Every year I receive many phone calls from parents requesting clarification of what student supports are available and what qualifies a student for special education or gifted and talented education, GATE. Sometimes students may qualify for both. Many parents are confused and frustrated when they contact me, and their relationship with the school district has become negative. The Special Education Advisory Committee, Simi Valley Unified School District is available to help to build positive relationships among school personnel, parents and students in order to help all children succeed academically. Students come to school with all levels of skill, talent, needs and abilities. There is no cookie-cutter solution for educating students. Some students need extra support to succeed. Other students need extra challenges in order to keep them engaged. That's where student support services are critical. If you feel your child is not being challenged or they are working above grade level, you may request that he or she be assessed for GATE. Talk to the teacher about how to find creative ways to enrich your child's education at school and at home. If your child is falling behind in school, contact the teacher and discuss your concerns. Work with the chain of command, to establish respect for everyone. Sometimes you can help your child get back on track with simple organization and communication between the teacher and home. If you feel your child is still not succeeding, the next step is to ask for a Student Study Team assessment, which you will need to approve. The SST includes parents, teachers, support personnel and, most important, the student.

When you meet, you can go over the assessments and discuss as a team how to support the student. One of the biggest oversights I've observed is not having the student participate in developing the plan, the result being he or she may not buy into it.

I've witnessed students doodle and shut out everyone ("uh," "huh," "whatever") while the adults talks over their head or as if they're not even present. A student needs to participate and accept ownership and responsibility for his or her education.

If your child is still having difficulty, you may request to have an assessment for special education. Make sure that you make the request in writing and explain your concerns for your child.

There are mandated timelines once your request is in writing. The school district will write up an assessment plan that you will need to approve. When all the assessments are done, you will meet and discuss the findings. If your child is determined to be eligible for special education, you will work as a team to develop an individual education plan, or IEP. If you feel that your child has an urgent need, you can jump right to the last step in order to speed up the process. Sometimes students may not have a learning disability or any other apparent special need but they may have an emotional disturbance that is interfering with their ability to learn.

You may ask to have your child assessed for emotional health needs that are interfering with his or her education.

To expedite the process you can ask to have the assessment by the school district and Ventura County Behavioral Health done concurrently.

I hope this will clear up the availability of student support services to help your child succeed. I am always available to assist the community in understanding the process of helping children receive the supports necessary to succeed in their education.

This Guest Opinion was ap- proved by Dennis Carter, direc- tor of Student Support Services with the Simi Valley Unified School District.