Special Education

Special Education Mission Statement:

Catoosa County Schools will ensure a quality educational experience for all students by providing exemplary instructional programs in safe and positive learning environments. Partnered with home and community, Catoosa County Schools will strive to inspire, challenge, prepare and empower each student to achieve success.

As a Special Education Department, our goal is to ensure that all students with disabilities have available to them a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment that emphasizes the general curriculum as well as special education services and prepares them for employment and independent living. Special Education and related services will be designated as needed and appropriate to meet the unique needs of a student with disabilities.

Special Education in Catoosa County

The Catoosa County School System believes very strongly that all children can learn. To the greatest extent possible, students with disabilities are served in the least restrictive environment (LEA), this being alongside their regular education peers. Disabilities served include:

  • Autism
  • Deaf/Blind
  • Deaf/Hard of Hearing
  • Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
  • Mild/Moderate/Severe and Profound Intellectual Disorders
  • Orthopedic Impairments
  • Other Health Impairments
  • Significant Developmental Delays (Ages 3-5)
  • Specific Learning Disabilities
  • Speech-Language Impairments
  • Traumatic Brain Injury
  • Visually Impaired

Students with severe emotional disorders are served by teachers trained to work with this area of disability. Our Regional Educational Services Area (RESA) works with our school system to provide qualified teachers to work with these students to address their areas of need. High school age students have access to the community-based vocational instructional program that continues to be an integral part of the curriculum. Students are transported to job sites across the county for vocational training. These students gain self-assurance and increase their functional skills in the work environment.

The technological age has had a positive impact on services provided to students with disabilities. The use of assistive technology has opened doors to students who previously had great difficulty communicating their wants and needs to others. Communication devices that allow students to express themselves through pictures and symbols are commonplace for such students. Other types of assistive technology devices have made it possible for students with limited verbal abilities to express their knowledge of subject matter where this had been previously impossible.

Related services such as transportation, physical and occupational therapy, and orientation and mobility training are provided to those students who need them to achieve the goals and objectives set forth in their individual educational programs. 

Child Find:

The Catoosa County Public School System would like to identify all children in need of special education services. For children ages 0-2 who might need these services, please contact Babies Can't Wait-Early Intervention at (706) 937-6670. For children ages 3-21 who might need special education services, please call the Special Education Department at (706) 965-4052 or the Georgia Learning Resources System at (706) 295-6189. 

Destruction of Special Education Records:

Catoosa County Public Schools' Special Education Department archives and stores special education students' records for a limited time according to the Georgia Education Retention Schedules.
Special Education records for students who have not been active in a Special Education program since the 2017-2018 school year are scheduled for destruction August 3, 2023.

Any person desiring to obtain his/her records may contact the Catoosa County Special Education Department, 307 Cleveland Street, Ringgold, Georgia 30736 or call 706-965-4052. The file will be held for you to pick up.

Public Notice To Parents of Non-Public School Students:

On June 15, 2023, at 9:00 a.m., a meeting conducted by Catoosa County Public Schools’ Special Education Department, will take place at the Performance Learning Center (PLC). The purpose of the meeting will be to provide an opportunity for parents and representatives of nonpublic schools to participate in the development of a plan for providing special education services to children with disabilities who attend nonpublic schools and home schools which are within the Catoosa County school district for the 2023-2024 school year. Parents of a home-schooled child or a child attending a nonpublic school who has been or may be identified with a disability and attend a nonpublic school within the boundaries of Catoosa County, are urged to attend. If you have further questions pertaining to this meeting or would like the link to attend virtually, please contact the Special Education office at 706-965-4052.

Summer: 

If you need any information regarding your child's services in the summer, please contact our special education office at (706) 965-4052 or call Parent to Parent of Georgia at 1-800-229-2038.