Finding the right school: Questions to ask and things to consider

The Georgia Department of Education provides a list of schools that have been approved to accept the scholarship. When considering whether a school is right for your child or not, ask the following:

What does my child need to be successful in a learning environment?

Is this school a good fit for my child?

• Can this school meet my child’s learning needs?

• Can this school meet any behavioral/safety challenges (e.g., wandering and self-injurious or aggressive behaviors)?

What is important to serve the needs of my student? How would this school deliver on what is important to me? Every family will have different factors that are important. Understanding what is important to you, some potential questions might be:

• What are the class sizes?

• In what setting will my child receive education/services throughout the day? o What type of training do teachers have?

• What student supports are offered?

• What is the school’s learning approach?

• How does the school manage testing/report cards?

• What type of diploma is offered (certificate of completion, general education diploma, etc.)?

• What organization accredits the school?

• What are the school’s behavioral expectations for students?

• How does the school handle its discipline when needed? (Are restraints or seclusion ever used and if so, what are the details?)

• What are the school’s expulsion standards?

• What are the school’s plans for emergencies such as fires? 

• How are student medial needs managed?

• What was/is the school’s pandemic response?

How will a transition to this school impact my family (before/after school availability, distance from my home, school calendar, cost. etc.)?

Understanding the total cost

Private schools are not required by federal law to follow your student’s IEP nor are they required to provide special education accommodations such as the assessment and diagnosis of disability and the provision of school-based therapies. It is up to you as a parent/guardian to determine if your student will get what they need at any given private school.

Clarify on the front end what services (if any) require additional fees, including uniforms, technology, therapies, aides, tutoring and transportation and other expenses. Confirm the school’s annual cost in addition to tuition.

• If needed, consider clarifying how the school may interact (or if it does not) with any health insurance-covered services that sometimes are provided within school settings but paid through insurance, such as applied behavior analysis or other therapies.

• Confirm when tuition payments are due and what tuition will be due if your student leaves mid-year (voluntarily or involuntarily). Note that many private schools work on a contractual basis with families with some contracts obligating your family to a full year of tuition.

• Inquire whether tuition insurance and/or other financial aid is offered by the school.

Do your research

Talk to parents/students who attend/have attended the school.

You can find more information on schools in the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Annual Report. This includes the average tuition at participating schools (at least for the year of the report) and how many students used the GA Special Needs Scholarship at the school.

• Additionally, SB47 established a Georgia Special Needs Scholarship parental satisfaction survey; results should be available for parents in future annual reports.

Finally, visit the school(s) you are interested in and confirm what you have already discovered!