Homebound Services

What's Required 

This instructional arrangement/setting is for providing special education and related services to students who are served at home or hospital bedside.

(A)  Students served on a homebound or hospital bedside basis are expected to be confined for a minimum of four weeks (need not be consecutive) as documented by a physician licensed to practice in the United States. The student's ARD committee shall determine the amount of services to be provided to the student in this instructional arrangement/setting in accordance with federal and state laws, rules, and regulations, including the provisions specified in subsection (b) of this section.

(B)  Home instruction may also be used for services to infants and toddlers (birth through age 2) and young children (ages 3-5) when determined appropriate by the child's individualized family services plan (IFSP) committee or ARD committee. This arrangement/setting also applies to school districts described in Texas Education Code, §29.014.

What We Do

Procedures for Special Education Homebound Instruction:

1. All students referred for homebound instruction must be residents of the Ore City Independent School District (OCISD) and enrolled in their school of attendance. Students will remain enrolled on the campus of attendance and continue to receive instructional assignments and grades from the home campus.
2. The Diagnostic Specialist is the initial contact person in the referral process.
3. The Diagnostic Specialist or school nurse will:
   • Conduct a brief interview with the parent
   • Obtain the signed medical consent to Release/Exchange Information for
   • Fax a copy of the signed Consent to Release Information form and the Assessment to Determine Eligibility form to the Treating Physician.
   
   The physician's office should return the Physician Statement of Medical Information form directly to the diagnostic specialist at the student's school of attendance. In the event there are questions or inconsistencies that may affect the eligibility determination, the nurse or diagnostic specialist should consult directly with the physician's office to clarify the information.
    
4. The Campus Principal will assign a homebound teacher to participate in the ARD/IEP meeting.
5. The Admission Review and Dismissal (ARD/IEP) committee must consider the physician's information as one of the factors in the committee's decision making process when determining home-bound instructional services; however, the licensed physician's information is not the sole consideration in the committee's decision‐making process. The ARD/IEP team will meet to determine the need for homebound instruction. If eligible, a placement IEP meeting will be held to establish beginning/end dates for homebound services and a plan for reintegration of the student to the school. Homebound instruction is a temporary service and is discontinued in consultation with the physician, or upon the expiration of the documented need for homebound services.
6. An ARD committee will be held to plan for the student's return to school.