate Regional Center Hotline Number (English, Spanish and
Cantonese): 1-888-339-3305 Email: intake@ggrc.org

  Link to this section

3 to 5 yrs - Early Childhood Special Education Assessment Unit Link to this section

If you would like to request a special education assessment of your child please review the Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) Preschool Intake Packet | Español | 中文 | Tiếng Việt | русский. The Intake Packet includes a questionnaire and required documents that should be completed to help SFUSD assessors get to know your child, accurately address your concerns, and determine any assessment needs.

Assessment Unit Hours of Operation:

Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Phone: (415) 401-2525 x1101

Email: ecreferrals@sfusd.edu

In an S.F. Private/Parochial school  Link to this section

If you would like to request a special education assessment of your child please complete the Private/Parochial Special Education Initial Intake Packet to begin the evaluation process to determine your student's eligibility for special education and/or related services at a SFUSD public school. If your student is found eligible, an individualized education program (IEP) will be offered as part of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) upon enrollment at a SFUSD public school. 

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THIS REFERRAL*

INFORMATION:

• Health and development history
• Educational history
• Psychological history
• Email addresses for all your student's teachers

DOCUMENTS:

• Current picture of the student
• Parent/guardian picture ID
• Proof of residence (Copy of the following: Lease agreement or owners insurance)
• Student's birth certificate or passport
• Student's vision and hearing screening (completed in the last 6 months)
• Report cards or transcript that reflects the last three years
• Copies of all school support plans, intervention meeting notes, and/or previous evaluations
• Copies of any court orders and/or custody agreements

Once you have completed this packet, please mail or drop off a hard copy to:

SFUSD Special Education Services

Attn: Private/Parochial Assessments

3045 Santiago St

San Francisco, CA 94116

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach back out to us. We look forward to working with you throughout this process!

Email: privateschoolreferrals@sfusd.edu

For all other evaluations, (e.g. speech, occupational therapy, etc.) Link to this section

Contact SFUSD Special Education Services at (415) 759-2222.

  Link to this section

Note: Link to this section

State and Local Educational Agencies are responsible for initially
assessing children and students who are referred for suspected disabilities from
birth through 18 years. Some of these children and students may be eligible to
receive Special Education Services. Students who are enrolled in
private/parochial schools are assessed by the school district in which the private
or parochial school is located.

If you disagree with the results of the assessment conducted by the school district, you have the
right to ask for and obtain an independent educational assessment for your child from a person
qualified to conduct the assessment at public expense.

The parent is entitled to only one independent educational evaluation at public expense each
time the public agency conducts an evaluation with which the parent disagrees.

The school district must respond to your request for an independent educational assessment
and provide you information about where to obtain an independent educational assessment.

If the school district believes that the district’s assessment is appropriate and disagrees that an
independent assessment is necessary, the school district must request a due process hearing
to prove that its assessment was appropriate. If the district prevails, you still have the
right to an independent assessment but not at public expense. The IEP team must consider
independent assessments.

*Source - CDE Notice of Procedural Safeguards

This article from Understood.org does a good job explaining The Difference Between a School Identification and a Clinical Diagnosis