For school districts
Placement, from first call to first day.
Everything a sending team needs to evaluate Lilac Learning Center as a placement: how we assess, what we need from you, and how contracting works.
Before anything else
We only move when the district does.
District-initiated placement only
We assess and accept students only when the sending district submits the request and contracts for the placement. We do not conduct assessments at the request of families, advocates, or counsel, and we do not accept private placements made outside the IEP process.
Families who contact us directly are welcome to an informational conversation about the program. We then refer them back to their IEP team, where a placement decision belongs.
Who we serve
Behavior as communication.
Our program is built for students with moderate to severe developmental disabilities whose challenging behavior arises from communication and skill deficits — behavior that is doing a job the student has no other way to do.
The students we serve well
We regularly work with students presenting severe self-injury, aggression, elopement, and property destruction. Our work is to teach the communication and skills that make those behaviors unnecessary, then build the independence and daily living skills that reduce a student's need for a setting as intensive as ours.
Most of our students carry an autism spectrum diagnosis, typically Level 2 or 3, including students described as profoundly autistic. That reflects how often the diagnosis matches the profile we serve well — it isn't a criterion. We also serve students with Down syndrome and a range of other neurodevelopmental diagnoses, and we'll consider any student with a moderate to severe developmental disability whose presentation fits the description above.
We serve students from kindergarten through age 22. In practice most placements begin in upper elementary — fourth or fifth grade — and continue through to age 22 and the transition into adult services.
Scope of our program
Where another setting fits better.
Every determination is individual, and we make them case by case after assessment. These describe where our current program and staffing aren't the right match — sharing them early saves your team a referral cycle.
Emotional and behavioral disorders
Our program is designed around developmental disabilities and behavior that serves a communicative function. We aren't currently structured to serve students whose primary need is an emotional or behavioral disorder, or an emerging mental health condition requiring clinical psychiatric support. We're developing a complementary program for these students and expect to open it in the next several years.
Planned or goal-directed aggression
Our model teaches replacement skills for behavior that communicates an unmet need. Where aggression is planned and instrumental rather than skill-based, a program designed for that profile will serve the student better than ours will.
Safe staffing and meaningful progress
Each determination accounts for whether we can support a student safely given the staffing and facilities at the site under consideration, and whether we can deliver meaningful progress within the time remaining in the student's eligibility. Where we can't do both, we say so rather than accept a placement we don't expect to work.
Sexual behavior toward others
We work well with students learning time, place, and boundaries through adolescence — that instruction is part of what we do. Targeted sexual behavior toward other people falls outside what we can safely support in a shared school setting.
The assessment process
Five steps to a determination.
Once a district submits a student for consideration, here's what happens and who's involved at each stage.
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District submits a student for consideration
The sending district completes our referral form. We aim to respond within a week of submission, and typically begin scheduling next steps within one to two weeks.
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Virtual meeting with the sending team
We meet with the district team to understand the student's current programming, what's been tried, and what's driving the placement conversation.
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Observation in the current setting
One to two observations of the student in their present placement. Seeing the student where they are now tells us far more than a file review can.
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Site visit
The student, family, and a district representative visit the Lilac location under consideration. This is as much about whether the setting fits the student as whether we can serve them.
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Placement determination
We make a determination and send it to the district. If we offer placement, the district shares the determination with the family, the enrollment packet is completed and returned, and we finalize the contract before the student's first day.
How long it takes
From submission to determination typically runs six to eight weeks. We aim for six. The variation is driven by volume — referrals tend to arrive in waves, and several at once take longer to work through properly.
We would rather be accurate than fast. A determination made quickly is a determination made on less information, and the cost of placing a student who isn't a fit falls on the student first. We also want the district and the family to understand the program fully before placement begins, not after.
What to send
What we need from your team.
Having these ready when you submit shortens the timeline considerably.
- The student's current IEP
- Most recent psychoeducational evaluation
- Functional behavior assessment, if one has been completed
- Current behavior intervention plan
- Incident and restraint history
- The district contact who will own the placement through contracting
Submitting without an FBA or BIP won't stop us from responding, but it does slow the process — those two documents tell us the most about whether our model fits the student.
Submit a student
Start a referral.
District referral form
This form is for district teams submitting a student for placement consideration. If you're a parent or guardian, please contact us directly instead — we'll talk you through the program and point you back to your IEP team.
Submit a student for consideration
Not at that stage yet? Book a conversation — we're glad to talk through whether a student is likely to be a fit before you commit to a referral.
Funding and contracting
How the agreement works.
One rate, one team
Placement is funded by the sending district as the responsible LEA — we don't bill insurance for day school services. We quote a single contract rate covering everything Lilac provides. Services aren't itemized, and they aren't invoiced separately as they're used.
Every student is served at a minimum one-to-one staffing ratio. Some students are staffed above that based on need.
What the rate covers
- Certificated special education teacher
- Board certified behavior analyst
- Behavior technician support at a minimum one-to-one ratio
- Speech-language pathology, where the student needs it
- Occupational therapy, where the student needs it
- Educational psychology evaluation for every placed student
Services outside that team — vision and mobility, physical therapy, nursing — are either provided by the district or added to the rate by agreement. We'll be explicit about which during assessment rather than after placement.
Billing and contract terms
- We invoice monthly
- Start-up months are prorated by whether the student begins in the first or second half of the month
- Contracts are ongoing rather than term-limited, and reviewed annually
- Rates are reviewed on the same annual cycle, with any adjustment sent well ahead of the new school year
- Our contract year runs September 1 to August 31
No enrollment window
Students can enter or exit the program at any point in the year. Timing depends on the student's need, our staffing at the site, and completing the assessment process properly — not on a date on a calendar. A district facing a placement that has stopped working in November doesn't have to wait for September.
Transportation
Transportation to and from the program is the sending district's responsibility. Most districts use their own transportation services; a few subcontract to a cab company. Either works. We're glad to provide training and support to whoever is assigned — a difficult ride can undo a good school day before it starts, and the people driving are rarely given much preparation.
Once students are with us, we handle transportation ourselves. Community outings are part of the educational program, and we transport students to them. Our Spokane and Tacoma sites operate their own vans, with Longview joining them shortly.
The school year
205 to 220 days.
We run a longer year than a typical district calendar, closing for five weeks spread across the year rather than taking a long summer.
Continuous programming
For students whose skills regress over an extended break, the extended year isn't a scheduling preference — it's the difference between building on progress in September and rebuilding it. Extended-year programming is part of the placement, not a separate negotiation.
Student day
- Monday to Thursday, 8:30 to 3:00
- Friday, 8:30 to 12:00
- Closed to students one day each month for staff professional development
We build our own calendar. It runs roughly alongside local district calendars but doesn't match them exactly, so it's worth putting our calendar in front of your transportation team early rather than assuming the dates line up.
Not ready for a placement?
Consultation in your buildings.
Not every student who is struggling needs a change of placement. Our consultation service is designed to keep a student where they are and build the capacity of the team around them.
Consultation is individualized to the student and to the teacher and staff working with them — the same behavior-analytic model that drives our day school, applied in your building rather than ours.
Five hours per month
A monthly block of consultation time for a teacher or team working with a student in their current placement.
Ten hours per month
The same service at greater frequency, for situations needing more contact or teams supporting more than one student.
What's in the hours
Both packages include everything — direct time with your staff and the analysis and planning that happens between visits. We don't bill contact time and leave the preparation behind it uncounted.
Your team works with a special education or behavior analytic staff member experienced in consulting to special education settings, as a named point of contact your teacher can reach directly.
Book a conversationLocations
Three sites, one program.
Each location runs the same day school program. The sites differ in size, not in model.