All K-12 students with a disability have a legal right to an Individualized Education Program (IEP). All children in the United States have the right to a free, appropriate public education. For students with disabilities, this right extends to the support, services, accommodations, and modifications they require to access that education. An IEP is a crucial component of ensuring those services and supports.
Students with disabilities who reside in Colorado can take advantage of a variety of programs and resources. Public school districts throughout the state offer a range of programs for students with disabilities.
The education a student receives can determine their future path. Given the high stakes, especially for students with disabilities, disagreements are not uncommon. If and when a dispute occurs, Colorado offers mechanisms to resolve the issue. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team works nationwide with families to help them get the support and services their student requires to succeed in school.
What is an IEP?
An IEP is a roadmap of the services, support, and accommodations a student with disabilities requires as part of their education. IEPs are legally binding documents that outline the educational plan for students with disabilities, including the services, support, and accommodations they need. An IEP may also include a transition plan.
Once a student qualifies as having a disability, their parents or guardians will meet with school officials to craft the IEP. Depending on the student's age and disability, they may be part of the meeting. Involving the student when appropriate can be beneficial for the student in the long term as it can be the first step to teaching students how to advocate for themselves.
The IEP team, which includes parents, teachers, and other professionals, collaborates to identify the student's strengths and needs and develop appropriate goals and accommodations. IEPs must be reviewed each school year, including updating and revising the IEP to better serve the student.
In Colorado, the primary federal law for IEPs is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The primary state law is the Colorado Exceptional Children's Educational Act (ECEA). The goal of these laws is to ensure that students with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education.
Focus on the Individual
An IEP should be based on your student. While students with the same disability may need or benefit from similar support and accommodations, this is not automatic. Students are more than their disabilities, and IEPs should consider the whole student.
Similarly, an IEP and related accommodations and services are intended to put a student on similar, not equal, footing to other students. Neither should an accommodation give them an advantage over other students.
During IEP meetings, parents and guardians should keep these considerations in mind. Schools are unlikely to approve accommodations that disadvantage other students, and families should not accept blanket accommodations that focus on a student's disability alone.
Federal Law
Three federal laws make up the foundation of disability rights in education. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) each play a role in protecting the rights of students and individuals with disabilities. IDEA, which focuses on K-12 public education, established IEPs.
An important caveat about IDEA and IEPs is that they apply to students who have not yet graduated from high school. While the upper age range is 21, that age applies only if the individual has not graduated from high school. A student attending college, even if under 21, has no right to an IEP.
On the other end of the spectrum, recent efforts have expanded early intervention and Child Find services. Colorado, for example, is expanding its Child Find services as well as its preschool program to include students with IEPs.
These early intervention services are part of a larger requirement of IDEA. Namely, school districts must identify all children with disabilities within their boundaries. Even if a child is homeschooled or attends a private or charter school, a public school still has an obligation to provide support and services to that child.
On a related note, families should be aware that IDEA applies only to public schools. While private schools and programs may have IEPs or similar support services, they do not carry the backing of federal law.
Summary: Who Qualifies for Support
Under IDEA, school districts must provide support for children and students who 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, support, and accommodations to students with disabilities free of charge to their families. The exception is if all students are accessed a fee.
Common Terms in Disability Rights Law
Disability rights in education use specific terms and acronyms that can be intimidating for families. Some of these terms may be specific to a specific disability, while others are umbrella terms.
Three of the more commonly-used umbrella terms are:
- Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
- Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
- Reasonable accommodations
FAPE
In the United States, all children have a right to a free, appropriate public education. For students with disabilities, this extends to the services, support, and accommodations they require to access that education.
When disputes arise about IEPs, it is not uncommon for one of the issues to be whether a student is being deprived of access to FAPE.
Least Restrictive Environment
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is the idea that students with disabilities benefit from being in general education classrooms and the general school community as much as possible. While the majority of students with disabilities spend the majority of their time in general education classrooms, some students will not benefit from this placement or need more specialized support.
LRE is about the specific student and what is best for them. Weighed against this consideration is whether a student's placement in a general education classroom places an undue burden on others.
If a student's placement in a general education classroom would hinder other student's access to FAPE, for example, a school may not place the student in that classroom. This will be the case even if a family would prefer their student be in a general education classroom.
Reasonable Accommodations
Schools do not have to provide students with all possible accommodations or the best accommodation or support. They must instead provide students with reasonable accommodations.
What is reasonable depends on a variety of factors, including:
- What is the cost of the accommodation?
- Does the accommodation place an undue burden on the school or other members of the school community?
- Is the accommodation effective for the student?
- Does the accommodation place a student on a similar footing to other students?
This is not an exhaustive list. Families should understand that schools do not have an obligation to provide the most expensive, newest, or most effective accommodation, merely one that is effective.
Colorado Law
In Colorado, the Exceptional Children's Educational Act (ECEA) is the primary law for students with disabilities and IEPs. The majority of regulations for the ECEA can be found in Title 22 of the Colorado Code.
The Rules for the Administration of the ECEA govern the implementation of special education and related services. Parents or guardians who wish to review the laws related to special education services should begin with the rules for administration. A single document is easier to navigate and search than the overall code.
The IEP Process
Students must first meet the standards of having a qualifying disability before a school district must provide them with an IEP. The Colorado Department of Education has a procedural guide available to parents that explains the IEP process, including common terms and specifics for each disability. This document, at almost 160 pages, is free to the public to access and use.
Colorado defines the following as qualifying disabilities:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Deaf-Blindness
- Developmental Delay
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing
- Infant/Toddler with a Disability
- Intellectual Disability
- Multiple Disabilities
- Orthopedic Impairment
- Other Health Impaired
- Serious Emotional Disability
- Specific Learning Disability
- Speech or Language Impairment
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Visual Impairment, Including Blindness
The Department of Education has specific contacts for each disability. The contact information is available on their website.
Once a student has a qualifying disability, families will meet with the school district at the initial IEP Meeting. Additional meetings must be conducted at least annually. Parents or guardians may request meetings at any point if they think a student's IEP is no longer effective or not being properly implemented.
Timing of the IEP
Colorado encourages families to have the IEP in place at the start of the school year. This includes having meetings during the summer or between school sessions. The state also encourages parents and guardians to schedule meetings at any point during the school year to review and revise a student's IEP.
The state, however, clarifies that while it's important to have an IEP in place before the beginning of the school year, families and schools are not required to meet to revise an IEP before the school year begins. For new IEPs or IEPs that need revision, a meeting before the start of the school year can be important as it allows a student to start the year with the needed modifications and accommodations already in place.
Put another way, when a student does not require any changes to their IEP or when those changes are minor or unlikely to affect a student's school routine, parents and guardians can wait to schedule meetings during the school year.
ESY
Summer IEP meetings differ from extended-school year services (ESY). ESY services, offered at no cost to families, are for services beyond the regular school year, such as during the summer.
For ESY services, families should begin to discuss their options during the school year before the summer. ESY plans must be included in a student's IEP and, similar to other modifications and accommodations, must be necessary as part of a student receiving FAPE.
Moving with an IEP
IDEA does not contain any explicit provisions for moves between schools. Moving and relocation may present both opportunities and challenges for students with disabilities.
When families are moving between school districts, they should inquire about the local district's programs and services ahead of enrollment. Families should not assume that a district offers the same accommodations or support as a previous school district. A student's new school has no obligation to offer identical accommodations or services.
Neither federal nor Colorado law defines reasonable accommodations as being identical in each school district. A new district may offer different accommodations or services that still meet federal requirements.
Planning for a Move
For some students with disabilities, a move may present challenges and slow or hinder a student's progress. Families should treat a change in schools as any other transition with the added difficulty of a student potentially being in a new house, town, or state or removed from their social circle.
Ahead of a move between schools, parents or guardians may wish to schedule a meeting with both the student's existing IEP team and their future IEP team. In this meeting, they should plan to discuss how to handle the change.
Universal Preschool and Child Find
Colorado's universal preschool program expanded to assist students with educational disabilities in the 2023-2024 school year. For students who qualify for an IEP, they will have access to a program that aligns with their needs.
Families of pre-kindergarten students who have an IEP can apply for various programs through Colorado's Department of Early Childhood Education. What programs or schools a child qualifies for will depend on their disability and their IEP.
Early intervention is a keystone of assisting students with disabilities. Younger children tend to have more adaptable brains, and research indicates that early intervention “contributes to positive changes in a student's health, language and communication, cognitive development and social-emotional development” throughout a child's education and life. To that end, IDEA has the Child Find program to identify children with disabilities before they begin school.
If a parent suspects their toddler may have a disability, they should contact their local school district for assessment. Early intervention and support can positively influence a child's path.
Specialty Schools and Programs
The majority of students with disabilities receive support and services at their assigned school. Some students may require additional support or programs.
Colorado has state programs, and districts also provide specialized programs and services depending on a student's disability. While all school districts must provide accommodations and services for students with disabilities, as part of reasonable accommodations, they do not have to offer all services or identical services. Some school districts may have certain programs or services that better support certain disabilities or additional resources due to funding.
State Schools
The Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind is a state-funded school for students with visual or hearing impairments. Families are not charged tuition if their student attends the school. In addition to its residential school, the school also has statewide outreach programs.
District-Specific Programs
School districts may offer different programs or services. These differences can be due to funding, school size, or the district's outlook and view of how to best support students with disabilities. School districts do not have to offer identical services to meet federal law. If an accommodation is considered effective, a school district is not under an obligation to provide additional services or support.
While parents or guardians may wish to research other programs or support services other districts provide for comparison purposes, that information does not mean a district must change or alter its programs. The exception, of course, is if services and support are not effective for a student.
The following are examples of the services, support, and accommodations that individual school districts in Colorado offer.
Boulder Valley School District
As an open-enrollment school district, Boulder Valley allows families to submit their child's name to an annual lottery to attend a school within the district that is not their home school. The lottery is open to all students and not just those with disabilities. While all schools have special education services, some parents may feel that a different school could better support their student.
The district will also allow Administrative Transfers (AT), which are not intended to bypass the lottery system. The Superintendent's Office makes the final decision for all AT requests. The district also offers nontraditional schools beyond its elementary, middle, and high schools.
Cherry Creek Schools
Cherry Creek is unique in that it has an advisory committee for special education. The committee's meetings are open to the public.
The district also has dedicated programs for students with disabilities. The Joliet Learning Center (JLC) works with students with significant emotional disabilities. The transition program at Fremont works with individuals who are between 18 and 21 years of age to help students who have completed their high school courses but need support during their post-K-12 transition.
Denver Public Schools
Denver Public Schools provides a dedicated handbook about special education within its district. Special education is part of the district's Exceptional Student Services division.
JeffCo Public Schools
Located in Jefferson County, the district accounts for not quite 10 percent of students in Colorado. While the district has a variety of specialized programs, including dedicated transition services, it also has the Rocky Mountain Deaf School. The school serves students with hearing impairments from preschool through high school.
Littleton Public Schools
In addition to special education services, Littleton offers parent workshops throughout the school year. These workshops help educate parents on the relevant laws and other services, allowing them to better understand the system and advocate for their students.
Dispute Resolution
As required by IDEA, Colorado provides families with several options for resolving disputes about their child's IEP. The goal throughout the process should be what is best for the student and what will provide them with an effective education.
Colorado has four primary avenues for resolving disputes:
- Informal meetings
- Mediation
- State Complaints
- Due Process Complaints
An attorney can help families determine the best dispute resolution option for their situation. They can also help with assembling both evidence and the case.
Informal Meetings
When parents or guardians have concerns, they should first begin with an informal conversation with their child's teacher or another member of the school staff. Parents should plan to explain their concerns and ask for clarification on a teacher's or school's decision or action.
In some cases, once both sides understand the other side's reasons, they will be able to reach a compromise. Parents or guardians may need to have more than one of these informal meetings, such as an initial meeting with a teacher and a second meeting with a school administrator.
If an informal conversation or meeting is not successful, families may wish to pursue one of the more formal options.
Mediation
Either parents or a school district may request mediation, which is free to both parties. The goal is that a neutral third party will help the two sides discuss the program and find a solution. If they reach a decision, that solution must be in writing to be enforceable. Either side may appeal if the agreement is breached.
State Complaints
Anyone may file a state complaint if they believe or have reason to suspect that there has been a violation of either federal or state law. Complaints must be filed within a year of the violation's occurrence. A state complaints officer will investigate and issue a report. That decision cannot be appealed.
Due Process Complaint
The most formal of the dispute resolution options, either families or a school may file a due process complaint. While there are no filing fees, each side will be responsible for any fees related to their legal team.
Similar to a traditional court hearing, a due process complaint occurs in front of an administrative law judge. Both sides will present evidence and possibly witnesses to the judge.
The judge will issue a written decision. Either side may appeal to a federal or state court within 90 days of that decision.
Protect Your Child's Education and Future
A properly drafted and implemented IEP can make or break a student's education. Unfortunately, schools sometimes fail to provide an IEP, fail to implement an IEP, or otherwise fail in their legal responsibilities. Ineffective accommodations, services, and support increase the likelihood that a student will struggle in school or experience behavioral or academic issues.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team works with families around the country to protect their student's right to an education. We focus on collaborative solutions and a student's best interests. Contact us online or at (888) 535-3686.
