The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Questions and Answers below are based only upon IDEA statute. IDEA has not passed implementing regulations at this time AND Kentucky has not, therefore, passed state regulations.  Kentucky regulations can be more restrictive than the federal law so please keep this in mind when reading the questions and answers below.

 

Questions
1)  What are the new requirements about medication for children?
2)  What if a parent doesn't provide consent for evaluation or for services?
3)  Who has to be part of the IEP team (ARC in Kentucky)?
4)  Do IEP team members (called an ARC in Kentucky) need to be at every meeting?
5)  Can the IEP be amended without reconvening the whole IEP Team? (ARC in Kentucky)
6)  What is the procedural safeguards notice? When must it be provided?
7)  Does a school have to discipline a child with a disability in every instance?
8)  Do IDEA discipline procedures apply if the child with a disability will be disciplined for less than 10 school days?
9)  If the discipline infraction of the child relates to drugs, weapons, or serious bodily injury, will that child's discipline be handled differently?
10)  What process will determine whether the disciplinary infraction was the direct result of a child's disability?
11)  What does the term "manifestation" of a child's disability mean?
 
Answers
1)  Q What are the new requirements about medication for children?
A
"Parents should not be forced to medicate their children as a condition of the child attending school, and school personnel should not attempt to make medical diagnoses that should rightly be made by trained medical personnel. To ensure the rights of parents are protected, the law requires that each state prohibit state and local educational agency personnel from requiring a child to obtain a prescription for a controlled substance as a condition of attending school, receiving services, or receiving an evaluation for a disability. This requirement was included to ensure that parents are not coerced into placing their children on certain drugs (e.g., Ritalin) so that their children can go to school. School personnel are not licensed medical practitioners, and should not be making medical decisions or imposing such decisions on parents. The law does allow school personnel to continue to share observations about a child's academic achievement, functional performance, or behavior management with parents so that parents are aware of the child's performance during the school day. Parents can then use that information and consult with appropriate medical practitioners for more information if they feel medication is necessary or beneficial to helping improve their child's academic achievement."
2)  Q What if a parent doesn't provide consent for evaluation or for services?
A
If a parent does not provide their consent for an evaluation, the local education agency (LEA) does have the authority to use the due process procedures to seek an order from a hearing officer requiring an evaluation. LEAs should use this authority sparingly. If a parent does not provide their consent for the provision of services, no special education or related services may be provided. The right of a parent to decide what educational services their child receives cannot be overturned using IDEA's due process procedures. If a parent indicates that they will refuse both consent for evaluations and consent for services, nothing in IDEA requires that an LEA use the due process procedures to proceed through the evaluation phase. Source: IDEA Guide to Frequently Asked Questions.
3)  Q Who has to be part of the IEP team (ARC in Kentucky)?
A

The IEP Team is responsible for developming the IEP and ensuring its effective implementation so that the child can receive special education and related services.  The IEP Team must include the parents of the child with a disability, a regular education teacher (if the child is participating in the regular education environment), a special education teacher, and a representative of the school district.  In addition, the parent and the school district can agree to add other members knowledgeable about related services or with expertise about the child. -Source IDEA Guide to Frequently Asked Questions.
4)  Q Do IEP team members (called an ARC in Kentucky) need to be at every meeting?
A

To provide efficient and effective use of IEP Team meetings, the parent and the LEA may agree to excuse any member of the IEP Team from the IEP Team meeting if their area of curriculum or related services is not being addressed.

 

The parent and the LEA may also agree to excuse any member of the IEP Team from the IEP Team meeting if their area of curriculum or related services is being addressed, but the Team member will be required to submit their input in writing to the parent and the LEA prior to the IEP Team meeting. 

 

The parent must provide written consent to the excusal of any IEP Team member.  Source:  IDEA Guide to Frequently  Asked Questions.
5)  Q Can the IEP be amended without reconvening the whole IEP Team? (ARC in Kentucky)
A

Yes.  To provide greater flexibility for parents and schools, IDEA allows the parent and the LEA to agree to amend or modify the IEP without reconvening the whole IPE Team.  Such an amendment or modification must be in writing to clearly lay out what has been modified or amended.  Source:  IDEA Guide to Frequently Asked Questions.

6)  Q What is the procedural safeguards notice? When must it be provided?
A

The procedural sfaeguards notice is a copy of the procedural safeguards available to parents and children with disabilities.  IDEA requires state and local educational agencies to provide parents with this notice.  Generally, the agency is only required to provide the notice once a year.  However, the notice must also be provided when parents request an initial evaluation or when a child is initially referred to the agency, the first time parents file any complaint, and whenever parents request the notice.   Source:  IDEA Guide to Frequently Asked Questions.
7)  Q Does a school have to discipline a child with a disability in every instance?
A

No.  When a student has violated a code of conduct, school personnel may consider any unique circumstances on a case-by-case basis to determine whether a change of placement for discipline purposes is appropriate.  Source:  IDEA Guide to Frequently  Asked  Questions.

8)  Q Do IDEA discipline procedures apply if the child with a disability will be disciplined for less than 10 school days?
A

No.  Where the discipline infraction would result in a change in placement for less than 10 school days, the discipline procedures do not apply.  Source: IDEA Guide to Frequently Asked Questions.
9)  Q If the discipline infraction of the child relates to drugs, weapons, or serious bodily injury, will that child's discipline be handled differently?
A

Yes.  If the disciplinary infraction involves the serious safety issues of drugs, weapons, or serious bodily injury, the child will lautomatically be removed from the classroom for up to 45 school days.  The child will be placed in an interim alternative educational setting, but will continue to receive educational services to make progress on his or her IEP.  Also during this time, a determination will be made as to whether the disciplinary infraction was the direct results of a child's disability. Source:  IDEA Guide to Frequently Asked Questions.

10)  Q What process will determine whether the disciplinary infraction was the direct result of a child's disability?
A

In order to determine whether the disciplinary infraction was the DIRECT result of a child's disability, the LEA, the parent and the relevant members of the IEP Team must determine whether the conduct in question was a "manifestation of the child's disability."  This process is called a manifestation determination.  The manifestation determination will analyze the child's behavior as demonstrated across settings and across time when determining whether the discipline infraction is a DIRECT result of the child's disability.  Previously, the LEA had to provide that the child's action resulting in the discipline infractions WAS NOT caused by the child's disability.  The new IDEA places the obligation on the PARENT to show that the child's action resulting in the discpline infraction WAS the direct result of the child's disability.  Source:  IDEA Guide to Frequently  Asked Questions.
11)  Q What does the term "manifestation" of a child's disability mean?
A

This term has been significantly change in this reauthoirzation.  Previously an tangential or attenuated relationship between the discipline infraction and the child's disability was sufficient to determine that the infraction was a "manifestation" of the child's disability.  In the new IDEA, the bipartisan consensus acknowledged that " it is the intention fo the Conferees that the conduct in question was caused by, or has a direct and substantial relationship to, the child's disability, and is not an attenuated association, such as low self-esteem, the the child's disability."  Accordingly, it is now clear in the new IDEA that the disciplinary infraction must be caused by or be the direct result of a hcild's disability, and not a mere correlation or attenuation.  Source: IDEA Guide to Frequently  Asked Questions.