Welcome to the Tift County Special Education Department. It is our mission to ensure educational success for each student by providing a free, appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet unique needs and prepare students for employment and independent living.
If a student has learning or behavioral problems in school, all available strategies to remediate, modify, or correct the problem should be tried before a special education referral is made. The school must show that the student is not able to progress without a unique educational program. Our Special Education Specialists are available to assist schools with meeting the needs of our special education population and in developing goals to enhance their learning potential.
Child Find Notice
In accordance with IDEA regulations, the Tift County School system seeks to ensure that all disabled students (ages 3-21) who are in need of special education within its jurisdiction are identified, located, and evaluated, including those attending private school and home school. Final identification of students with disabilities and programming for such students occurs only after an appropriate evaluation and a determination by a Multidisciplinary Placement Team.
If the "child find" process indicates that a student may require special education and supportive services in order to benefit from regular education, the student shall be referred to the Multidisciplinary Placement Team to determine the student's eligibility for special education services.
If you know a child with a disability that is not being served, please notify:
Tift County Schools
Special Education Department
506 West 12th Street
Tifton, GA 31794
229-387-2460
Pre-School Intervention
Services
Pre-School Intervention is a special education program established to serve children 3-5 years of age who exhibit Significant Developmental Delay (SDD) in at least one of five developmental areas (cognition, communication, adaptive development, physical development, and/or social/emotional development) or who meet eligibility in any of the “categorical” eligibility areas such as: Speech Impaired, Visually Impaired, Hearing Impaired, and/or Orthopedically Impaired.
Pre-School Intervention services are provided throughout the state of Georgia and are free of charge to parents. It is Tift County’s philosophy that early intervention is essential to providing support to children at an early age in order to lessen the impact of entering kindergarten with developmental delays.
Referrals
Children should be referred to Pre-School Intervention when they appear to show delays in any of the five areas listed above. Referrals may come from many sources including, but not limited to: parents, physicians, daycare providers, pre-k teachers, Head Start, family, and/or friends. To refer a child to Pre-School Intervention, please contact the Tift County Special Education Department at 229-387-2460.