Parents of children with special needs rely on schools to provide their children with an education that meets their special needs so they can grow and prosper, and the federal government requires it. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), enacted in 1975, mandates that public schools provide all eligible students ages 3-21 with a free and appropriate education. As many as 15% of school-aged children in the United States receive special education in public schools, which translates to roughly 7.3 million students. Children can prosper in these programs, provided the school reasonably accommodates their disability. But when schools fail to provide for special education students, the students suffer. Not only is their education unreasonable, but their discipline is as well. A national education attorney from the Student Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm has represented students across the country — including special education students — facing a disability rights issue. Don't let your student be subject to suspension, expulsion, or alternative disciplinary education. Contact the Lento Law Firm today at 888.535.3686 or online.
Special Education Rights
Schools offer special education programs to help children with disabilities learn. This goes beyond just placing them in a special classroom all day. Federal law requires that children placed in special education services learn in the same classrooms as other students as much as possible. This placement is referred to as a least restrictive environment (LRE). The services and support required for one student can be very different from those of another student. Special education is about giving each child the resources they need to progress in school. Children who qualify for special education have an Individualized Education Program, often referred to as an IEP. Children with IEPs receive individualized learning and other resources at no cost to their families. Specialists work with each student's strengths and challenges and bring in families as key members of the team that decides what each child needs to thrive in school. Under IDEA, the school is required to identify students with disabilities, adopt and prepare an IEP for each student, and implement the IEP to reasonably accommodate your child's disability.
What is an IEP?
Individualized Education Programs, sometimes called Individual Education Plans, are vital to the success of a child in special education. Without the preparation of a solid IEP and the school's diligent implementation of that plan, your school will be unable to reasonably accommodate your student's disability and achieve your child's education goals, whether it is to prepare them for college or vocational training, or helping them learn life skills. Students with IEPs will likely have accommodations to help them achieve their goals, and some will have modifications. Accommodations are changes that officials make to how a student learns. For example, a student with dyslexia may listen to an audio version of an assigned book to learn what the rest of the class is reading. Modifications are changes officials make to what a teacher teaches a student. For example, a teacher may assign a special education student an easier reading assignment different from the rest of the class. The bottom line is that special education ensures students with disabilities have a current IEP in place to progress in school. You can hold your school accountable if your special needs child does not have a current IEP.
Special Education Issues for K-12 Students
Federal law charges schools with preparing IEPs under 34 CFR Section 300.321. To do this, schools establish an IEP team. The school must include the student's parents or guardians in the IEP team, the student's regular education teacher, one or more special education teachers, the school's IEP supervisor, a public agency representative who can interpret recommended accommodations and modifications, and your student when appropriate. The school should never exclude you from IEP team meetings or omit you from decisions regarding your child. These are your rights. However, that doesn't ensure your school will respect them. Special education students can face substantial issues that can delay and detract from their education and prevent them from progressing. They can also face disciplinary measures such as suspension, expulsion, or alternative school placement. Don't let a school's inadequate special education program put your child at risk. If your special needs child isn't thriving in school or is facing disciplinary action, contact the Student Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm as soon as possible.
Failure to Identify Your Student as Having a Disability
The sooner school officials identify a child's disability, the sooner they can be connected to resources and the better equipped they will be to progress in school. However, teachers, administrators, and even the school's disability accommodation officials fail to identify a student with a disability that affects their learning. IDEA defines student disability as “having an intellectual disability, a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance…, an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, another health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.” The definition is broad enough to include disabilities that are not specifically named. Schools often fail to identify students with special needs. Parents who suspect their child has a learning disability may have to take it upon themselves to urge the school to evaluate their child for them to get the services they need and deserve. Parents and educators are responsible for and have the right to request a full, individual, comprehensive, multi-disciplinary evaluation If they suspect a child has a disability. These requests should be in writing in the form of a letter to your child's principal or the school district's director or coordinator of special education. In some states, however, parents may be required to sign a school district form.
Failure to Properly Constitute Your Student's IEP Team
Schools may fail to appoint the required regular teacher, special education teacher, supervisor, and consultants to your student's IEP team. An IEP team without all required members may fail to determine the special education services your child needs
Failure to Meet Annually and as Requested or Required
Once the team develops a child's IEP, the IEP team must meet at least once a year. These meetings usually involve reviewing the IEP and how well it is helping the student progress on grade-level standards. If your student's IEP team fails to meet at least annually, your child may miss out on necessary special education services or accommodations. This can hamper their ability to progress in school and their educational goals.
Failure to Adopt, Maintain, and Update an IEP
Even if your child's IEP team meets annually, as required, it may fail to adopt or share with you its prepared plan for your child. If the services discussed are not in the written plan, your child may not get the services they need.
Failure to Reasonably Accommodate
Your school has a legal obligation to reasonably accommodate your child's disability. Even if the IEP team meets regularly and prepares and updates your child's IEP, they may not implement the practices identified in that plan. If your child's school hasn't adopted and implemented your child's IEP, your student likely isn't getting the required services.
Failure to Conduct a Manifestation Determination
When a school fails in its obligation to reasonably accommodate a student's disability, the student may act out and face disciplinary measures. Federal law requires schools to conduct a manifestation determination before changing the placement of a special needs child due to alleged misconduct. Manifestation determinations help ensure that a school isn't discriminating against a special education student by imposing sanctions for behavior that is a manifestation of the child's disability. It is a violation of your child's disability rights if your child's school changes your child's courses, suspends or expels them, or transfers them to an alternative disciplinary school without conducting a required manifestation determination.
Sanctions Schools Impose
Unfortunately, school officials sometimes impose discipline against special education students whose disabilities unduly affect their academic performance and social behavior. When a school fails to accommodate a student's disabilities, the student may fall behind on lessons, do poorly in school, fail to meet attendance requirements, or even act out in a disruptive way. As a result, school officials may charge the special needs child with behavioral, academic, or even sexual misconduct. They may also identify the student as failing to progress academically. These charges can result in one of the following school sanctions:
- lost honors, service awards, and other distinctions that may be motivating your child to succeed in school or be helpful or necessary for college or vocational school admission, internships, and jobs;
- loss of school athletics privileges and co-curricular or extracurricular activities like band or clubs that may be key to your student's physical, mental, or social development;
- course reassignment, teacher reassignment, and other changes in your student's academics that may adversely affect your student's motivation or derail your student's post-high school track;
- school suspension that removes your child to home for schooling away from peers, teachers, and supportive environments and relationships;
- school expulsion that turns a short-term suspension into a long-term suspension; and
- alternative disciplinary placement that warehouses your child in an unstructured and part-time academic environment without special educational support.
What More is at Stake with IEP Issues
Special education students can face school sanctions when accused of misconduct, but they also face other losses. Traditional K-12 schools help students transition from elementary school to middle school and middle school to high school — not just inside the classroom but outside through peer relationships, teacher relationships, and other mentor relationships. Interruptions in school lessons and activities — and a loss of those environmental and social supports — through a loss of privileges, suspension, or expulsion can seriously affect a student's physical, mental, and social development. Don't let an IEP issue ruin your student's education and opportunities. Retain an attorney experienced in student defense. Contact the Lento Law Firm to enforce your student's IEP rights.
How a National Education Attorney Can Help
Parents of special education students may be tempted to go it alone against school officials when arguing for their child's legal rights. But parents don't always know what their special needs child is legally entitled to. They may also lack the procedural skills to enforce those rights in academic and administrative proceedings. Some parents may retain local criminal defense lawyers with little or no experience with school proceedings. If your child is facing disciplinary measures or not getting the special education services they need and are entitled to, you need an experienced and aggressive team on your side. Contact the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team and protect your child and their future.
Alternative Special Relief
If you have already exhausted all administrative proceedings in your child's school district but to no avail, don't give up. A national school discipline defense attorney can explore alternative special relief through the district's general counsel, outside retained counsel, or another oversight office. In some cases, litigation may be an option, however, this avenue can take months or even years to reach a positive resolution. The Student Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm has years of experience helping special education students and their families negotiate with oversight officials for special alternative relief and reinstating the student to school even after all other hearings and appeals proved unsuccessful.
Contact the Student Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm Today
Federal law mandates that all children with disabilities have access to special education and accommodations or modifications to help them obtain an education and progress in school. If your school doesn't provide what your child needs, they won't reach their potential and could face unjust disciplinary measures. Don't let your child suffer reassignment, suspension, expulsion, or alternative school placement. Contact the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or online today, and let's discuss your case.
