Home Hospital
The home hospital program allows students who has an illness or injury preventing them from attending school for a limited time. Student who are approved for the home hospital program receive individual instruction at their home.
Who Can Participate?
The student's disability must be diagnosed, documented, and verified by a licensed medical doctor using the physician/medical referral form. All other medical personnel signatures will not be accepted.
The disability must be temporary, such as resulting from an accident, physical, mental illness*, or a specific placement defined in a student's individualized education program based on a medical issue. The physician/medical referral form must indicate the length of service with a minimum of a 15 school day duration and up to a maximum 90 school days. It shall expire the end of each school year or sooner.
*A diagnosis involving a temporary mental or emotional illness requires a treating psychiatrist to complete a mental health referral form. Any student with a mental health referral form will be considered for placement at 21st Century Learning Institute, an independent study school.
Requests must also include––
- A therapeutic treatment plan.
- An educational goal.
- A limited time frame of 45 school days.
- A statement regarding how being on a home hospital program will benefit the overall treatment of the student, rather than making adjustments in the school program.
How to Apply
Verify you meet the preliminary qualifications listed above, then follow the directions:
- Complete the online application.
- Check your email to access the physician/medical referral or mental health referral form.
- Take the referral form to your physician or mental healthcare provider per the listed instructions.
- Upload the completed referral form with the online application.
- The health office team will review your submission and provide their recommendations to the coordinator of the home hospital program.
- The coordinator, school nurse, counselor, or other professional may verify if accommodations can be made as well as calling the medical provider for verification and alternative programs.
- If the request is approved, arrangements will be made for services.
Minimum Hours of Instruction
The District will offer at least one hour of instruction for every day of instruction offered in the regular education program. No student will be credited with more than five days of attendance per calendar week or credited with more than the total number of calendar days that regular classes are offered in any fiscal year.The teacher providing home hospital program will consult with the student's current classroom teacher to provide continued instruction that enables the student to remain at pace with the regular school program.The home and hospital services will not be provided to special education students until an IEP meeting is held and indicates the need for a change in placement/service delivery to the home hospital program. The student's administrator or administrator designee at their home school site will initiate and complete this process and forward the updated IEP to the student services department. The hour and number of days of instruction offered to the special education students will be determined by the change of placement IEP to be held at the time the student is placed on home hospital program and can be anywhere from 1 to 5 hours a week.
When it is determined the student is able to return to the school site, an IEP will be held at the home/resident school stating the change in placement/services back to their home resident school.