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Special Education Law Developments Every Board Member Should Know

Special Education Law Developments Every Board Member Should Know. Karen Haase Steve Williams Harding & Shultz (402) 434-3000 khaase@hslegalfirm.com swilliams@hslegalfirm.com. Why talk about SpEd?. Special Education: The Statutes. Special Education: The Statutes.

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Special Education Law Developments Every Board Member Should Know

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  1. Special Education Law Developments Every Board Member Should Know Karen Haase Steve Williams Harding & Shultz (402) 434-3000 khaase@hslegalfirm.com swilliams@hslegalfirm.com

  2. Why talk about SpEd?

  3. Special Education: The Statutes

  4. Special Education: The Statutes • Rehabilitation Act (“section 504”) • Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

  5. So how does this work in your district?

  6. So how does this work in your district? • Struggling students referred to SAT • Interventions planned and tried • Response to Intervention (RTI) • If kid not successful • Team refers for eval. • IEP or 504 Plan • IEP • Heavily regulated • Binding legal document

  7. Legal Requirements of IEP • Must follow statutory and regulatory process for meetings • Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) • Must be designed to provide “some education benefit” • In the least restrictive environment

  8. Staff Failure to Read/Follow IEP • IEP is staff’s “safe harbor” • District liable for failure to follow: • Due Process • OCR Complaint • Rule 51 Complaint • Personal Liability • Legally complicated • PPC claim

  9. Grades & SpEd Students

  10. “No qualified handicapped person shall, on the basis of handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity which receives benefits from federal financial assistance” Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

  11. Office of Civil Rights Charged with 504 enforcement Interprets “benefits” as class rank, academic honors and awards Broader than IDEA IDEA and non-IDEA students Similar to Americans with Disabilities Act OCR’s Interpretation of Section 504

  12. SpEd kid cannot be designated as such on transcript SpEd curriculum cannot be designated as such on transcript Grades reflect student’s mastery of material (not comparative) Problems with class rank and graduation awards So What does this all mean?

  13. FERPA

  14. Prevents release of “personally identifiable information New regulations take expansive view of this definition Prevents staff from giving boards much information FERPA

  15. Special Education and Student Discipline

  16. Before “changing placement for more than 10 days” Manifestation Determination Then Stud. Disc. Act. Still gets sped services Guns, drugs, serious personal injury – 45 day max. Special Education and Student Discipline

  17. Enforcement of SpEd Laws

  18. Rule 51 Complaints NDE is fair and reasonable Self-correction can preempt state remedial action Complaints to the Office of Civil Rights Due Process Proceeding under Rule 55 Federal court litigation Enforcement of SpEd Laws

  19. Birmingham v. Omaha School Dist., 220 F.3d 850, 856 (8th Cir. 2000) (general and punitive damages not available under the IDEA) Money changes hands only if: Private school reimbursement Attorney’s fees BUT SEE M.P. v. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 721, 439 F.3d 865 (8th Cir. 2006) No big money litigation

  20. You’re not mushrooms anymore….

  21. Special Education Law Developments Every Board Member Should Know Karen Haase Steve Williams Harding & Shultz (402) 434-3000 khaase@hslegalfirm.com swilliams@hslegalfirm.com

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