Appropriate Placements

children w/disabilities must be placed in the least restrictive environment (LRE)

are educated w/children who are not disabled

removal from the regular educational environment should occur only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes w/accommodations, modifications, & services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

should be based on information from a variety of sources, should be documented & carefully considered

should conform to LRE requirements should encourage parental participation;

but should not be the single factor in a placement decision

children should be placed in the schools if nondisabled or as close to their homes as possible

is not required of all children in the regular classroom

The term does not appear anywhere the IDEA & prohibits any “one-size-fits-all approach to placements.

requires an individualized placement decision for each child with a disability

Section 1401 defines special education as “instruction conducted in the classroom, home, hospital, institutions & in other settings.

requires schools to offer a “continuum of alternative placements “when FAPE cannot be met in the regular classroom

are appropriate when a less restrictive placement threatens the safety of the disabled child or other students

when the disabled child is so disruptive in a regular classroom that the education of other students is significantly impaired

Clyde K. v. Puyallup School District, 35 F.3d 1396 (9th Cir. 1994)

-court recognized that schools are not required to tolerate the behavior of a

child that prevent both him and those around

him from learning and that, “if the child’s behavior in the regular classroom, even

with the provision of appropriate behavioral supports, strategies or interventions, would significantly impair the learning of others, that placement would not meet his or her needs and would not be appropriate for that child.”

(1999 U.S. Department of Education’s notice of

interpretation)

School districts and parents may place a child w/disabilities in a private school; however, parents cannot receive financial reimbursement from schools for a unilateral placement unless they can prove that the district failed to make a FAPE available to the child (Section 1412 outlines additional limitations on reimbursement)

IDEA services may be provided to disabled children enrolled in private religious schools to the extent consistent with the law.

Transportation Developmental, corrective, and other

supportive services (speech-language pathology and audiology services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, social work services, school nurse services, counseling services, and medical services, except medical devices that are surgically implanted, or the replacement of such device) may be required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education.

Irving Independent School District v. Tatro, 468 U.S. 883 (1984)

--court held that a CIC (clean intermittent catheterization) was a medical service that the school needed to provide as a related service (for a child born with spina bifida) in order for the child to benefit from special education

--”school nursing services must be provided only if they can be performed by a nurse or other qualified person, not if they must be performed by a physician.”

Cedar Rapids v. Garret F., 526 U.S. 66 (1999)-parents requested 1:1 nursing care for a

wheelchair-bound and ventilator-dependent student.

-court held that the school district must provide the requested services as related services under the IDEA.

--Tatro test (necessary for child to benefit from spec. ed/not excluded as “medical services” that would require physician services for other than diagnostic or evaluation purposes) was given & concluded that the services were necessary for the student to benefit from special education, and need not be performed by a physician.