Parents of special education students in Louisville, Kentucky, do not need or expect challenges in receiving special education services. After all, federal taxpayers through the federal fiscal fund the federally mandated special education services. Your special education student's Louisville area K-12 school doesn't lack funding, although school officials may, for their own reasons, stand in the way of your student receiving the mandated special education services. If your student isn't getting services supporting the mandated free, appropriate public education, then retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team for the skilled and experienced advocacy your student needs. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now for our strategic and effective representation throughout the Louisville area, including both Kentucky and Indiana.
Louisville Area Special Education Representation
Louisville, known locally as The ‘Ville, River City, or Derby City, and the greater Louisville area, known locally as Kentuckiana and the Gateway to the South, include many fine school districts and K-12 schools. Louisville proper's Jefferson County Public Schools, and nearby districts including Buckner's Oldham Public Schools, New Albany's New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated Schools, Sellersburg, Indiana's Silver Creek School Corporation, Jeffersonville, Indiana's Greater Clark County Schools, Memphis, Indiana's Borden-Henryville School Corporation, Shepherdsville's Bullitt County Public Schools, Shelbyville's Shelby County Public Schools, and Clarksville, Indiana's Clarksville Community School Corporation all host many fine primary and secondary schools. Those outstanding Louisville area schools include DuPont Manual High School, J. Graham Brown School, Atherton High School, South Oldham High School, Ballard High School, North Oldham High School, Floyd Central High School, and Oldham County High School, among many others. Our attorneys are available for your special education student's representation in any of these districts and schools, and other Louisville area schools in Kentucky or Indiana.
Federal Laws for the Louisville Area Special Education
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees students in federally funded schools a free, appropriate public education (FAPE). Louisville area public schools and many private schools receive federal funding, thus qualifying their students for special education services at federal taxpayer expense. The IDEA law requires your student's Louisville area school to conduct a child find program to identify your student as needing special education services. While you have every right and sound reason to advocate with school officials for your student's special education services, and we stand ready to help you do so, keep in mind the school's duty to identify your student's special needs. We can help you invoke that duty for your student's full benefit.
Qualifying for the Louisville Area Special Education
Your student's Louisville area school also has the IDEA law's duty to refer your student for a qualified special needs diagnosis and to pay for that diagnosis. The IDEA law's Section 1414 permits you to request a referral but also requires the school to identify and refer on its own after obtaining your consent. We can help you invoke your student's right to a diagnosis for which the school pays. If your student does not qualify for special education services under the initial evaluation, or the evaluation does not recommend the needed services, then the same section of the IDEA law grants you the right to a reevaluation, meaning a second opinion, once again at school cost but this time by a qualified professional of your choosing. We can help you obtain a qualified second opinion to enforce your student's special education rights.
Louisville Schools Individualized Education Plans
You may already be familiar with the IDEA law's individualized education program(IEP) requirement. Indeed, your student may already have an IEP. See, for example, the Jefferson County Public School's strong commitment to an elaborate IEP process. Once your student qualifies for special education services under the referral evaluation, your student's Louisville area school must adopt an IEP. You have the right to attend IEP team meetings to advocate for an appropriate IEP. Let us help you invoke your student's IEP rights so that your student gets the necessary special education services.
Louisville Area IEP Procedures
If you have a dispute with your student's school officials over the terms of your student's IEP or over the school's IEP implementation, Kentucky's Department of Education authorizes school districts to form and maintain Admissions and Release Committees (ARCs) to decide IEP terms, disputes, and enforcement. The Jefferson County Public Schools, for example, recognize the obligation to offer parents the ARC process for dispute resolution. Indiana public schools in the Kentuckiana area will have a similar dispute resolution process satisfying federal IDEA law, rule, and regulation mandates. Our attorneys know how to invoke your student's ARC hearing rights. We also know how to make your student's case for special education services before the Admissions and Release Committee, including the witnesses and qualified opinions to present, and how to challenge adverse witnesses and opinions. Trust us with your student's ARC hearing.
Addressing Related Conduct & Disciplinary Issues
Your special education student may alternatively face Louisville area school disciplinary charges arising out of your student's disability. When a Louisville area school fails or refuses to provide necessary special education services, or even when it does provide those services, school officials may misattribute your student's acting out to deliberate misconduct and intentional misbehavior rather than to the triggering disability. Other students may also bully your special education student due to the disability, when Kentucky anti-bullying laws require the state's schools to prevent and punish bullying. Your student may have been acting innocently in self-defense when facing disciplinary charges. Let us help you defend your special education student's disciplinary charges while also ensuring full IEP and other special education rights.
Premier Special Education Attorneys
The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available throughout the Louisville, Kentucky, and Indiana area to strategically advocate for your student's special education services. We help hundreds of special education students and other students nationwide successfully resolve disability, accommodations, services, and disciplinary issues. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to retain our skilled and experienced attorneys for your student's defense.
