Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards

1. Advocacy for Parentally Placed Private School Students: The Forest and the Trees Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards Martha Goodman Maryland Special Needs Advocacy Project Macks Center for Jewish Education Baltimore, Maryland

2. Who am I? Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards • For eight years, I have served as the coordinator of MDSNAP, which provides free educational advocacy services to families in the greater Baltimore area, including hundreds of private school students • I am part of the statewide Educational Advocacy Coalition, am the Maryland Disability Law Center representative to the Parent Community Advisory Board for the Baltimore City School Commissioners, and participate in two school-system based workgroups on special education issues. • I am the loyal opposition, and the caped crusader • I have attended hundreds of IEP meetings, filed many successful state complaints, and have effectively participated in many mediation sessions. • I am Meira’s mother, and have advocated for her in both public and parochial settings • So, I am a parent and a professional advocate…

3. Who is a Pipsqueak? Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards In this presentation, “persons considered to be SIGNIFICANT, especially because they are small or young” Parentally Placed Private School Students With Disabilities Are called Pipsqueaks Not“a person considered to be insignificant, especially because they are small or young…” (OED)

4. The Forest: Advocating for the Community Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards

5. IDEA 2004 – Equitable Participation Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards Child Find Consultation Data collection Determination of services Service Plans Proportionate share No individual right to service Complaint procedures

6. Consultation – I Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards • Child Find • Comparable process/timelines, can be conducted by 3rd party • Proportionate share of funds • Timely and Meaningful Consultation process • How will private school students participate and how will parents, teachers and private school officials be informed of the process

7. Consultation – II Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards • Provision of Special Education and Related Services • Who is served • Types of services – direct, indirect, or a combination • Must be “secular, neutral, and non-ideological” • Where will services be rendered – may be on site, consistent with law • Transportation • Qualifications of providers must be the same, can be school system employees, or third party contractors • How to allocate limited resources • Written explanation (but final decisions rest with LEA) • Written affirmation required

8. Child Find Process Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards • “Each LEA must locate, identify, and evaluate all children with disabilities who are enrolled by their parents in private, including religious, elementary and secondary schools located in the school district served by the LEA...” • “Must be designed to ensure— 1) the equitable participation of parentally-placed private school children; and 2) an accurate count of those children” Section 300.131

9. International Ice Cream Association Study Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards Vanilla 29% Chocolate 8.9% Butter Pecan 5.3% Cookies and Cream 3.6% Rocky Road 1.5% http://www.foodchannel.com/articles/article/the-top-15-most-popular-ice-cream-flavors/

10. Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards

11. Some Child Find Statistics Nationally, the rate of student eligibility under IDEA is about 10% Yet, among private school students, the rate is only 1-2 %!!!! Examples: • Baltimore City, 67 out of roughly 14,000 (2012) • Only two dozen or so in Chicago, where a complaint was filed • Texas: 985 out of an unknown number! Over 444,000 public school students have IEPs. Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards

12. Yes, there is self-selection, but… Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards About 2% of all students taking the SATs apply for accommodations, and about 85% are approved (Accommodations Angst, New York Times, 11/4/2010) Private school enrollment rates vary widely across states 4%-18%

13. Why Care? Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards The only money school systems must spend on Pipsqueaks is determined by the count of students who have been identified through Child Find = Total Proportionate Share for PPPSSWD (“pipsqueaks”) Under-counting means under-funding Census conducted between October 1 and December 1 to calculate funding for the following year

14. Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards

15. Sample Calculations:The Power of a Single Pipsqueak 1 Pipsqueak, 99 Public School $100,000 IDEA funds 2 Pipsqueaks, 99 Public School $100,000 IDEA funds $100,000/101 x 2 Pipsqueaks = $1980 (and $98,020 for Public School) $100,000/100 x 1 Pipsqueak = $1000 (and $99,000 for Public School) Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards

16. Mid-Atlantic Catholic School Consortium IDEA Study Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards • About 25% of principals felt the explanation of the funding formula as given at consultation was clear • About 50% did not understand how the students were counted • About 75% did not know the level of required spending Conclusion Private school community often can’t advocate for its students, due to lack of knowledge http://www.midatlanticcsc.org/news_events/files/IDEA%20MACSC%20ACE%20REPORT%2004.19.10.pdf

17. Data Collection/Recordkeeping Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards The LEA must provide to the SEA the counts for Number of students referred Number of students evaluated Number of students found eligible Number of students receiving service

18. Barriers to an Accurate Count Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards Inherent conflict – the pie does not get larger – each additional Pipsqueak takes money out of the public school coffers Lack of knowledge Lack of participation Location of services may dissuade families Limited range of services, other restrictions Reevaluations not being conducted

19. What should Administrators do? Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards Be proactive! Don’t wait for the LEA to contact you Document the needs of private school students Make appropriate referrals Attend consultation meetings, or send representatives Document all your requests and concerns Make your teachers available for IEP meetings

20. Complaints Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards • A private school official has the right to submit a complaint to the SEA that the LEA did not • Engage in meaningful and timely consultation; or • Give due consideration to the views of private school officials • If the official is dissatisfied with the decision of the SEA, the official may submit a complaint to the U.S. Secretary of Education

21. Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards The Trees: Advocating for Individual Students

22. Who is a Pipsqueak? Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards Parentally-placed private school children with disabilities means children with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private, including religious, schools or facilities that meet the definition of elementary school….or secondary school… State determines whether homeschoolers are considered parentally placed private school students If the preschool is part of an elementary school (as defined by the state), a preschooler may be considered parentally placed, even though she is below mandatory school age

23. What’s the difference? Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards

24. Jurisdiction Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards The LEA where the private school is located – not the LEA of the parent’s residence – is responsible for ensuring equitable participation If a family is interested in receiving an offer of FAPE, they must contact the LEA in which they reside.

25. IEP meetings for Pipsqueaks Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards LEAs must ensure participation of representatives of the private school (in person, by phone, or written communication) However, No personally identifiable information may be shared without the written consent of the parent Similarly, no personally identifiable information about the child may be released between officials in the LEA where the private school is located and the officials in the LEA of the parent’s residence without the written consent of the parent

26. THE NORMAL LAW OF ERROR STANDS OUT IN THE EXPERIENCE OF MANKIND AS ONE OF THE BROADEST GENERALIZATIONS OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY ¨ IT SERVES AS THE GUIDING INSTRUMENT IN RESEARCHES IN THE PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES AND IN MEDICINE, AGRICULTURE, AND ENGINEERING ¨ IT IS AN INDISPENSABLE TOOL FOR THE ANALYSIS AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BASIC DATA OBTAINED BY OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT W. Youden Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards

27. Eligibility Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards Same standards for all students, however, standards vary from school district to school district. Adverse educational impact • Educational versus academic • Medical versus educational RTI – Clear ruling that RTI is not to be a barrier or delay to evaluation- Office of Civil Rights Q&A and subject of a state complaint in Illinois

28. Outside Assessments Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards Must be considered, but not necessarily “accepted” Regarding determination of a learning disability, commonly the evaluation needed to be done by two different professionals – one for the cognitive assessment, the other for the educational While it is “backwards”, sometimes bringing data to the table smoothes the process One more thing: Pipsqueaks can request an IEE

29. State Complaints & Due Process Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards For Pipsqueaks, due process is limited to Child Find issues Any organization or individual may file a state complaint Provision of services Service plan Recordkeeping Expenditures Consultation Equitable Services Location of services and transportation Use of personnel Property, equipment an supplies

30. Remember… Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards The IEP team may not fully understand that it is their absolute responsibility to carry out Child Find activities for private school students in their district Be knowledgeable, considerate, and prepared. Just as in public school, you may be in a long-term relationship with this team; start building a partnership. Parents are the first and best advocates, but don’t go alone!

31. For More Information Parents, Private Schools and Procedural Safeguards Office of Non-Public Education (ONPE) 202-401-1365 www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii/nonpublic/index.html Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) 202-245-7459 www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/index.html