Texas School District Required to Provide Bus Monitors with Training Specific to Student’s Behaviors

 A state hearing officer ruled in Corpus Christi Independent School District, 57 IDELR 297 (Tex. SEA 2011) that the school district failed to provide appropriate personnel support so that a  student with an emotional disturbance and ADHD could be safely transported on the bus. The student had been suspended from the bus more than ten times during the 2010-2011 school year for [...]

Illinois School District Should Have Addressed Student’s Auditory Processing and Assistive Technology Needs

 In City of Chicago School District 299, 57 IDELR 29, (SEA  Il 2011) an 8th Grade boy  with specific learning disabilities exhibited problems with reading, writing, listening, and integrating sensory information. In fact, he had exhibited some of these problems as early as 1st Grade. Unfortunately, despite repeated red flags that the student needed additional support, the [...]

OCR Rules School District Violated 504 by Isolating Special Needs Students in a Portable Classroom

The Office for Civil Rights found  that a Tennessee school district violated Section 504 when it placed 14 middle schoolers with severe disabilities in a self-contained classroom that was housed in two portable buildings outside the main school building. Marion County (TN) School District 11 LRP 59226 (OCR May 2011). The school district had created the Child [...]

Review of The Everyday Guide to Special Education Law in the US Review of Books

  The Everyday Guide to Special Education Law Second Edition by Randy Chapman, Esq. The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People reviewed by Judee L. Spargur “I wrote this book primarily to help students, parents, advocates, and other professionals better understand the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). The book is meant to [...]

The Everyday Guide and Preventing Litigation in Special Education Workbook Judged Finalists at Autism Conference

     I am proud to announce that my book The Everyday Guide to Special Education Law and the Preventing Litigation in Special Education Workbook, by Dr. Jacque Phillips and myself, were both judged as finalists in the book competition at the 2011  Reliability Gives Voice to Autism Conference in Rosemont, Illinois. Additionally, The Everyday Guide was declared a winner [...]

New Preventing Litigation in Special Education WORKBOOK available

 Readers, many of you may be familiar with my book The Everyday Guide to Special Education Law.  I’m proud to announce that a new book is now available to assist parents and educators in understanding special education law. Preventing Litigation in Special Education WORKBOOK is a supplement to the award-winning book, The Everyday Guide to [...]

Band Director’s Unilateral Decision Denying Student with a Disability Full Participation in Marching Band Violates 504

     An Arizona high school student with Down syndrome had an IEP calling for “integration with regular peers as much as possible” and participation in Marching Band. Thus, the student played the drum in the Marching Band at football games in the fall semester. Later, the Marching Band, including the student with a disability, went on a field [...]

Parent Centers: A resource for training and assistance for families of children with disabilities

            It’s back-to-school time and this posting provides information on federally funded Parent Centers that provide training and assistance to families of children with disabilities. My thanks to my long time friend Barbara Buswell, the Director of Colorado’s PEAK Parent Center, for providing this information regarding services provided by Parent Centers in general and the [...]

Section 504, School Field Trips, and Students with Disabilities

  In a previous post, Opening the School Door to Section 504, I discussed the Section 504 and ADA requirements to provide services to children with disabilities. If you are not familiar with how section 504 applies to public elementary and secondary schools, you might check out that article before continuing with this article.  Sub part [...]

Second Edition of The Everyday Guide to Special Education Law Now Available

  Readers, at the end of May I posted that the Second Edition of my book The Everyday Guide to Special Education Law was available for preorder. The book is here and can be ordered now.     Like the previous book, the second edition contains information about obtaining a free appropriate public education, IEPs, [...]