US Department of Education Outlines 15 Principles Regarding the Use of Restraint and Seclusion

Today, the US Department of Education published the Restraint and Seclusion: Resource Document to “help  ensure that schools are safe and healthy environments where all students can learn, develop and participate in instructional programs that promote high levels of academic achievement.” The publication outlines principles for educators, parents, and other stakeholders to consider when developing [...]

Teacher’s Long-term abuse denied student FAPE resulting in 5 years of compensatory services

In Fulton County School District, 112 LRP 1885 (SEA GA 02/01/12) an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)ruled that a Georgia school district denied a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to a student with a disability because the district failed to stop a teacher’s known, prolonged abuse of the student when he was in middle school and [...]

OSEP Letter Reinforces that Services are Based on Student’s Individual Needs

As we know, special education services for children with disabilities are provided to meet the individual needs of the particular student with a disability. Still, it is good to see the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), confirm that point to a state director of special education in Letter to Koscielniak, 112 LRP 9475 (OSEP [...]

Florida Department of Education Required to Pay for Maintaining Specific Unique Assistive Technology Needed for Student to Take State Exams

In Seminole County (FL) School District, 58 IDELR 113 (OCR 2011), the parents of a 5th grade student with cerebral palsy and a visual impairment complained to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that the Florida Department of Education failed to provide their daughter with a screen- reading device as an accommodation during a state exam. The [...]

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 [...]

U.S. Department of Education Issues Part C Regulations

     Today, the Department of Education (the Department) issued the final regulations for the early intervention program under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Part C serves infants and toddlers from birth through age two with developmental delays or who have diagnosed physical or mental conditions with high probabilities of resulting in developmental [...]

U.S. District Court Affirms Validity of IDEA Regulations Requiring IEEs at Public Expense

In Phillip and Angie C. v. Jefferson County Board of Education , 111 LRP 55718 (N.D. Ala. Aug 17, 2011), the U.S. District Court in Alabama overturned a magistrate judge’s opinion (56 IDELR 225) invalidating  the IDEA regulations allowing parents to obtain independent educational evaluations(IEE)  at public expense. Although at a very low-level in the federal judiciary hierarchy, the magistrate’s decision [...]

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 [...]

Father’s Girlfriend Did Not Have Authority to Cancel Boy’s 504 Plan

     Some cases have more interesting facts than others. In Chicago (IL) Public Schools, 56 IDELR 54 (OCR July 2, 2010), the school district violated Section 504 when it discontinued a sixth-grader’s 504 plan at the request of the father’s girlfriend and without informing the father or conducting an evaluation. The student has ADD and [...]

It Usually Doesn’t Help if Parents Appear Uncooperative in the IEP Process

     Parents may sometimes feel it is pointless to continue meeting with the school to work out IEP issues. But my experience has been that it is usually better to meet to resolve issues than not to meet.  For example, in Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education v T.W. 56 IDELR 215 (D. Ct N.J. 2011) the [...]