Placement

1. Placement By Beth Troutman, 19 May 2007

2. What does placement mean? • Placement refers to the educational setting in which the goals and objectives for your child’s special education and related services may appropriately be met. • A continuum of placement options must be available.

3. Placement Decision • Decisions about your child’s placement cannot be made until after the IEP team meets and reaches consensus about the IEP goals. • Your child’s placement decision is based on two things: • FAPE • LRE

4. IDEA states: • “It is the purpose of this Act to assure that all children with disabilities have available to them…a free, appropriate public education which emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs. To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled.”

5. FAPE • FAPE means a “Free Appropriate Public Education”. • All children under the age of 22 are entitled to a free, public education that appropriately meets their educational needs.

6. LRE • LRE means “Least Restrictive Environment”. • The LRE requirements that the IEP team must consider are on “IEP pg.319” of the IEP.

7. LRE Continued… • These factors are very important-read them carefully at the IEP meeting. • The IEP team-of which the parents are members- must discuss these factors and consider them BEFORE choosing an IEP placement for your child at the IEP meeting.

8. Placement Continuum Options • Placement continuum options are found on the “IEP 321 Placement” page of the IEP. • The team must begin at the top of the list, which is considered the least restrictive environment, and move down the list until the appropriate placement is found for your child.

9. Continuum Options List • The team can consider the following options from the “placement continuum options” list: • General Education Settings (including integrated settings) • Special Classes (this means special education classes) • Public Day School • Private day School • State Operated Program • Private Residential School • Home Based Instruction • Other (Described)

10. Placement Options and the IEP Team • The team can choose more than one placement option to meet the child’s educational needs. For example, many of our children receive their education in both the general education setting and special education setting. • In order to consider certain placements, additional team members might be required at the IEP meeting. For example, Contract Services must be a part of the team in order to consider placements like “Private Day School” and “Private Residential School”.

11. Primary Service • The “Primary Service” that your child receives is the set of strategies and methodologies that the team decides will best support your child’s educational needs. Your child does not have to have a medical diagnosis or an educational label to receive a particular Primary Service. • The list of Primary Services that FCPS offers is on page “IEP 320 Services” of the IEP. • One primary service is not less restrictive than another (i.e.-non-cat services are not less restrictive than autism services)

12. Interesting Facts • “Primary service” can be looked at as a description of strategies and methodologies through which a school provides your child’s education in whatever environment the team chooses that will best meet the needs of your child. • The “primary service” should be thought of as best practice for delivery of you child’s IEP. • When a teacher delivers supports to your child through a “primary service”, the teacher should be “highly qualified”. • “Non-Categorical” is a primary service that is only available in elementary school. • You can not “graduate out” of a primary service, like AUT. If your child is successful in a particular program, change the settingnot the service.

13. Service Delivery Options • “Service Delivery Options” refers to the settings in which your child will receive his or her education via their designated primary service. • These settings, listed on page IEP 319, include: • Special ed svs. in general ed classes on an intermittent basis (sometimes) • Special ed svs. in general ed classes on a regularly scheduled basis (specific days/times)

14. More Service Delivery Options • Special ed svs. in special ed classes on an intermittent basis (sometimes) • Special ed svs. in special ed classes on a regularly scheduled basis (specific days/times) • Preschool special education svs. in natural environments (FCEP classes are the only general ed preschool classes in FCPS) • Consult/Monitor/Collaboration-this means that the teachers/itinerants work together-there is no direct service from whomever is responsible for the goal.

15. Service Delivery Options…A.K.A… • There are many ways that a school can offer a student their service delivery options. Some include: • General Education classes • Team Taught classes • Pull-Out (Resource Room, Learning Labs) • Self-Contained classes

16. Where Should My Child Be Educated? • Determining placement can be a stressful part of the IEP if you don’t know your options. • Ask the team what types of classes the school offers. If the school does not offer what you have in mind-ask anyway. Some teams are open to creating classes or tweaking current options to fit your child’s needs.

17. Guidelines For Determining Appropriate Placement • Placement must be based on the individual needs of the child as stipulated in his/her IEP. • IDEA states that each child should be educated as close to his/her home as possible. This is called the “base school”.

18. Guidelines Continued…. • In Fairfax County, sometimes the base school does not offer the service, accommodations, programs or peer environment that the child requires to meet his/her educational needs. • The IEP team must then determine the school closest to the child’s base school that does fit his/her needs as specified by the IEP.

19. What To Look For… • Can the school provide the necessary physical accommodations required in the child’s IEP? (small plant, quiet environment, wheelchair accessible) • Does the school schedule meet the needs of your child? (does the school run on a block schedule?) • Can the school provide any special programs listed on the IEP? (PAC, Enhanced Autism Program, GT, AP, IB programs, etc.) • Are there opportunities and supports that will allow your child to participate in school activities with their typical peers? (inclusion opportunities)

20. Placement Can’t Be Based On… • Category or severity of disability • Configuration of delivery system • Availability of educational or related services • Availability of space • Administrative convenience

21. Helpful Hints… • When choosing a school, keep the following things in mind: • According to the FCPS School Board Regulations, a family can not “pupil place” a student with an IEP. All placements are an IEP team decision. • Attending a location other than your base school still entitles you to transportation from the county.

22. More Helpful Hints… • You can request a tour of the proposed placement before you sign the IEP. • You can refuse to sign an IEP that stipulates a placement with which you do not agree. The team will have to implement the last signed or “stay put” IEP in the last designated school. But remember-the rest of the IEP stays the same as well-including goals, accommodations, etc.

23. Conclusion • Remember, the most important aspect of making a placement decision for your child is whether his/her individual needs as specified in the IEP can be appropriately met in the chosen placement.