Special education in K-12 increasingly recognizes the importance of both early intervention and postsecondary transitions as necessary parts of the learning experience. Oklahoma responded to this research by expanding its pre-K and transition services for students with disabilities.
All students in the United States have the right to a free, appropriate public education. For students with disabilities, this right extends to the services and support they require to access and benefit from that education. A key component of this right is the Individualized Education Program, or Plan (IEP). Created in partnerships between families and schools, IEPs list the support and services students with disabilities require as a necessary part of their education.
Disagreements about IEPs can occur at any point in the process, from the initial request to evaluation to the annual review. Given the high stakes of education and how a child's education can affect their future, these disagreements can be stressful for both parents and children. The Lento Law Firm works with families nationwide to navigate these disagreements and focus on resolutions that are collaborative and focused on your student's best interests.
What is an IEP?
An IEP is a guide to the services, support, accommodations, and modifications a student with disabilities requires as part of their education. Federal law requires that school districts and families meet at least once a year to revise a student's IEP, although meetings can be more frequent if revision is needed.
An IEP should focus on the individual student and not on the student's disability. Two students with the same disability may require different support or accommodations. Other factors beyond the student's disability can influence what their IEP should include. These details can include a student's strengths, their goals and interests, their age, and the severity of their disability.
Federal Law
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are the three major federal laws that establish the rights of individuals with disabilities. For K-12 students with disabilities, IDEA is the law that provides them with the majority of rights.
IDEA applies to K-12 students in public schools. While private schools may have similar policies, these policies do not have the backing of federal or state law.
IDEA requires that all public school districts in Oklahoma provide support when children and students meet the following criteria:
- Has a qualifying disability
- Is between the ages of 3 and 21
- Has not graduated from high school or received a GED or a similar completion certificate
- Lives within a district's boundaries
Schools must provide these services to all students with disabilities who live within their district. These services and accommodations must be provided free of charge to families.
Common Terms
Free appropriate public education (FAPE), least restrictive environment, and reasonable accommodations are three terms that regularly appear in conversations and resources about special education and IEPs.
FAPE
The United States gives all children the right to a free appropriate public education. Within disability rights in K-12 education, FAPE is also a commonly used shorthand term for both the education and the services and support all students with disabilities have a right to under the law. For example, if a school district is not providing a student with an accommodation, the disagreement may be phrased as “this school is not providing this student with a free appropriate public education.”
Least Restrictive Environment
The goal of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is to ensure that students with disabilities are part of general education classrooms and the general school community as much as possible. One of the underpinnings behind this policy is that education is about more than learning but has other components, such as social and emotional aspects, that benefit all students.
The majority of students with disabilities are in general education classrooms for most of their school day. Some students, however, may require more specialized instruction or not benefit from time in a general education classroom.
LRE placement should always be based on the individual student and what is best for them. Placement should be discussed during IEP meetings.
Reasonable Accommodations
Schools do not have to offer the best, most expensive, or most effective accommodations to students. IDEA requires that accommodation be reasonable. This means accommodations are effective for the student and do not place an undue burden (such as cost) on the school or a member of the school community. Accommodations also do not have to put a student on identical footing with other students, merely similar.
Qualifying Disabilities
Families cannot simply request that their child have an IEP. To qualify for an IEP, a student must:
- Have a disability and
- That disability must have a negative impact on their ability to learn Oklahoma defines the following categories as being qualified disability for IEPs:
- Autism
- Deaf-Blindness
- Deafness
- Developmental Delay (DD)
- Emotional Disturbance(ED)
- Hearing Impairment
- Intellectual Disability (ID)
- Multiple Disabilities
- Orthopedic Impairment
- Other Health Impaired (OHI)
- Specific Learning Disability (SLD)
- Speech or Language Impairment
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Visual Impairment (VI)
Qualifying for an IEP
Oklahoma publishes a Special Education Services Evaluation and Eligibility Handbook. This 150-page document, available online, provides details on how students establish eligibility for special services. The guide includes details on each disability, such as the indicators of that disability and the required components for a student to receive a diagnosis for that disability.
While the general steps to qualify for an IEP are the same, how a student is evaluated and assessed will depend on their suspected disability. For some students, such as those who already have a medical diagnosis, the process for approval may be fairly straightforward with minimal assessment. Other disabilities may be more difficult to evaluate and test. Students may need to go through multiple assessments.
In cases when a student's disability is not easy to diagnose or measure, parents and guardians should not accept "good enough." These assessments can inform the type and extent of services their student receives. Incomplete or inaccurate assessments can affect a student's IEP and may result in a student not receiving effective or adequate services and accommodations.
Steps to Qualify
Guthrie Public Schools provide families with a Special Education Handbook. Available online, while this handbook is specific to Guthrie, parents and guardians throughout Oklahoma may find the information useful as many of the policies and procedures come from federal law.
Guthrie provides parents with a table that gives them an overview of the process for determining IEP eligibility. The general steps are:
Referral
Someone, often a parent, guardian, or teacher, refers a student to a local district for evaluation. Referrals occur when someone believes a student has a disability.
Request for Initial Evaluation
The district will consider the referral, obtain parent consent, and determine if the child should be referred for testing and assessment.
In some cases, additional assessment will not be needed. For example, if families can provide medical records or other evidence of a child's disability, a school may consider that sufficient to establish a student's disability and need for an IEP.
One example of when additional assessment may not be necessary is if a child moves into a district and has an IEP with their previous school. While a district may request additional evaluation, they may use the previous district's assessment and/or the student's current IEP.
If a district denies a request for evaluation, parents or guardians may appeal the decision. They may also choose to pay for private testing.
Evaluation
What this step involves will vary depending on the student, the student's age, and the student's suspected disability. These details determine the type of testing and evaluation.
Determining the most effective testing and evaluation options can be a point of contention between families and school districts. As the outcome of these assessments determines what services and support a student will receive, parents should be active participants in this step and ensure that the evaluation is comprehensive.
Similar to when districts deny an initial evaluation, parents and guardians can contest a district's decisions and/or choose to pay for testing. If families decide to pay for assessments out of pocket, they should first check to see what a school district requires to accept outside evaluations. That families paid for testing does not obligate districts to accept those results.
Similar to drafting an IEP, assessment should not treat a child as their disability. As disabilities can present differently in each child and require different services and support, different children may require different types of evaluations to determine what disability they have, if any, and its extent. This step can be especially complicated if a child has multiple disabilities and/or developmental delays in multiple areas.
Eligibility Decision
Based on the assessment, a school district will decide whether the child has a qualifying disability. If a child has a disability, the district will schedule an initial IEP meeting with parents or guardians to draft the student's IEP.
Families can appeal a district's decision to deny a child's eligibility for special education services.
Reassessment
IDEA requires that districts reevaluate students every three years to determine if they still qualify for services. Either a school or parents and guardians may waive this requirement if they do not believe it is necessary.
For some students, reassessment can be beneficial. Reassessments can potentially result in different results that better reflect the student's current academic progress and skills.
IEP Meetings
Under IDEA, families and schools meet at least once a year to discuss a student's IEP and make any necessary revisions. These meetings determine the support and services a child receives, the frequency of these services, their placement in school, and any transition planning.
Child Find
IDEA requires states to have a program for identifying and assessing babies and toddlers who may have disabilities. IDEA refers to these pre-K programs as Child Find. In Oklahoma, this early intervention service is known as SoonerStart. Focusing on newborns to three-year-old toddlers, SoonerStart identifies children and will then provide services to help support them. The program also has resources for families.
Children may qualify for SoonerStart if they meet one of the following criteria:
- Show development age that is at least twenty-five percent of their chronological age
- Score two standard deviations below the mean in one of the following areas: cognitive, physical, communication, social or emotional, or adaptive development
- Score one-and-a-half deviations below the mean in at least two of the following areas: cognitive, physical, communication, social or emotional, or adaptive development
- Have a diagnosed mental or physical disability that has a "high probability of having a developmental delay"
This last point reinforces that having a disability alone is not enough to qualify for services. For babies and toddlers, a disability must affect some component of their development. This delay is more than being "behind on the curve," such as talking at nineteen months.
Jenks Public Schools includes information on developmental milestones on its website. For many families, these resources may be easier to understand than the above thresholds.
State Resources
Oklahoma publishes a variety of guides to help families learn about and navigate both IEPs and the broader special education process. Some of these resources include:
- Special Education 101
- IEP Resources and Documents, such as tips for writing an IEP and nine tests for assessing IEP goals
The state also has the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship. To be eligible for this scholarship, students must have a disability, have an IEP, and have been enrolled in an Oklahoma public school the previous year. The scholarship covers attendance at certain approved private schools with an option for annual renewal.
State-Funded Schools
Oklahoma funds two state schools: The Oklahoma School for the Blind and the Oklahoma School for the Deaf. These schools draw students from across the state. Both have residential campuses with day options. The schools do outreach programs through the state as well as summer programs. Referrals are made through a student's home school district. Tuition is free to families.
OK IPSE Alliance
A partnership between the Department of Rehabilitation Services, Department of Education, and Sooner Success, OK IPSE Alliance focuses on providing the resources and support to enable students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to attend college and other postsecondary programs. The secondary goal of the alliance is that students don't simply attend a postsecondary program but can fully participate in campus life.
Public colleges and universities around the state offer programs. The University of Oklahoma, for example, has Sooner Works. This four-year program has academic, social, and professional components with the goal of building a foundation for independent living as an adult.
As part of a high school student's transition program, families should ask about IPSE's resources and programs. Part of the discussion may include how to draft and/or revise their student's IEP to include the goal of attending one of the alliance's postsecondary programs and the steps to make that goal a reality.
School and District Programs
Districts do not have to offer identical services or accommodations. Each district can decide on its own programs, and issues such as funding and staffing can influence what programs and services a school offers.
Districts merely need to meet the standard of 'reasonable accommodations' – AKA what is effective – to comply with federal law. This is why it's important for families, especially when moving or before a child attends school, to learn more about a school's special education programs.
Edmond Public Schools provides families with a brochure of their special services. This pamphlet includes an overview of how age, type of disability, and severity of the disability influence the type and level of support and services a student receives.
Tulsa Public Schools established a PTA that focuses on special education. Recognizing the unique needs of special education and how the school community as a whole benefits from a strong special education program, this PTA focuses on supporting the district's special education services and increasing outcomes for students. Anyone in the Tulsa community can join the group.
Schools may also go above and beyond federal requirements. Stillwater Public Schools, for example, have partnerships with off-campus organizations. A student's IEP can include these activities as part of the alternative education curriculum. These opportunities include:
- Adaptive Aquatics
- Therapeutic Swim
- Therapeutic Horseback Riding
- Special Olympics
These programs recognize the importance of considering the whole child when drafting an IEP. By going beyond the classroom, an IEP can provide wider support for students.
Dispute Resolution
Disagreements between families and schools can arise for any number of reasons throughout the IEP process. Parents can challenge a school's decision not to evaluate their child for a disability or question revisions or lack of revisions to a student's IEP. Anticipating the need for ways to resolve disagreements, Congress included dispute resolution options in IDEA.
Following the requirements of IDEA, Oklahoma has four avenues for dispute resolution:
- Facilitated IEP
- Mediation
- State Complaint
- Due Process Hearing
Facilitated IEP
If and when families and schools disagree over a student's IEP, either party can request a facilitated IEP meeting. A neutral third party, available at no cost to schools and families, will lead the facilitated IEP meeting. This third party does not offer legal advice or resolution. Their purpose is to keep both parties focused on the issue at hand and encourage a dialogue between schools and families.
Mediation
Free to both school districts and families, mediation involves a neutral third party helping the two sides work to find a resolution. If and when schools and families cannot reach an agreement on an aspect of a student's IEP or other special education services, the third party will help both sides communicate. Oklahoma makes several mediation resources available on the Department of Education website.
Mediation and facilitated IEPs are similar in that both involve a third party leading a conversation between schools and families. Where they differ is in scope. Mediation can deal with any disagreement over special education, including IEPs. Facilitated IEP meetings have a narrowed focus – namely, a dispute over some aspect of a student's IEP.
State Complaint
Anyone can file a complaint if they have reason to believe that a school district is violating IDEA. State complaints must be written and do not need to focus on any individual student. The written complaint must include evidence or other reasons the person filing a complaint believes a school has violated IDEA. In other words, a complaint must be more than "I think someone broke the law."
An official with the Department of Education will investigate the complaint and issue a report. If they believe a violation did occur, they will potentially include recommended actions to end the violation and a timetable in which the school must make changes.
Due Process Hearing
Perhaps the most formal dispute resolution option under IDEA, dispute process hearings are similar to court cases. An administrative law judge will preside over the hearing. Both sides will present evidence and witnesses. The judge will issue a ruling. Either families or a school may appeal the judge's ruling in federal or state court.
Families will be responsible for their own attorney's fees during a due process hearing. Given the high stakes of a due process hearing, many families will often try mediation or other dispute resolution options before turning to a hearing.
Selecting the Right Dispute Resolution Option
When possible, families should first attempt to resolve any issue by scheduling a meeting with a member of the school staff. These informal meetings, if they result in a resolution, are the most time and cost-efficient for all parties. They have the added advantage of minimizing any disruption to a student's schedule or resulting in quicker changes to a student's IEP or support.
Unfortunately, informal meetings are not always successful. When families need to consider other dispute resolution options, working with an experienced legal team can help them consider their options.
One of the most important parts of deciding on a dispute resolution option is considering the end goal – that is, what families want out of the disagreement. Rather than focus on adversarial tactics, the Lento Law Firm focuses on collaborative strategies when possible that put the student's education and well-being at the center of the resolution options and process.
Protect Your Student's Right to a Free Appropriate Public Education
For K-12 students with disabilities, their right to education includes the services, support, and accommodations they need to benefit from their time in school. If and when a school fails in its responsibility to provide these services, federal law provides avenues to resolve the disagreement.
From failing to acknowledge a student's need for an IEP to not implementing services included in a student's IEP, schools can fall short at any point in the process. When problems arise, the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can help families find a solution. Contact us online or at (888) 535-3686.
