Children with disabilities should have the same chance to do great things with their lives as children without disabilities. However, when children with disabilities are not given the correct support and services at school, they will be at a disadvantage, making life rather difficult. In the United States, federal law dictates that all school districts must provide students with disabilities in kindergarten through twelfth grade with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). While federal law usually governs IEP rules and regulations, many states, Pennsylvania included, have the flexibility to define – and expand – certain parts. It is important to understand the specifics involved with IEP law and how best to pursue one.
Listed below are answers to the most common questions about IEPs in Pennsylvania. If you need more information, do not hesitate to contact the LLF Law Firm today.
What is an IEP?
According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), IEPs are legally binding documents that outline and describe the services and support a student with disabilities needs to succeed in school. In order for a student to be eligible for services under the IDEA, they must fall into one of the disability categories below:
- Intellectual disability
- Hearing impairment
- Speech or language impairment
- Autism
- Traumatic brain injury
- Deafness
- Visual impairments or blindness
- Specific learning disabilities
- Multiple disabilities
- Orthopedic impairment
- Health impairments
- Emotional disturbances
Emotional disturbance disabilities are further defined as:
- An inability to learn is not caused by health, sensory, or intellectual factors.
- Unable to create or foster relationships with others.
- Improper feelings or behaviors under normal circumstances.
- Unhappiness or depression.
- A proclivity to developing physical symptoms or fear because of people or problems at school.
There are several steps to complete before receiving a comprehensive IEP, but the first step is identifying a need for one. Usually, teachers are the first to recommend an evaluation for services and support they believe the student needs. Though, if your child's teacher does not recommend an evaluation, you can request one yourself. The initial evaluation team is generally comprised of your child's teacher and at least one person who is qualified to conduct the evaluation – like the school psychologist. Together, they will administer different tests and perform observations of how your child behaves, both at play and during lessons. If they determine your child requires services, they will organize an IEP meeting.
At the meeting, you will have a chance to discuss the evaluation and recommend services and accommodations you believe your child would benefit from. The IEP evaluation team is supposed to work with you to come to a decision together. Once the IEP document is complete, the whole group will sign it, and services will begin immediately. At least once a year, the IEP will be reevaluated to see what services should be added and what should be modified.
Sometimes, the school district will be slow to offer an IEP meeting or fight you on what services to provide. When this happens, the best way to guarantee your child has the things they need to succeed is to hire an IEP defense attorney who will negotiate on your behalf.
Transition Plans
When a Pennsylvania student reaches 14 years old, their IEP will begin to include their postsecondary goals and transition needs, like college, vocational programs, employment, and independent living. Because this year takes into account life after high school, it is also the first year that students will be allowed to participate in the IEP meeting.
It is important to note that while IEPs must be reviewed every year, the current recommendation is for children in high school to have their IEP reviewed every quarter or semester.
Private School Exceptions for Pennsylvania IEP Regulations
As with most federal regulations, they do not usually extend to private institutions. When a parent places their child in a private school, the child does not have the same rights to an IEP as public students do. However, intermediate units (regional educational service agencies) are required to meet with the private school administrators in their areas and discuss the services they can provide.
At a minimum, the local school district must offer private school students with disabilities an evaluation for special education and special education services eligibility. If they discover the student is eligible for special education services, the school district must offer the child a FAPE in the public school, though the parents can refuse this offer.
There are cases where a public school student who is not receiving the appropriate accommodations or services to succeed will be allowed to pursue their education in a private school, with the public school district's financial help. While this is rare and usually decided case-by-case, a skilled attorney will be able to find evidence of case precedent and help you negotiate for it with your district.
Pennsylvania's Additional Requirements
While Pennsylvania has adopted the IDEA regulations, it continues to provide additional services to help students. As of 2023, some of these initiatives included:
- Academic Services and No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB): If the child's school has failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress for more than two years in a row, they will be eligible for Supplemental Educational Services (SES).
- Student Services: All PA public schools must develop and promote a comprehensive Student Services Plan. This plan must provide developmental services, diagnostic and referral services, and consultation and coordination of the services for students who are having problems in school.
- State law limits the number of preschoolers each teacher can have. Teachers who work in regular preschools to provide support to preschoolers with disabilities can have between 20-40 children on their caseload. But if they are teaching preschoolers in special education classrooms, they can only have 6 to 11 children on their caseload unless there is another teacher or paraprofessional in the class.
Emergency Event Plans & IEPs
The federal government requires all school districts to implement specific procedures for students and staff during an emergency. Throughout the year, these procedures are practiced in fire drills, active-shooter drills, or tornado warnings. The Federal Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans recommends that school districts include emergency plans in IEPs. That way, when an emergency occurs, both the school and the parents know what to expect. For instance, some accommodations that might be necessary during an emergency include:
- One-to-one supervision during transitions – like drills or emergencies.
- A pre-identified quiet place for the child to self-regulate.
- Access to sanitation stations or hand sanitizer.
- A peer buddy system.
- Self-calm strategies.
- Access to emergency medications.
- Access to earplugs or noise-canceling headphones.
- Extra practice of emergency procedures to ensure the child understands what to do.
- If the child has a service animal, make sure the animal is familiar with as many people from the school as possible and has participated in the drills with the child.
- Short-term accommodations for children with temporary abilities.
Additionally, the school must agree to train their faculty and staff in emergency response, which includes knowing how to help the community with children with disabilities and caregivers during such high-stress situations.
If your child's current IEP does not include emergency plans, make sure to bring it up immediately. You do not have to wait for the next scheduled re-evaluation session. IEP meetings can be requested at any time. Contact your child's school to request one and explain you would like to expand the IEP to include emergency plans. If they push back or try to make you wait till the following meeting to request the expansion, contact an attorney today. Schools must provide you with an IEP meeting within a reasonable period of time from when you first request it.
Report: Overview of Special Education in Pennsylvania
Since 1994, when twelve families with children with disabilities sued Pennsylvania for inhibiting their children from receiving regular classroom education with supplementary services and supports, school districts are now required to include detailed information about the child's placement in their IEP. This section of the IEP is called the Penn Data Reporting section.
According to the most recent report, there are almost 1.7 million students enrolled in public education, and over 18% of them are enrolled in special education. With so many students needing IEPs, many schools find it hard to keep up. Not only do the meetings take time, but if everyone on the evaluation team is not on the same page, creating a comprehensive IEP can be a nightmare. This is where a skilled IEP attorney can help.
The LLF Law Firm's Education Law Team understands how important the specifics listed in an IEP are to your child's success, both in school and outside of it. Not only will they be present at every meeting, but they will research the best services and find documentation and case precedents to support your requests.
IDEA Reauthorization
The IDEA has not been reauthorized since 2004, but in 2018, the federal government announced Part B. Part B of the IDEA provides financial assistance for the education of children with disabilities, but to receive it, the state must submit a State Plan for how they will use the assistance and their current policies and procedures. The following are just some of the issues that must be covered in the state plan:
- Pennsylvania's free appropriate public education policy.
- Limitations to their free appropriate public education for children under the age of three.
- Residential placements.
- Assistive technology devices or services offered.
- Extended school year services offered.
- Nonacademic services.
- Physical education requirements.
- Full educational opportunity goal.
- Program options.
- The state's procedures for finding and evaluating children with disabilities.
- IEPs.
- Plans for routine checking of hearing aid and external surgically implanted medical devices.
- Least restrictive environment policy requirements.
- Alternative education placements.
Costs
While IEP services are supposed to be free for all students, there is, unfortunately, limited funding for these services. Additionally, federal law only requires reasonable accommodations, which are only meant to level the playing field between children with disabilities and their classmates. As such, some school districts will cite costs to deny a specific service or accommodation. For instance, if your student has ADHD but takes medication to control it, the school may push back when you ask for unlimited time when taking exams and cite the extra money it will cost to keep a proctor on campus while your child takes their test. An attorney will be able to help you prepare for this meeting so that the process may be moved along more smoothly.
Lack of Funding Does Not End a Student's Right to Education
When the school district cites a lack of funding to deny a request for services or accommodations, you need to push back. While costs of services can certainly be a factor in deciding whether an accommodation is reasonable, it shouldn't be the only factor. During the IEP meetings, you need to make sure the school has specific costs for that service and accommodation as it relates to your child. Do not accept inadequate accommodation and services just because the school district says they have a high cost. Financial limitations really have no place in special education.
Unfortunately, many families are unaware of this and end up backing down, believing the school district without even questioning it. This is why it is so helpful to have an experienced attorney working with you. The attorneys from the LLF Law Firm's Education Law Team have helped students with disabilities all over the country. As such, they have a wealth of knowledge of how these other states operate their IEPs and will be able to use that information to encourage your school district to do what's best for your child without worrying over expenses.
Bureau of Special Education
Under the IDEA, which is a federal law, states must create their own dispute resolution process for IEP conflicts. In Pennsylvania, the Bureau of Special Education (BSE) oversees such complaints.
Once a complaint is made, the BSE will investigate it by performing an initial telephone interview with the complainant and the local education agency (LEA). The LEA will have a chance to review the complaint and respond to the allegations. The BSE has 60 days to investigate the complaint and issue its report. If the parent or guardian and the school agree, the parties can use mediation to resolve the issue. And if the issue is resolved prior to a hearing, you can ask the Hearing Officer to enter the agreement on the record. But if one of the parties will not agree to mediation, the BSE report will determine whether the school broke the law and what actions should be taken.
The BSE will either issue corrective actions or sanctions, or both, on the LEA. The LEA will have a period of time to complete the corrective actions and abide by the sanctions. If they fail to do this in a timely manner, the BSE will then initiate enforcement actions against the LEA.
Due Process Hearing
When a parent feels like their child is not receiving a free appropriate education in the least restrictive environment, they believe the school should pay for an independent educational evaluation, or any other disagreement between the parents and the school district, they have the right to request a due process hearing. Due process hearings, also called special education hearings, must be requested by filing a complaint letter to the school. It's really important to make sure the complaint letter has every issue you want to discuss during the hearing. The Hearing Officer will only review issues that are in that complaint letter.
For instance, if you feel your IEP evaluation team did a poor job of evaluating your child, you can request an independent educational evaluation. Unfortunately, independent evaluations are not necessarily covered by the school district like the in-house one would be, and they can be quite costly. If you believe the district should pay for the independent evaluation, you can ask them to. The school district, though, has the right to either pay for it outright or request a special education hearing to determine if they have to pay for it.
During the hearing, both you and the school will have the opportunity to present witnesses and relevant evidence to support your arguments. You will also have the chance to cross-examine each other's witnesses. It is up to the school district to prove that their evaluation was appropriate. If the Hearing Officer decides it was not an appropriate evaluation, they will make the district pay for your independent one. This entire process must be completed within 45 calendar days unless you or the school request an extension, which the Hearing Officer can refuse.
Once the Hearing Officer's decision is made, either party can appeal it. Appeals for special education hearing decisions must be made within 90 calendar days of receiving the decision. You used to be able to appeal these decisions in front of an Appeals Panel, but now appeals are heard by the state or federal courts.
As with most hearings, there are a lot of regulations and procedural policies to follow throughout the whole process. If you were to try to advocate for your child in a special education hearing alone, you might be worried you'll forget something, which could affect your child's future. We understand how overwhelming it can be and will work diligently to alleviate this burden from you.
Special Considerations for Preschoolers
While federal law requires free appropriate public education from kindergarten through twelfth grade, they have also required free appropriate preschool programs available to children with disabilities or developmental delays aged three to five (or whatever age they start kindergarten). These early intervention (EI) programs are provided by intermediate units, rather than the school district.
Under the free appropriate education preschool program, students can have early access to speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, audiology services, and other types of therapies and services. In this case, children with disabilities can progress in the same manner as other children their age. If disputes arise around the EI services or evaluation, parents or guardians must file their complaint with the state's Bureau of Early Intervention Services. And once the child enters preschool, they are no longer eligible for EI, and parents must pursue an IEP instead.
Protect Your Student's Rights
Every child with a disability in the United States has the right to a free appropriate public education under the IDEA. As such, school districts are supposed to provide students with appropriate services to help them succeed in school and receive an education. Individualized Education Plans were initiated to make those service and accommodation agreements legally binding on school districts. So, when school districts purposefully inhibit your child from getting the accommodations or extra help they need, they are violating the law.
As experienced IEP defense attorneys, LLF Law Firm's Education Law Team not only knows what kind of obstacles you might be up against, but they understand how confusing this whole experience can be for most families. With clients in major cities and rural communities all over the country, their breadth of knowledge sets them apart. Your child has a right to education, and having a disability, whether physical or mental, should not prevent them from succeeding in life. Call 888-535-3686 today or schedule a consultation online. LLF Law Firm can help.
