As per N.J.A.C. 6A:16-7, district boards of educations are required to:

"… establish and implement a coordinated system in each school building for the planning and delivery of intervention and referral services that are designed to assist students who are experiencing learning, behavior, or health difficulties and to assist staff who have difficulties in addressing students' learning, behavior or health needs."

The Intervention and Referral Services (I & RS) is an adult-centered, multi-disciplinary team in each school that is composed of building administrators, school counselors, classroom teachers, and support staff.  They welcome requests for assistance from school staff or parents that are experiencing educational difficulties with their student(s), in which traditional attempts to ameliorate the situation have not met with success.

The multi-disciplinary team divides the roles and responsibilities of the teams activities into four separate and distinct areas.  These include:

• Team Leader - Schedules cases for review, prepares agenda for and convenes meetings, and maintains all I & RS documents.
  
  
• Case Coordinator - Assigned for each case brought to the team who acts as the primary contact for the staff and parent.  Also responsible for collecting and reporting data to the team.
  
  
• Time Keeper - Primary responsibility is to keep the team on-task and to all time limits.
  
  
• Record Keeper - Takes notes on all I & RS meetings and assists in finalizing all Action Plans.

The steps in the I & RS process are as follows:

• Request for Assistance is completed and delivered to the team
  
  
• Information is collected about the student
  
  
• The parent/guardian is notified that their child is being referred to the I & RS team
  
  
• The team meets to problem solve
  
  
• An I & RS Action Plan is developed
  
  
• The plan is supported and evaluated on a regular basis

It is the goal of the Delaware Township School District to actively engage parents/guardians in the development and implementation of I & RS Action Plans and throughout the I & RS process.

If you believe that your student would benefit from services through the I & RS, you are encouraged to speak to the school counselor.