Over 13,000 children qualify for special education services in Minnesota every year. For these children, special education is an essential part of their education.
Whether a student with disabilities has the services and accommodations they require can impact their success in school. As school performance can affect a child's future, families understandably want the best possible education for their child. In the short term, inadequate special education support can lead to academic, behavioral, and emotional issues.
The high stakes of special education mean that disagreements between families and schools are an unfortunate part of the process. If and when these disputes occur, families have options to find resolutions that protect and support their child's education.
Lento's Education Law Team works with families nationwide to find solutions that center on their child's right to an education. If you need help getting your child the services and support they need in school, 888-535-3686 or connect with us online.
What is Special Education?
St. Paul Public Schools provides the following definition of special education:
“Special education uses special instructional methods and, when needed, special services from a speech clinician, school social worker, and other specialists to meet the individual needs of a child with a disability.”
Special education services are not extra. They have no relation to a child's intelligence or ability to succeed in school.
For many students with disabilities, special education means they simply learn differently than standard educational methods. They may need more time on a test or a class taught in sign language. Other students may require more personal or individual support. Special education is about the individual student and providing them with the unique support and services they need to thrive in school.
Relevant Special Education Laws
Three federal laws are the primary sources of disability rights in the United States. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are the primary laws for disability rights in the United States.
IDEA
For K-12 students, IDEA will often be the most relevant. IDEA covers all public schools and children who have not yet graduated from high school. IDEA requires school districts to identify children with potential disabilities within their boundaries, including toddlers and children not yet old enough for kindergarten.
IDEA requires that schools provide all students who have a qualifying disability with an IEP. An IEP is a written document that lists what services and accommodations a student requires and the school will provide to improve a student's educational experience.
Special education is not static. Students can qualify for special education in kindergarten or their junior year in high school. A student's needs may change as they grow. Services and support that work for a first grader may no longer be effective for a sixth grader.
Appreciating that students change, IDEA requires that schools and families meet annually to revise a student's IEPs. Meetings may also be requested at any point when it appears a student's IEP is either no longer working or not being implemented.
Section 504
For students who do not qualify for an IEP, they may qualify under Section 504 for a 504 Plan. Minneapolis Public School's Section 504 page can be useful to families throughout the state and not just within that district.
Dispute Resolution
Families and schools may sometimes disagree on what's best for a student. When disagreements arise about special education, families in Minnesota have several options to find a solution.
As much as possible, families should first seek to resolve the problem through meetings or informal conversations with school staff. Parents or guardians should plan to explain their position and ask for clarification on the school's position. Both sides should clarify the reasons underlying their position. Understanding the why can sometimes make it easier to find a compromise or a solution.
IDEA mandates the following dispute resolution options:
- Facilitated IEPs
- Meditation
- Special Education Complaints
- Special Education Hearings
Minnesota points out that families can also look into civil rights compliance, Section 504 compliance, and the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act.
The Pupil Fair Dismissal Act
In Minnesota, schools must provide due process protection when they dismiss a student from school. This act is especially important for students with disabilities as research shows that students with disabilities are more likely to face discipline than the general student population.
The Pupil Fair Dismissal Act:
- Prohibits dismissal for students in pre-K through third grade.
- Requires that when schools suspend a student with disabilities for more than five consecutive days, the school must provide the student with alternative educational services.
- Mandates that when students with disabilities face expulsion, the student's IEP team must meet to determine what relationship, if any, their disability had on the behavior at issue and whether a failure to implement a student's IEP influenced the student's behavior.
If a student's actions were unrelated to their disability and they're expelled, the school still has an obligation to provide special education and related services during the student's expulsion.
If your child faces disciplinary issues up to and including expulsion, you should contact the Lento Law Firm. We help families advocate for properly implemented special education services, which can reduce disciplinary and behavioral issues.
Common Terms
IEP. ASD. IDEA. PBIS. For families new to special education, the terms and acronyms can be overwhelming. Minnesotans can access a page of general acronyms for disability rights, and the Department of Education has a list of acronyms used in special education.
For K-12 students, three terms appear frequently. Their meanings may not be immediately clear.
All children in the United States have the right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). This right includes special education for students with disabilities. If someone says a school is not providing FAPE to a student with disabilities, this usually means the school is not providing special education services to that student or those services are inadequate.
Disability rights in education encourages least restrictive environment (LRE) placements. The goal of LRE is for students with disabilities to be part of general classrooms and the school community as much as possible. The majority of students with disabilities spend most of their day in general education classrooms. In Minnesota, the term “most integrated setting” is used interchangeably with LRE.
Placement decisions should focus on what's in a student's best interests. Some students will benefit from more specialized or personalized support. Schools may also deny a placement in a general education classroom if it would place an undue burden on others.
Finally, federal law requires that schools provide students with reasonable accommodations. This means that services do not have to be the most effective, most expensive, or newest. Accommodations must be effective and not place an undue burden on either the school or other members of the school community.
For both LRE and reasonable accommodations, what defines an undue burden depends on a variety of factors. These include:
- Cost
- How much time and work an accommodation or placement requires from a staff member
- Whether a placement or accommodations disadvantages other students
- Whether a placement or accommodation gives a student with a disability an advantage
Services and accommodations should put a student on a similar footing to other students. They do not have to be on identical footing, and accommodations or placements that would give a student an advantage are unlikely to be approved.
Who Qualifies for Special Education
Families cannot simply request that their students receive special education services. A student must have a qualifying disability. How a student qualifies depends on whether they qualify under IDEA or Section 504.
IDEA, incorporated into Minnesota state law, uses a set list of 13 disabilities. Section 504, in contrast, uses a more general definition.
All students who qualify as having a disability under IDEA will also have a disability under Section 504. Not all students who have a disability under Section 504 will meet the disability requirement under IDEA.
Students who qualify under IDEA will receive an IEP. Students who qualify under Section 504 will receive a 504 Plan.
In Minnesota, the following disabilities make a student eligible for an IEP:
- Severely Multiply Impaired
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Blind-Visually Impaired
- Deaf-Blind
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing
- Developmental Cognitive Disabilities
- Developmental Delay
- Emotional or Behavioral Disorders
- Other Health Disabilities
- Physically Impaired
- Specific Learning Disabilities
- Speech or Language Impairments
- Traumatic Brain Injury
In addition to having one of the above disabilities, to qualify for an IEP, a student's disability must also impact their education.
A student meets the definition of disability under Section 504 when they:
- Either have or have a record of an impairment that limits at least one major life activity or
- Are regarded as having an impairment
How to Qualify for Special Education
Edina Public Schools provides a summary of how students can qualify for special education. As IDEA lays out the process for qualifying for special education, every school district uses similar procedures.
The steps are:
- Referral
- Evaluation
- Eligibility
- Reevaluation
Each student's path to being eligible for special education services may vary.
Assessment
For students who already have a disability, no evaluation may be needed. Families may simply need to provide documentation of the disability to the school and proceed to the IEP Meeting.
For other students, the process can be more complicated. IDEA requires that evaluation and assessment be “sufficiently comprehensive.”
Evaluation is crucial as it not only determines whether a child qualifies for special education but the type and extent of the support they receive. Without an accurate evaluation of a student's disability, schools may not provide needed services and accommodations for that student.
IEP Meetings and Revisions
For students who qualify for support, the next step will be the initial IEP meeting. Here, parents or guardians will meet with school staff to discuss what services and support a student requires.
IEPs must be revised at least once every year.
Pre-Referral
Edina adds another step, which is pre-referral. In this step, teachers will see if a change to the curriculum or a student's environment will improve their performance. Teachers may try two pre-referral interventions without requiring parent consent before beginning the referral process.
Reevaluation
IDEA requires reevaluation every three years. Schools and families can agree to waive the reevaluation. When reevaluation might be necessary is if the student's most recent assessments no longer reflect their current skills or ability. A reevaluation may help with revising a student's IEP to better support them.
Olmstead Plan
The Olmstead Plan is a series of activities to improve the lives of people with disabilities who live in Minnesota. The goal of the plan is to ensure that people with disabilities are integrated into their communities and society as much as possible.
Originally passed in 2013, the state occasionally revises the plan. While the plan is a statewide initiative, the Department of Education has the following programs:
- Professional development opportunities and training
- Person-centered Practices Strategies, which put the student at the center of a plan for services and provides informed choice for integrated options
- Employment Strategies, which focus on opportunities for meaningful and sustained employment for students
- Lifelong Learning and Education Strategies, which provide students with disabilities with high-quality educational opportunities in the LRE environment possible
- Positive Supports Strategies, which support positive interactions and support
- Preventing Abuse and Neglect Strategies, which seek to prevent and end abuse or neglect of students with disabilities and also have reporting systems in place
The Olmstead Plan extends beyond education. It also has dispute resolution options for issues with disability rights and access beyond K-12 schools.
District 287
For twelve school districts in Minnesota, District 287 is the school for unique learners. The district works with students who have academic, emotional, and behavioral needs beyond what the member school districts can provide. The district operates several schools and also offers resources for families.
Member school districts refer students to the district, and students from other districts may qualify for some of the district's services. Families should be aware that not all of District 287's programs and services are free. Some require payment of fees or tuition.
As of the 2023-2024 school year, the following school districts are members of District 287:
- Brooklyn Center
- Eden Prairie
- Edina
- Hopkins
- Minnetonka
- Orono
- Osseo
- Richfield
- Robbinsdale
- St. Louis Park
- Wayzata
- Westonka
District-Level Programs
School districts have flexibility when determining what special education services to offer. School districts have no obligation to provide identical services to other districts. A district is complying with federal law when they provide reasonable accommodations.
Being able to compare accommodations and services can be useful for parents. Many school districts also offer similar services. In Minnesota, all public school districts must have a Total Special Education Plan. Most districts have their plan available on their website. To see an example, parents or guardians could review the plan for Minnetonka Public Schools.
Schools may have a range of programs that focus on different student groups. Wayzata School District divides some of its special education services into age groups:
- Early Intervention (birth to 3)
- Early Childhood (3 to kindergarten)
- Transition Programming (18 to 21)
The district also coordinates with District 287 when students need additional help with their transition.
Special Education is a Right
For students who qualify for special education, those services and accommodations are a required part of their education. If and when students do not receive needed support, families have options to resolve the problem.
The Lento Law Firm works with families nationwide to protect their students' rights to an education and special education. Contact the Lento Law Firm 888-535-3686 or online to learn more about how we can assist you and your student.
