Notification of Destruction of Special Education Student Records

In accordance with the state and federal regulations implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), this is to inform you of Rome City Schools intent to destroy personally identifiable information related to special education services maintained on individuals that graduated or withdrew from the Rome City and were born in 1999. Please be advised that former students or their guardians may need these records for social security benefits or other purposes. Some records MAY NOT be available; however, every attempt will be made to procure such records. If you wish to maintain this information for your personal records, you need to notify the district upon receipt of this notice; otherwise, the information will be destroyed on May 16, 2022. Records to be destroyed are as follows: Individualized Education Plan (IEPs), Evaluation Reports, Test Protocols, Notifications of Meetings, Notices of Action, Review of Existing Data Summaries, all other personally identifiable information within the Special Education file. If you, as a former special education student or a parent/guardian with a legally executed guardianship or power of attorney of a former special education student, wish to obtain these records prior to destruction, you should contact the Special Education Department at 706-236-5067 or email at specialeducationhelp@rcs.rome.ga.us.

Special Education

The Rome Board of Education does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, or disability in its education programs, activities or employment. Persons seeking information regarding Section 504/ADA, Title IX, or related issues should contact:

In light of the global pandemic, the district of Rome City Schools remains committed to ensuring that students with disabilities maintain equitable access to the general curriculum and receive special education services to the greatest extent possible. The Council for Exceptional Children and the Georgia Department of Education recommends that school systems consider contingency planning such as the development of a distance learning contingency plan. The plan is not an amendment to the IEP, but is an extension of the IEP to support distance learning and is only relevant during the specific displacement due to COVID-19 School Closures. It is developed either by the entire IEP Team at a virtual IEP Team meeting or by an agreement between the parents and case manager who represents the school system. Upon resuming normal school activities, the previously written IEP will remain the legally binding document.

RCS will demonstrate good faith efforts for each student with a disability and consider the following while developing distance learning plans with parental participation, and other members of the IEP committee as necessary:

Distance learning plans must prioritize health and safety guidelines specific to the COVID-19 outbreak for students, families, teachers, leaders and related service providers.
Distance learning plans must be reasonable within the scope of home access and opportunity for each student and his/her family.
Distance learning plans will consider the holistic needs of learners and their families to meet the whole child needs of each learner.
Distance learning plans must continue to consider student success and include decisions to enable students with disabilities to be involved in and make progress with the general curriculum. These decisions must be made within the context of the student’s instructional needs and related services.

For additional information on child find, evaluations, and IEP planning during this time, contact Ms. Kilpatrick, Director of Special Education, at 706-236-5067 or jpresley@rcs.rome.ga.us.