Cañon City Schools provide comprehensive Special Education programs in each of the school sites and serve 13% of the school-aged student population. Special Education services are also provided for preschool children through cooperative agreements with area preschools and Star Point. All Special Education services emphasize inclusion with age-level peers and are aligned with state and district educational standards.

“Child-find,” to determine if a child has a disability requiring special education services, is provided by Project ECHO (276-5720) for children birth to five years of age and by the Special Services Department (276-5717) for school-aged children. These screenings and educational diagnostic evaluations are offered at no charge to parents.

A district School-to-Work-Alliance Coordinator collaborates with Vocational Rehabilitation to assist mildly disabled individuals 16 to 21 years of age in securing employment. The school district collaborates with Star Point for transition programs for individuals with moderate-to-severe disabilities who have completed high school.

Through the Special Services Office, there are teams to assist staff and parents with students who evidence challenging behaviors, Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disability, and communication delays that require assistive technology.

The district participates in several federal programs:

- Title I supporting elementary schoolwide reform to help ALL students meet challenging standards in reading and math. Individual school allocations are based on free/reduced lunch percentages of the total school enrollment.

- Title II supporting preparation, training, and recruitment of high quality teachers and principals.

- Title IV supporting anti-drug programs.

- Title V supporting innovative educational programs.