Small and Rural Schools Network
WHY A SMALL AND RURAL SCHOOLS NETWORK?
TEA is committed to providing effective supports and guidance to Texas public schools in their implementation of strong and effective programs for students with disabilities. The Small and Rural Schools Network (SRSN) was created to help these local education agencies (LEAs) meet the challenges unique to their size and region. The purpose of this project is to assist schools to provide services to students with disabilities who live in small and rural LEAs within Texas. Difficulty with staff recruitment/retention, geographic isolation, and availability of resources are just a few of the barriers these schools face. The SRSN will develop a network of collaborative partnerships and resources to ensure a more equitable level of service to students with disabilities (SWD) in small and rural LEAs.
WHICH LEAS ARE CONSIDERED SMALL AND RURAL?
Small – K-12 population of 700 or less students, based on Fall 2021 Snapshot data
Rural – located 60 or more miles away from the nearest ESC
Small and Rural- Meets Criteria as Both Small and Rural
Evaluation Certification Reimbursement Program
The Small and Rural Schools Network, through a grant from the Texas Education Agency, is continuing to make funding available for current school staff members to further their education to become an Educational Diagnostician or a LSSP. Applicants that currently work in a small and rural LEA, and will pledge to continue working in one after becoming certified, could receive reimbursement for tuition, books, and other costs associated with going back to school.
Diagnostician Certification Programs
APPLICATION FOR EVALUATION CERTIFICATION REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM
The application is open and can be found here: https://form.jotform.com/91960597462166.
If you have any questions, please contact Pam ([email protected]) or Jam ([email protected]).
SHARED SERVICE ARRANGEMENTS IN TEXAS
When two or more Local Education Agencies (LEAs) enter into an agreement to share Special Education resources, this is frequently referred to as a Shared Service Arrangement (SSA) or a Cooperative (Coop). It is very common for our small and rural LEAs to be a part of a SSA. Each SSA is made up of Member Districts, one of which is designated as the Fiscal Agent.
The Small and Rural Schools Network has created a Statewide SSA Contact List to serve as a resource for the state. On the contact list, you can find the name of the SSA, the Special Education Director’s name, the Director’s email address, and the name and County-District-Number (CDN) of the Member Districts. SSAs are listed by the region where the SSA’s Fiscal Agent (denoted in bold print) is located. If a district is located in a different region as the fiscal agent, the district’s region will be shown in parenthesis.
Regional SRSN members will work together to keep the information accurate. If you do find an error, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].