The Toledo, Ohio, Area has many fine schools at all levels, from elementary and secondary schools right up through college and university programs. Yet, as rich as the educational opportunities are in the Toledo, Ohio area, those schools, like schools elsewhere, do not always meet their federal and state law obligations to provide disabled students with necessary services and accommodations. If you or your minor student attend a Toledo, Ohio, area school that does not provide what disability rights laws require, then retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team to enforce those disability rights. Call 888.535.3686 now or use our contact form to tell us about your Toledo, Ohio, area case.
Toledo, Ohio Area Demographics
The Toledo, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area is at the state's northern border with Michigan. The Toledo, Ohio, area has a population of nearly 650,000, making it one of the major metropolitan areas in the state. Toledo is the sixth largest metropolitan area in Ohio, after Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Akron. Just forty miles from Detroit, Toledo has strong ties with the regional economy, with many commuters even from outside the state. Per capita and household incomes are both below the national median, reflecting in part the area's lower cost of living but also indicating a higher-than-average poverty rate. Housing values are half the national median. The area's median age, at 39 years, equals the national median age. Fertility rates are higher than the national average, while marriage rates are somewhat lower. As to education, more area residents have high school diplomas than the national average, but fewer residents have college or university degrees.
Toledo, Ohio Organization
The Toledo, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area includes four counties: Fulton County; Lucas County, which is the home of the area's major city, Toledo; Ottawa County; and Wood County. Toledo has a population of over 270,000, which is nearly half of the area's population. Other communities of reasonable size include Archbold, Delta, Fayette, Lyons, Metamora, Swanton, and Wauseon in Fulton County, Berkey, Harbor View, Holland, Maumee, Oregon, Ottawa Hills, Sylvania, Waterville, and Whitehouse in Lucas County, and Bowling Green, Weston, Millbury, Luckey, Hoytville, Custer, Perrysburg, Rossford, Cygnet, and Wayne in Wood County. Our premier Student Defense Team is prepared to serve you or your minor student in any of these communities throughout the Toledo, Ohio, area to advocate for education disability rights.
Toledo, Ohio Schools
The Toledo, Ohio Metropolitan Area has many fine school districts across the region. We are available to help you in any of those schools. The area's top school districts include Perrysburg Schools, Anthony Wayne Local School District, Ottawa Hills Local School District, Liberty Center Local School District, Sylvania City School District, Eastwood Local School District, Monroe Intermediate School District, Benton Carroll Salem Local School District, Van Buren Local School District, and Dundee Community Schools, among many other fine school districts. Let our skilled and experienced attorneys help you and your student advocate for your student's education disability rights in any of the area's K-12 schools.
Toledo, Ohio Colleges and Universities
The Toledo, Ohio, area has the advantage of offering many fine college and university opportunities, too. Those institutions of higher education have their own obligations to comply with education disability rights laws. Our attorneys are available to help you advocate for those higher education disability rights. Toledo, Ohio, area colleges and universities include the University of Toledo, Mercy College of Ohio, Lourdes University, Bowling Green State University, Professional Skills Institute, Owens Community College, Davis University, Stautzenberger College, Monroe County Community College, and Ross College.
Ohio Law Disabled Student Rights
Federal law may provide the primary protections for students with disabilities, but Ohio law can provide substantial protections in certain cases, especially in K-12 public schools. The Ohio Department of Education & Workforce enacted its state special education regulations to obtain federal certification that it meets federal special education funding standards. In short, your student's Toledo area K-12 public school likely receives substantial federal monies to pay for the special education services your student needs. Consider the following substantive rights and procedural protections that our attorneys may be able to help you enforce under Ohio law, rule, and regulation.
Ohio Disabled Student Substantive Rights
Ohio's administrative code details the education disability regulations that the state's Department of Education & Workforce adopted for your Toledo area K-12 public school student's special education services. Let us help you enforce any of these Ohio state law substantive regulatory rights:
- that the school provide your disabled student with a free appropriate public education, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-02;
- that the school maintain and implement a child find program to identify your student as qualifying for special education services, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-03;
- that school officials maintain confidentiality about your student's disability, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-04;
- that the school evaluate your student using qualified education disability professionals and grant you the right to obtain a second evaluation at school cost if disagreeing with the initial evaluation, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-06;
- that the school write and implement an individualized education program for your student with your participation, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-07; and
- that the school provides modified special materials for your student's visual impairment or other disability under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-21.
Ohio Disabled Student Procedural Protections
Ohio's administrative code also details abundant procedural safeguards that the state's Department of Education & Workforce adopted if you have a dispute with your student's Toledo area K-12 public school over your student's special education services. We can help you invoke any of these Ohio regulatory procedural safeguards:
- that the school notify you and obtain your consent to evaluate your student for disabilities, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-05(C);
- that the school permit you to examine your student's educational and disability records, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-05(F);
- that the school permit you to participate in all IEP team meetings and other meetings relating to your student's disabilities, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-05(F);
- that the school notify you and allow you to participate in a meeting before changing your student's special education services, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-05(H);
- that the school notify you at least annually of your procedural safeguards, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-05(I);
- that the school provide you with a due process dispute resolution procedure, including mediation and formal hearing rights, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-05(K); and
- that you have the right to seek court review of the final administrative action on your complaint for violation of your disabled student's special education rights, under Ohio Administrative Code Section 3301-51-05(K)(16).
Disabled Student IDEA Law Rights
Ohio state laws, rules, and regulations supplement and carry out the substantial rights that the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees to your disabled Toledo area K-12 public school student. Those IDEA law rights include the following principal features.
The IDEA Law's Individualized Education Program or Plan
You may already be well aware that the IDEA law requires your student's Toledo area K-12 public school to provide your student with an individualized education program (IEP) to meet your student's special education needs. Our attorneys can help if your student's school has not provided an IEP, has not permitted you and your student to participate in the meetings leading to the IEP, has not implemented the IEP, or has modified the IEP without your participation.
The IDEA Law's Free Appropriate Public Education Promise
Your disabled student's Toledo area K-12 public school has the IDEA law's obligation to provide your student with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). That mandate means that your student's school must generally provide instruction equivalent to the instruction it provides non-disabled students, as appropriate to the grade level. Your disabled student should get the same general instruction and other educational opportunities as non-disabled students, even if that equivalence requires assistive devices, assistive services, building modifications, special lifts or equipment, and modified materials, schedules, and exam settings. Let us help you advocate for your student's FAPE rights.
The IDEA Law's Least Restrictive Environment Promise
Your disabled student's Toledo area K-12 public school should also be instructing your student in the least restrictive environment (LRE). That mandate means that your student's school should not be segregating, isolating, or warehousing your student away from other students simply because your student has a disability and special instructional needs. The LRE mandate has to do with ensuring that disabled students get to participate in the regular classroom for social, emotional, and other development. Let us help if your student's school is removing and isolating your student unnecessarily, as a matter of convenience, or for other inappropriate causes.
Disabled Student ADA Rights
Other federal laws may also protect you or your student against disability discrimination. These federal anti-discrimination laws may apply not only to Toledo area K-12 public schools but also to colleges and universities beyond the K-12 levels. The primary non-discrimination law is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA applies not only to the workplace and places of public accommodation but also to schools. Let our skilled and experienced attorneys help you or your student apply the following ADA constructs to obtain the appropriate disability accommodations in Toledo area schools at all levels.
ADA Qualifying Disabilities
To obtain ADA protections, the student must show a qualifying disability. While the IDEA law does not define disabilities, the ADA defines a qualifying disability as “a physical or mental impairment,” except that the impairment must also “substantially limit one or more major life activities.” A physical impairment could be the inability to walk, stand, sit, lift, carry, or otherwise move about. Physical impairments can also include loss of hearing, blindness, and other sensory impairments, affecting the ability to hear or see. Mental impairments can include ADHD, ADD, autism, and similar learning disabilities, affecting the ability to think, understand, reason, concentrate, and remember. We can help you or your student advocate for a qualifying disability.
ADA Reasonable Accommodations
Once the disabled student shows a qualifying disability, the ADA requires the Toledo area school to reasonably accommodate the disability. Reasonable accommodation is a broad term that may require the school to modify buildings with ramps and lifts, modify rooms with wider doors, modify restrooms with railings, and provide modified instructional materials, assistive devices, note-taker services, reader services, isolated exam rooms, and extended exam times, among other accommodations. The school may claim excessive cost or unreasonable disruption, but you have the right to show that the accommodations you or your student need are of reasonable cost, reasonable availability, and reasonably non-disruptive. Let our attorneys help you make that showing.
Education Disability Rights Advocates
Advocating for education disability rights can be daunting. You must generally know not only the substantive state and federal law but also the special protective safeguards and procedures. You must then convince school officials that you have the knowledge, skill, and other means to compel the school's compliance when its officials won't voluntarily do so. Our attorneys have the skills and experience you need. They also have a reputation and know how to form and maintain relationships with school officials to help you get the relief you need. We can evaluate the circumstances and evidence, research the law, organize and present the arguments, and invoke resolution conferences and formal hearings to obtain relief. We can also take appropriate appeals, seek court review, and negotiate through the school district's general counsel office or other oversight channels, even if you have already lost all hearings.
Toledo, Ohio Education Disability Rights Attorneys
The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available across the Toledo, Ohio, Metropolitan Area to help you or your student advocate for special education services, disability accommodations, and other rights. Our attorneys help hundreds of students nationwide with disability rights issues and other school disputes. Call 888.535.3686 now or use our contact form to tell us about your case.
