About Our Program

If you know of a child with special needs, birth through 21 years of age, residing in Galveston Independent School District, please contact GISD Special Education Services at (409) 761-3920 for additional information.

Galveston ISD maintains a system for identifying, locating and evaluating individuals with disabilities (birth through 21 years of age) including migrant and homeless students, residing within its jurisdiction and who are in need of special education and/or related services. Galveston ISD Special Education Department, through Child Find, will refer and collaborate services for student’s birth to two years of age with Early Childhood Intervention Services.

Galveston ISD has a complete staff of trained personnel to meet the educational requirements of students with disabilities. Special Education is an integral part of the total instructional program of the district. Students receiving services from special education staff are those students who have hearing or visual impairments, learning disabilities, speech impairments, orthopedic disabilities, emotional disturbances, traumatic brain injury, autism, deaf-blindness,intellectual or developmental disabilities, other health impairments or multiple disabilities and as a result, require specially designed instruction to benefit educationally.

Galveston ISD Special Education has programs to accommodate children with disabilities, including early childhood services for eligible 0-5 year olds. The early childhood programs, located at early Childhood Elementary and Parker Elementary, provide services to eligible children beginning on their third birthday.

Educational services are provided by specially trained teachers for those students with visual and auditory impairments from 0-21 years of age. The Regional Day School for the Deaf in Clear Creek ISD through the Galveston Brazoria County Cooperative for the Hearing Impaired (GBCHI) serves our students with the most severe auditory impairments.

Each campus is equipped with instructional programs to assist students with individualized instruction in specific academic areas in the least restrictive environment.

A homebound program is available for any eligible student with disabilities who cannot attend regular classes because of medical reasons.

Other than classroom instruction, related services are provided. Related services are those which assist students with disabilities in making progress on their individual goals and objectives. These include, but are not limited to: physical therapy, occupational therapy, counseling and transportation.

The educational needs for each child referred to the special education program are determined by professional assessment personnel.