Special Education

The Anchor Bay School District provides academic and behavioral diagnostic services to respond to the concerns of families regarding their children’s school progress. Concerned families can request assessment of their child’s strengths and weaknesses by calling the Special Education Department at 586-949-4513. This assessment process looks at the following areas:

• Communication and Speech/Language Skills
• Social Interaction
• Thinking and Problem Solving Skills
• Academic/Cognitive Assessments
• Behavioral Evaluations
• Response to Intervention Referrals

Anchor Bay School District partners with parents to address the developmental concerns of families when students need support for success. 

What is Section 504?

Section 504 is a part of a set of civil rights laws (Rehabilitation Act of 1973) that ensures that individuals with “handicaps” receive appropriate accommodations to assist with their handicaps. School districts must make reasonable accommodations to allow students with handicaps an opportunity to successfully participate in school and school-related activities. It is not intended that Section 504 programs are fundamentally different from opportunities that exist for all students.

What Does “Handicapped” Mean?

In regard to Section 504 “handicapped” means “a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities.”

Major life activities are defined as things like: learning in school, caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing and working. The law also indicates that an individual can also “have a history” of having such an impairment or can be “regarded as having” such an impairment.

Impairments are things like :

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 
• Asthma
• Communicable Diseases such as HIV, Tuberculosis, AIDS
• Allergies
• Temporary Medical Conditions due to illness or accident
• Obesity
• Drug/Alcohol Dependency
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Hemophilia
• Behavioral Difficulties

How Do I Know If My Child Qualifies for Section 504 Accommodations?

If a parent, guardian, educator, adult age student or relevant outside agency feels that the child may need accommodations under Section 504, a referral can be made to the staff member responsible for handling Section 504 inquiries at the child’s school. The school’s responsibilities then include:

• informing parents of the need to evaluate
• providing an evaluation for the student
• determining whether the student is eligible for Section 504 accommodations
• providing necessary accommodations. 

What Are Accommodations? 
 

• allowing the student to be seated near the teacher
• providing an assignment sheet to track assignments
• reducing the amount of work the student is required to do
• providing reminders for the child to stay on task
• repeating directions to ensure they were understood

Who We Are

The district Assistive Technology Representative Team:

• Katie Allport - kallport@abs.misd.net
• Alyssa Brickel - abrickel@abs.misd.net
• Kellie Mackesy - kmackesy@abs.misd.net
• Toni Palazzolo - tpalazzolo@abs.misd.net
• Jenna Sobel - jsobel@abs.misd.net
• Haley Palazzolo - hpalazzolo@abs.misd.net

Our AT Mission Statement

We recognize that assistive technology can eliminate barriers and enable individuals with disabilities to be participating and contributing members of society. 

We believe that all individuals with disabilities are entitled to equal access to the technology needed to ensure opportunities for learning.

We accept the responsibility to provide assistive technology services, when appropriate, to directly assist a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device.

The mission of Anchor Bay School  District is to provide its staff with access to quality Assistive Technology opportunities in order to better support students with disabilities.

What is AT?

Technology can be a great equalizer for individuals with disabilities that might prevent full participation in school, work, and the community. Assistive technology (AT) is any tool that helps students with disabilities do things more quickly, easily or independently. It can be elaborate and expensive or simple and low-cost. Assistive technology services are supports for using assistive technology devices, such as assistive technology evaluations, equipment maintenance, technical assistance, demonstration or training.

Our District AT Plan

Assistive Technology District Plan