Chapter Outlines:

(Blue text denotes legislation or court cases)

Chapter 5: School Personnel and School District Liability
I. Mandatory Requirements
A. 1975 - Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA)
1. Findings at the time lead to the discovery that millions of students
were receiving little or no education.
B. 1990 - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
1. Guarantees children with disabilities, ages three to twenty-one, the
right to a free, appropriate education in public schools.
C. 2004 - Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA)
1. This act incorporates individual needs into the equation.
2. This new act provides new formulas for allocating funds.
II. Major case law associated with these acts.
A. The Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth.
1. The ruling stated that children were entitled to a free public education
and that students should be educated in regular classrooms.
B. Mills v. Board of Education.
1. Challenged the denial of a publicly supported education.
C. Board of Education of Hendrick Hudson Central School v Rowley.
1. EAHCA does not guarantee a certain level of education and established
the standard for determining the proper interpretation of free,
appropriate education (FAPE).
D. Timothy W. v. Rochester, New Hampshire School District.
1. A child must demonstrate a benefit as a condition prior to participation
in special education.
2. Ultimately the court found that every child should have access to
FAPE.
I. National Council on Disability
A. January 2000 National Council on Disability (NCD) released Back to School
on Civil Rights
1. Purpose was to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures
2. More than half the states failed to comply
II. Functional Exclusion of Disabled Children
A. Functional exclusion is when a school improperly assesses a student and
denies that student FAPE.
III. Interpretation and Identification of Children with Disabilities
A. Children with disabilities is defined by the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act
1. Mental retardation, hearing impairments, speech or language
impairment, visual impairment, brain injury, emotional disturbance,
orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, specific
learning disabilities and other impairments
IV. Teacher Qualifications
A. Defined by No Child Left Behind
1. Special Education certificate
2. State licensing Exam
V. Prereferral Intervention
A. Classroom teacher responsible for identifying student who need special
services
B. Classroom teacher makes referral with data providing relevant information
VI. Alternative Assessment
A. Flexibility to provide an option for students who are able to make progress
toward grade-level standards but may be unable to reach them at the same
time as their peer (only 2%)
B. Students with severe cognitive disabilities counted as proficient under NCLB
(only 1%)
VII. Individualized Education Program Requirement
A. IEP plan designed for each child with disabilities
B. Involves teachers, parents, and special education representative
C. Should include the following
1. Childs present level of education performance
2. Annual goals and short-term instructional objectives
3. Specific education services to be provided
4. Transitional services
5. Services to be provided and a timetable
6. Explanation of relevant criteria and procedures employed annually to
determine if instructional objectives are or have been achieved
D. Florence County School District v. Shannon Carter
1. IEP was inadequate to meet her needs
2. Courts will not hesitate to rule in cases regarding IEP conflicts
involving due process denials
VIII. Equal Access to Assistive Technology for Students with Disabilities
A. Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act
Amendments of 1994
1. Financial assistance to states that assist in development and
implementation of technology-related support for individuals with
disabilities
2. Assistive Technology devices
a) Equipment and product systems commercially acquired,
modified, or customized to increase, maintain, improve
functional capabilities
3. Technology assistive services
a) Directly assists a child with a disability
IX. Personal Data Assistant for Disabled Students
A. Personal Data assistants (PDAs)
1. Personal Computers take notes and communication devices
2. Specifically designed for disabled students
X. Program Review and Changes
A. IEP reviewed and revised Annually
B. Parent and guarding must be notified of changes
XI. Education-Related Service Requirement
A. Service provided to allow the child with disabilities to benefit from special
education
1. Transportation
2. Medical services
3. Counseling services
4. Psychological services
5. Physical Therapy
6. Speech pathology
7. Audiology
8. Occupation therapy
9. Nursing
10. Interpreting services
B. Irving Independent School District v. Tatro
1. Medical Service and related service
a) Court says school must provide clean, intermittent
catheterization to students requiring procedure
C. Cedar Rapids Community District v. Garret F.
1. Provide services physical need of wheelchair and ventilator dependent
a) Court ruled district to provide nursing services during school
hours to allow Garret to benefit from a free, appropriate public
education
XII. Least Restrictive Environment
A. Children with disabilities be placed in educational settings that offer the
least amount of restrictions
1. Provide opportunity to interact, socialize, and learn with regular
students
B. Segregated facility facility must be demonstrated through evaluation and IEP
XIII. Inclusion of Children with Disabilities
A. Children with disabilities placed in regular classrooms
B. Teachers expected to meet academic needs of children with disabilities, but
must also be expected to provide special education services during the
inclusion period
C. Reasonable standard of care
1. Properly prepare to meet diverse needs of students through
systematic and continuous training
XIV. Length of School Year
A. Grant request for continuous or yearlong schooling for children with
disabilities
XV. Residential Placement
A. Placement where there is sufficient evidence that residential placement is
necessary to provide special education and related services to the child with
disabilities
XVI. Private School Placement
A. Children with disabilities received an appropriate education
B. Local school provide services in public school setting or opt to cover cost of
services in private schools
XVII. Disciplining Students with Disabilities
A. Students may not be punished for conduct that is a manifestation of their
disability, but can be disciplined by school officials for any behavior that is
not associated with their disability
XVIII. Expulsion
A. Student with retardation may not be expelled without a hearing to determine
whether the conduct exhibited by the child was related to his or her
disability
B. Stuart v. Nappi
1. Suspension of a student with disabilities is tantamount to change in
placement, triggering the stay-put provision of IDEA
C. Concerned Parents v. New York City Board of Education
1. Change in placement occurs when there is a change in the general
education program in which the student is enrolled, as opposed to mere
variations of it
XIX. Suspension
A. Disciplinary tool in cases where there is an immediate threat to health and
safety of the child with disabilities or other children in the school.
B. Honing v. Doe
1. Stay-out provision of the act prohibits states from removing children
from school for violent or disruptive conduct stemming from their
disability
2. States may not remove students with disabilities from classrooms for
violent or disruptive conduct stemming from their disabilities
3. Students who pose an immediate threat to school safety may be
temporarily suspended for up to ten days without inquiring into
whether the students behavior was a manifestation of a disability
C. Goss v. Lopez
1. Short-term suspension that allows school authorities the freedom to
punish a student with disabilities by removing him or her from the
classroom in anticipation of further action
2. Could involve long-term suspension, movement to a more restrictive
environment, or last resort, expulsion
XX. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997
A. Discipline and Optional Sanctions
1. Student violates a school rule or code of conduct that is uniformly
applicable to all students
a) Place student in an interim alternative education setting or
other setting for up to ten days
b) Suspend the student up to ten days provided to applies to
students without disabilities
c) Place student in an interim alternative educational setting,
IAES, up to 45 days
d) Request a hearing officer to place students into an IAES
B. Pre/Postsanction IEP Review, Behavior Modification Plan, and Functional
Assessment
1. Before disciplinary actions, or 10 days, must convene the IEP team to
take action
a) IEP team must develop an assessment plan to address the
students behavior
b) Review the plan and Modify it
C. Premanifestation Determination Action
1. IEP team and other qualified personnel must
a) Notify students parents of decision
b) Review relationship between the students disability and the
students behavior within 10 days
D. Manifestation Determination Review
1. IEP team must determine that the behavior was not a manifestation of
the disability
a) Relevant information, including evaluation and diagnostic results
b) Students IEP and placement were appropriate
c) Disability did not Impair the students ability to understand the
impact and consequences of behavior
d) Disability did not impair the students ability to control the
behavior
e) School personnel the authority to consider unique
circumstances for change in placement
f) Shifts the burden from the school to the parent
E. Appeal from Disciplinary Action
1. Parent may appeal the determination concerning no manifestation or
any discipline-related placement decision
a) Must be conducted before an impartial hearing office
b) Hearing officer must determine the LEA demonstrated the
students behavior was not a manifestation
(1) Demonstrated Substantial evidence
(2) Appropriateness of students placement
(3) Reasonable efforts to minimize the risk of harm in the
students current placement
(4) Continue to participate in general curriculum and
continue to receive services and modifications that meet
IEP goals
F. Placement during Appeals
1. Student remains in the IAES pending decision, up to 45 days, unless
agreed upon
G. Proposed New Placement (Following IAES)
1. Determine whether student will return to original placement, remain in
the alternative setting, or be place in another setting
H. Preemptive Strike
1. Student not entitled to IDEA may assert that he or she is entitled
a) Expressed concern in writing to the LEA
b) Requested nondiscriminatory evaluation
c) Students behavior or performance has demonstrated services
d) Students teacher or other school personnel have concen
I. Reporting Criminal Behavior and Referring to Law Enforcement and Judicial
Agencies
1. LEA may report crime committed
2. IDEA does not prevent authorities from exercising any state or
federal criminal law
J. Transmitting Student Information
1. Students records must include a copy of his or her original IEP and a
statement of current or previous disciplinary action taken against the
student
K. Discipline and Behavior Are Now Linked
1. IEP team to include appropriate strategies
a) Positive behavioral intervention
b) Strategies
c) Support
XXI. Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Federal Protection
A. ADHD is covered under IDEA, RHA, ADA
B. Student must possess one or more specified physical or mental impairments
C. ADHD is not sufficient to qualify a child for special education services
D. Section 504 includes regular or special education and related services
designed to meet the individual needs of students involving evaluation,
placement, and procedural safeguards
1. Parents have the right to contest the outcome of an evaluation
2. Required to make an individualized determination child education needs
3. Implementation of an individualized educational program is required
4. Child's education must be provided in a regular classroom
5. Adjustments must be made in regular classroom
XXII. Correctable Illnesses and ADA
A. Americans with physical impairments are not protected by Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) in which the impairments are correctable