Students who are placed by a parent into a private/home school setting located in our District’s jurisdiction have the opportunity to be evaluated for potential disabilities and/or giftedness at no charge to the parent (Rule 6A-06.030281). The child find process will be completed in a time period comparable to that for other students attending public schools in the district.

Services Offered

St. Lucie Public Schools offers psycho-educational evaluations to local private schools and home education students for the following reasons:

  • Academic/behavior concerns
  • Speech concerns
  • Academic enhancement (gifted)

Initial Paperwork

When a parent and/or teacher indicate a student is either showing a need for additional academic enhancement or is struggling with academics/behaviors, the private/home school entity begins the referral process by completing the referral paperwork and submitting it the School District. Parents of students attending private schools are also welcome to initiate the process.

Initiating paperwork can be submitted in one of three ways: by mail, email, or fax. The private/home school making the request should keep the original copy.

By mail:
Suzanne Power
St. Lucie Public Schools, Department of Student Services
9461 Brandywine Lane
Port St. Lucie, FL 34986

By email: Suzanne.Power@stlucieschools.org

By fax: Please specify “Attention: Suzanne Power” and fax to (772) 429-4589

Upon receiving the initiation paperwork for academic/behavior concerns, the PSET coordinator will arrange a meeting with the private school and/or parent to discuss the areas of concern and determine the next steps.

Forms Needed:

Upon receiving initiation paperwork for speech only concerns, the PSET coordinator will arrange a meeting with the private school and/or parent to discuss the area of concern and determine the next steps.

Forms Needed:

Upon receiving initiation paperwork for academic enhancement, the PSET coordinator will submit requests for screening measures to our District Nurse and Educational Diagnostician. Once completed, St. Lucie Public Schools will arrange a meeting with the parent and private school to review the screening results and determine the next steps.

Forms Needed:

NOTE: On the referral form under reason for referral, there should be a specific reason listed, such as student consistently earns straight A’s, student scores in the highest percentile on assessments, student is bored with on-level work, etc.). Please don’t just write “parent request.”

Private School Re-evaluations

A private school re-evaluation is conducted for any student with a disability currently attending a private school within the School District’s jurisdiction. The option is made available to parents/guardians of students with a disability every three years.

Re-evaluations may consist of one or more of the following: 1) formal/informal assessments, 2) observations conducted by teachers, parents, or one or more members of the private school evaluation team (PSET), 3) interviews, 4) review of private school reports, and more.

The School District is required to offer re-evaluations to all ESE students and parents/guardians have the option of agreeing or refusing to have their child re-evaluated.

For questions on re-evaluations, please contact Crystal Keener, Program Specialist at crystal.keener@stlucieschools.org or (772) 429-7537.