Special Education


The programs of the Special Education Department are broad based, located in every building and level of the Lansing School District.  The mandate for special education is birth through age 26.  We operate home-based programs for children and their families, work-based programs for adults, K-12 support, and special education classrooms for children with thirteen different disabilities.

The district employs around 230 professional and 105 non-professional special education staff.  There are over 2,200 special education students.  Programs and services are monitored for compliance with rules and regulations from Ingham ISD and Michigan Department of Education.



Three-Five Program: The Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program is a half-day classroom model for 3-5-year-olds.  ESCE programs are in the following schools: Averill, Cumberland, Forest View, and Willow.

Elementary: Each elementary school has a resource room.  A resource room is designed for students who need support in the general education curriculum.  The district also operates 20 basic classrooms for students that require a special education classroom.  There are also teacher-consultants, therapists, psychologists, and social workers to support these programs.

Middle Schools: The middle schools offer a combination of teaming with general education teachers, basic classrooms, and resource rooms.  This is done to allow for the greatest number of options in programming for the diverse needs of the students.  In addition, teacher-consultants, therapists, psychologists and social workers support these programs.

High Schools: Each high school operates a combination of resource rooms and basic classrooms.  The focus is to help students with skill development, high school graduation, and transition to the world beyond high school.  Teacher-consultants, therapists, psychologists and social workers support these programs.

Beekman Center: The Beekman Center is home to 160 severely and moderately impaired children and young adults.  In addition, the building hosts the service staff for 3-5-year-olds, area Special Olympics office, and Beekman Productions.  The staff consists of an administrator, secretaries, teachers, therapists, assistants and custodians.


PDF Document504 Manual with updated OCR insert
PDF DocumentChild Find Process
PDF DocumentChildren with Special Needs Fund
PDF DocumentMichigan Criteria for Determining the Existence of a Specific Learning Disability
PDF DocumentBuild Up Michigan FAQ's
PDF DocumentGuidance for Extended School Year Services in Michigan
PDF DocumentProviding Homebound and Hospitalized Educational Services for Michigan Public School Pupils
PDF DocumentIndividuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Discipline Requirements
PDF DocumentIngham ISD Plan for the Delivery of Special Education Programs and Services
PDF DocumentGuidance for Timeline for Initial Evaluations
PDF DocumentMeasurable Annual Goals and Short-Term Objectives
PDF DocumentMeasurable Annual Goals and Short-Term Objectives—Substantive Compliance
PDF DocumentNotice of Cessation of Special Education Programs and Services in Response to Revocation of Parental Consent
PDF DocumentGuidance for Notice
PDF DocumentParent Special Education Guidebook
PDF DocumentPolicy for the Emergency Use of Seclusion and Restraint
PDF DocumentProcedural Safeguards Notice
PDF DocumentProvision of Special Education Services for Transfer Students
PDF DocumentPublic Agency Placement of Students With Disabilities in Private Schools
PDF DocumentEmergency Seclusion/Restraint/Intervention Documentation & Debriefing Form
PDF DocumentRevocation of Parental Consent for Special Education Programs and Services
PDF DocumentShortened School Day
PDF DocumentOfficial Request Lansing School District Special Education Records
PDF DocumentSpecial Education Reevaluation Process
PDF DocumentSpecial Education Problem Solving Process
PDF DocumentStandards for Extended School Year Services in Michigan
PDF DocumentSurrogate Parents and Special Education Decision-Making Guidance
PDF DocumentPolicy for the Appointment of Surrogate Parents for Special Education Services


Over five hundred of the already eligible students require a comprehensive multi-disciplinary evaluation each year.  These are preformed in addition to evaluating students who are referred for special education services.

Each local educational agency and public school academy in Michigan is required to publicly post the process used to determine the existence of a Specific Learning Disability (SLD). Consistent with this requirement, as well as Ingham ISD's commitment to implementation of Response to Intervention (RtI) practices, Ingham Intermediate School District will use the following procedures to determine a Specific Learning Disability.

  1. Evaluation teams will primarily use the data from a Response to Intervention (RtI) process
  2. In the event that RtI practices are not fully implemented in the area of concern or grade level, the evaluation team may use assessment results to determine whether a child exhibits an academic pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age, state-approved grade-level standards, or intellectual development
  3. The use of a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability may not be used solely to determine eligibility, but may be used as a portion of the data to establish a pattern of strengths and weaknesses.
  4. If a school in a district has a fully implemented response to scientific, research-based intervention process in select grades, the school must use data from that process to document interventions and student progress for the purpose of determining the existence of a SLD.  The other grades in that school, and the other schools in the district (i.e. secondary grade-level buildings) who have not fully implemented a response to scientific, research-based intervention process must use a pattern of strengths and weaknesses process until each grade is phased in to full implementation.

519 W. Kalamazoo St
Lansing, MI 48933
(517) 755-4000

Director of Special Education

Eileen Prihoda
Office: (517)755-4001
eileen.prihoda@lansingschools.net 

Special Education Project Manager

Elizabeth Darga
(517)755-1013
beth.darga@lansingschools.net

Secretary to the Special Education Director

Crystal Hernandez
(517)755-4004
crystal.hernandez@lansingschools.net

SE Records Department

Jessica Mead
(517) 755-5721
jessica.mead@lansingschools.net


Early Childhood Assistant Director

Jennifer Lycos
(517)755-3177
lycosj0121@lansingschools.net

Special Education Assistant Director for High Schools

Kelsey Jennett
(517)755-4017
kelsey.jennett@lansingschools.net

Special Education Assistant Director for Middle Schools

Cari Otis
(517)755-4011
cari.otis@lansingschools.net

Special Education Assistant Director for Elementary Schools

Kristine Bauer
(517)755-4003
kristine.bauer@lansingschools.net

Special Education Assistant Directors Secretary

Kimberlee Simon
(517)755-4005
kimberlee.simon@lansingschools.net

11,500 Enrollment by 2025
85% Graduation Rate by 2025
90% Attendance by 2025