State Superintendent Conference on Special Education and Pupil Services Leadership Institute
I attended the conference this week and obtain great information on RTI for SLD law, Postsecondary Transition Planning, Section 504, and Special Education legal updates. Here is a link to those and more information:
Leadership Conference Handouts
Handouts from the keynote and sectional presentations at the 28th Annual State Superintendent’s Conference on Special Education and Pupil Services Leadership Issues are posted online at http://sped.dpi.wi.gov/
Section 504: A Legal Overview
There was a very informative sectional 504 and what is covered, best practices, etc. I will be covering Section 504 more indepth in a future newsletter. Here is a link to the handouts http://sped.dpi.wi.
Special Education Law: A Year in Review
Student Services/Prevention, Special Education, and Pupil Services Nondiscrimination Legal Updates
Special Education Legal Updates
Here are some primary special education legal updates. Please contact me for more information:
Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Letters/Guidance
A. Parentally Placed Private School Students
OSEP Question and Answer Document on Servicing Children with Disabilities Placed by
Their Parents in Private Schools, Revised April 2011
OSEP letter to EIG, January 28, 2009
A parent of a parentally placed private school student may request a special education
evaluation from the resident school district or the school district where the private school
is located. Although OSEP does not encourage this practice; parents may also request the
two different school districts to evaluate their child at the same time.
B. LRE/Work Placements
OSEP letter to Spitzer-Resnick, Swedeen, and Pugh, June 22, 2012.
Transitions services are defined broadly and include a range of services. Work placement
can be an appropriate transition service, depending on the individual needs of a student,
but it is not a required component of all individualized education programs (IEPs) that
address transition services. If an IEP team determines that work placement is an
appropriate transition service, in determining the placement, the IEP team must apply the
least restrictive environment (LRE) provisions. The IEP team must consider, and include
in the IEP, as appropriate, any supplementary aids and services needed to enable the
student to participate with other students with disabilities and nondisabled students in the
work placement described in the IEP.
IDEA Complaint Decisions
A. Shortened School Day
IDEA Complaint 12-043
Compare with Vincent v. Kenosha Unified School District 112 LRP 47790 (United States
District Court, Eastern District, Wisconsin (2012))
A student’s school day should be reduced or shortened only in rare circumstances when it
is warranted by the student’s unique disability related needs. It cannot be used as a
means of disciplining a student or creating an award system. If the student’s behavioral
needs are such that they cannot be accommodated in the regular classroom with the
appropriate supplementary aids and services, then the IEP team must consider and
determine an alternative placement which will allow the student to continue to receive a
free and appropriate public education (FAPE).
B. Requests for an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)
IDEA Compliant Decisions 12-027, 12-006
Districts must respond to requests for an IEE without unnecessary delay. However, what
is unnecessary delay depends on the circumstances. Sometimes a request for an IEE will
be submitted while a special education evaluation is in progress or a parent has filed a
request for a due process hearing. Parents have the right to obtain public funding for an
IEE only after the evaluation is completed. In cases involving a due process hearing, if
and when an IEE is required, depends on the outcome of the hearing process.
C. Role of a Special Education Aide
IDEA Complaint 12-013
Professional teaching responsibilities must be carried out by a licensed special education
teacher. A special education aide’s role is limited to working under the direct supervision
of the licensed teacher to support the lesson plans of the teacher, provide technical
assistance to the teacher, help with classroom control or management, and perform other
duties as assigned. Special education services were not provided by an appropriately
licensed special education teacher when the teacher had limited or no contact with the
students and the aide assigned grades, determined course materials, and developed and
carried out the daily lesson plans.
D. Screening
IDEA Complaint 12-033
Screening to determine appropriate instructional strategies for curriculum implementation
is not considered an evaluation of eligibility for special education services. Screening
activities generally include all children in a school, grade, or class, such as kindergarten
screening. A special education staff member conducting an observation or administering
an assessment to an individual student to explore or verify the possibility of a disability is
not screening. A formal referral for special education, including obtaining parent
consent, must be in place prior to sped
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