Special Education and the Law - University of Washington



Special Education and the Law Take Home Final Exam

EDLPS 516/EDSPE 504 DUE Wednesday, March 17 by 5PM

Winter 2010

NAME___________________________________

This exam is open book, open note and—although I hope it doesn’t take you more than 2 hours—there is no time limit. It can be completed electronically (giving the answers to Sections I and II in a way that I can easily follow) and turned into me via email or you can answer Sections I and II on the exam itself, write your answers to Section III on lined paper, and bring it to me (or place in the box on my door) at my office in South Building (#102). If you choose this last option, be sure that I get the exam before the March 17, 5PM due date. And please remember to write your name on the exam and paper used.

Exams will be available in M203 Miller Hall after April 5. Thanks for a lively class; I enjoyed it and learned a lot—always a good thing. Good luck on the exam, remember to relax, and have a good spring quarter.

I. MATCH THE CASE (25% of the grade; 25 pts) only one answer

(select the letter indicating the case that supports the statement)

_____ Established a two-part test to determine whether the "appropriate" standard under the EAHCA (now IDEA) has been met.

_____ Held that under the EHA there was no “dangerousness exception” to the stay-put rule but that school districts could turn to the courts if concerned about a student remaining in the classroom.

_____ Determined that clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) is a related service (school health service), not a medical service.

_____ Resulted in a consent decree that included many of the due process procedures that became part of the EAHCA/IDEA.

_____ Adopted a four-part test to determine compliance with the IDEA least restrictive requirement.

a. Irving Independent School District v. Tatro

b. Baird v. Rose

c. B.S. v. Seattle School District

d. Sacramento City School District v. Rachel H.

e. Board of Education of Hendrick Hudson Central SD v. Rowley

f. Honig v. Doe

g. Mills v. Bd. Of Education of the District of Columbia

II. MULTIPLE CHOICE (select the correct answer by circling the appropriate letter) (25% of the grade, 25 pts)

1. In which of the following ways does Section 504 differ from the IDEA?

a. Section 504 protects all people with disabilities (regardless of age), the IDEA benefits only students with disabilities.

b. The definition of disability for purposes of eligibility under Section 504 is very different and much broader than the definition under IDEA.

c. Section 504 protects persons with disabilities from discrimination but provides no federal money, IDEA benefits eligible students with disabilities as well as providing federal money.

d. All of the above are differences between Section 504 and the IDEA.

2. Although the results of LRE litigation vary, all the cases reviewed in the Yell text (e.g., Roncker, Daniel R.R., Rachel H., Clyde K.) have indicated that

a. Placement in the regular education, age appropriate classroom is not required in every case.

b. The Rowley standard is the standard to use when deciding any LRE question.

c. School Districts may have gaps in the continuum of services they offer.

d. The Congressional preference for placement in the regular education, age appropriate classroom cannot be rebutted.

3. Which of the following is true under the IDEA?

a. The student must be placed in the school closest to the student's home if the parents so desire.

b. The decision to remove a student from a special education placement because the school believes the student is a danger to others is solely at the discretion of the school principal.

c. Cost can be used as a reason for denying FAPE to a student with a disability.

d. The services provided special education students (those on IEPs) must be reasonably calculated to allow the child to benefit from education.

4. Which of the following decisions may not be made by a student's IEP team regarding disciplinary actions?

a. The student will no longer receive special education services when removed from the school environment for more than 10 consecutive school days.

TURN TO NEXT PAGE!

b. The student’s behavior that resulted in disciplinary action was a manifestation of the disability.

c. The student has “inflicted serious bodily injury” on another student in school and should be removed to an IAES for 45 days.

d. The student brought a gun to school and therefore should be removed from school to an IAES for 45 days.

5. Which of the following is true as to costs that parents must pay for special education and related services?

a. Parents are required to pay according to their ability to do so.

b. Parents are required to pay for costs of barrier removal.

c. Parents are required to pay for transportation costs in all cases.

d. Parents are entitled to their child’s services provided at no cost to them

III. CASE SCENARIO—ANSWER ONE: (30% of the grade, 30 points)

Case #1:

Alex has Downs Syndrome and an emotional disability. He is 15 years old and receives special education services in the local middle school (for this case scenario, you can assume he is receiving services under IDEA and only discuss under IDEA, not Section 504). After verbally abusing classmates and inappropriate sexual behavior, he physically assaulted a teacher and an aide. The building principal, with support from everyone in district administration, wants to expel Alex. They have come to you—the district attorney—for help in achieving this goal.

Your job is to 1) explain thoroughly the discipline rules under the IDEA amendments 2004 in a written memo to the special education director, and 2) identify the specific actions the district must take to ensure that Alex's rights are protected and the school district stays out of court. NOTE: you can answer this in outline form rather than narrative if you choose.

Case #2:

You are working for a school district attorney who has asked you to go visit Woodridge High School to see how things are going with the new principal who has been on the job for a couple of months now. Your boss has a queasy feeling that things are not going well and he wants to know what he should worry about.

When you get to the school, the principal, Mrs. Lockerbie, explains that she is a firm believer in the "one school room" philosophy—that special education as a separate system should be dissolved. She escorts you to several different classrooms and in all there were children with disabilities, including some with severe impairments. "As you can see," she says, "we have no special classes for children with disabilities. When I arrived this year, I reviewed all the IEPs and reassigned the students who were in segregated settings so that they can join their peers. I was able to reassign the special education teachers who were in charge of the self-contained classrooms to other classrooms so that no one was laid off. All children are in regular classes taught by regular education teachers, although some of them are also special education certified. We have created the ideal inclusion model with lots of expertise."

After a morning of visits to classrooms, you eat lunch together in the school cafeteria and the integration theme was also apparent. Students with disabilities were socializing with others and students who needed help with eating were being assisted by other students.

After lunch Mrs. Lockerbie was meeting with parents of students with disabilities who had some concerns about their children's education and she invites you to attend. The meeting was tense and no one in the group even asks who you are, so you are able to quietly observe the scene. The parents make it very clear that they believe that their children are not being adequately served. They state that the inclusion program is disrupting their lives and their children's lives. One parent makes the following speech,

Mrs. Lockerbie, these children need special education and related services provided by specially trained personnel. My daughter and most of the others are learning very little, in fact some are regressing. You have gone too far. We demand that you address the needs of each child and reconvene the IEP teams.

The principal is taken by surprise and left speechless. The parents walk out.

You hurry back to the office and are now trying to write a trip report to your boss. The trip report should apply your knowledge of special education law to the situation you observed. Advise your boss on what he needs to worry about--i.e., 1) what are the issues of concern, what law applies to those issues, and what are the liability risks for the district, 2) what steps should Mrs. Lockerbie take to be sure she is following the law; and 3) how should the parents concerns be addressed at this point so that the children/parents’ rights are ensured and that a more formal complaint is avoided?

1 ESSAY: ANSWER ONE (20% of the grade; 20 points)

1. You are rewriting the IDEA—35 years after the passage of the law. In 1-2 pages describe what 1) the purpose would be; 2) which students would be eligible; 3) what services would be provided to eligible students; how would you fund the program. Alternatively, explain your reasons for letting the law sunset—i.e., end.

2. Howard Powers raised the issue of inequity in Special Education services—specifically in access to attorneys—on the basis of socio-economic status. We have also talked a bit about overrepresentation of minority students in special education as well as in disciplinary actions—arguably inequity on the basis of race. If you could institute measures to mitigate one or both of these inequities, what would they be? You can, of course, write as much as you like, but I am thinking a page or so.

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