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What is a Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA)?

All school districts are divided into regions called SELPAs to address the needs of all children with disabilities. The SELPA serves as the coordinating agency to ensure that a full spectrum of quality special education programs and services are available to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal law for Special Education. 

Today there are approximately 125 SELPAs in the state, ranging in size from those serving more than 10,000 students to the most common size between 2,000 and 4,000 students. The Downey-Montebello SELPA serves approximately 6,391 students with special needs.

Each SELPA must have an Administrative Unit (The Responsible Local Agency) the legal entity that receives funds and is responsible for seeing that every eligible child receives appropriate services. In some instances, the Administrative Unit is a school district and in other instances it is the county office. Downey Unified School District serves as the Administrative Unit for the Downey-Montebello SELPA.