Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Child Find & Accessing EC Services
Child Find & Accessing EC Services
Child Find & Accessing Services in CMS
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is responsible for locating, identifying, and evaluating students with disabilities enrolled in a school within the district.
Accessing Special Education Services
Parents of children aged three to twenty-one years may suspect delays in the development of academic, speech-language, readiness, motor, social-behavior, and self-help skills. Concerned parents can contact the students' home school or the Exceptional Children Program at 980-343-6960 or ec@cms.k12.nc.us to request an evaluation for services consideration.
Students may contact their school or the Exceptional Children Program once they reach age 18, the age of majority in the State of North Carolina, because the ability to make educational decisions and procedural safeguards transfer to the student at that time (unless a guardian has been appointed to represent the student).
Please view our Child Find FAQ at the bottom of this page for more information.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools provides special education and related services according to the federal mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Act and the regulations of the North Carolina Public School Law, Article 9.
The special education process
- Child Find Video Overview
- Child Find FAQ/Preguntas frecuentes de Búsqueda de Niños
- Project ChildFind/Proyect Búsqueda de Niños
For further information regarding Child Find, or if you suspect your student may have a disability and need special education and/or related services, contact the Exceptional Children Program at 980-343-6960 or ec@cms.k12.nc.us.
- Referral Meeting/La Reunión de Recomendación
- Eligibility Meeting/La Reunión de Elegibilidad
- Reevaluation Determination/La Determinación de una Nueva Evaluación
- IEP Meeting/La Reunión del Programa de Educación Individualizado (IEP)
- Programs and Services (visit our Programs and Services page to learn more)
Eligibility for special education services
The Public Schools of North Carolina, Exceptional Children Division provides local educational agencies with detailed procedures for delivering special education services. These rules and regulations are detailed in Policies Governing Services For Children With Disabilities.
Services are provided under the following areas of eligibility: Update-Download-Relink/or convert to BB
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Deaf/Blindness
- Deaf
- Developmental Delay
- Serious Emotional Disability
- Hearing Impairment
- Intellectual Disability
- Multiple Disabilities
- Orthopedic Impairment
- Other Health Impairment
- Specific Learning Disability
- Speech/Language Impairment
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Visual Impairment
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
Adopted by the IDA Board of Directors, Nov. 12, 2002. This definition is also used by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
The definition of dyslexia was added to the NC Policies Governing Services for Children with Disabilities in August 2017.
More information can be found at https://ec.ncpublicschools.gov/disability-resources/specific-learning-disabilities/dyslexia-and-dyscalculia/dyslexia-and-dyscalculia.
Child Find & Accessing EC Services: Non-CMS
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is responsible for locating, identifying and evaluating students with disabilities who are enrolled in private schools and registered home schools.
What is the first step for families?
- Concerned parents of school-aged students enrolled in a parentally-placed private/home school should contact the school to which the student would be assigned if enrolled in CMS or the Exceptional Children Program at 980-343-6960 or ec@cms.k12.nc.us (Information obtained will be forwarded to the student's home school).
- Students may contact their home school or the Exceptional Children Program once they reach age 18, the age of majority in the State of North Carolina, because the ability to make educational decisions and procedural safeguards transfer to them at that time (unless a guardian has been appointed to represent the student).
- The Mecklenburg County GeoPortal can help parents identify the CMS home school associated with their address.
- Parents of preschool-aged students should contact the Preschool Exceptional Children Intake telephone line at 980-343-2720.
What happens next?
- The Individualized Education Program (IEP) team meets with the parents and/or students to discuss concerns and potential next steps.
- If the team suspects a disability and determines an evaluation is needed, written permission for testing is obtained. Then, the team pulls together any already completed test reports and conducts a comprehensive assessment that follows federal and state guidelines.
- The IEP team schedules a meeting with the parents and/or student to discuss the evaluation results and determine whether the student is eligible to receive special education and related services.
- If the student is eligible,an IEP and/or private schools services plan (PSSP) will be developed, so the parent and/or student can make an informed decision about services provided in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS).
Parents with additional questions about the Child Find Process in private and home schools should contact
- Neva Butler, Administrative Specialist, via email at nevar.butler@cms.k12.nc.us or via phone at 980-343-2686 (school-aged)
- Monique Luckey, Preschool Child Find Advocate, via email at m.luckey@cms.k12.nc.us or via phone at 980-343-2772 (preschool-aged)
Home School/Private School Notification of Services
Programs for Exceptional Children have a duty under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) to seek out and evaluate students suspected of having educational disabilities and provide appropriate services. After soliciting suggestions about the service needs for students enrolled in private, parochial, and home schools for the current school year, it was determined that speech-language therapy would be provided to students whose primary disability is Speech-Language Impaired. In addition, students who meet eligibility criteria under a different category but who require speech-language therapy as a related service will receive speech-language therapy. Speech-Language therapy is provided in the students' school settings by contracted and licensed providers and includes regular consultation with each student's general education teacher. Services will continue until the current year's proportionate share of federal funds set aside for this purpose has been exhausted.
If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Neva Butler, Administrative Manager, at 980-343-2686 or nevar.butler@cms.k12.nc.us.