PDF Parent's Guide to Special Education

2010 Revised

Parent's Guide to Special Education

Virginia Department of Education Division of Special Education and Student Services

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Understanding Special Education Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Brief History of State and Federal Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Free Appropriate Public Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Understanding the Special Education Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Identification of Children with Disabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Child Find . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 School-Based Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Individual Referral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Individual Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Reevaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Eligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Previous Enrollment in Special Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Termination of Special Education and Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Individualized Education Program (IEP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Private School Placement - By IEP or CSA Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Private School Placement - By Parents When There Is No Disagreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Private School Placement - By Parents When There Is Disagreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Understanding Parental Rights and Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Prior Written Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Procedural Safeguards Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Parental Participation in the Special Education Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Parental Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Confidentiality of School Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Discipline of Students with Disabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Use of Public or Private Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Procedures for Resolving Disagreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Due Process Hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Closing Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Timelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Acronyms and Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

PARENT'S GUIDE TO SPECIAL EDUCATION / 1

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INTRODUCTION

Parents play an important role in the education of their children, especially parents of children

who are identified as having disabilities. The law requires that parents and school personnel work together to provide children with appropriate educational services. You, as a parent of a child with a disability, should ask questions and request help when you feel that you need it.

This parent's guide was developed by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) in order to help you understand your rights and responsibilities, your child's rights, and the school's responsibilities to meet the special needs of your child. This guide includes a description of the special education process and what is required of you and the school during each step of that process. Important timelines are highlighted in each section.

To help you further understand your legal rights, the school will give you a procedural safeguards document at certain times in the process. To keep you informed, the school will also give you notice of meetings and of its proposed or refused actions. You should know, however, that this guide is not intended to replace the procedural safeguards document or any notice, nor is it a substitute for the state's special education regulations.

You can find these regulations, the procedural safeguards notice, and this guide on the VDOE Web site (). Copies are available at no cost from the VDOE at the address below. Braille copies, audio tapes, and large print versions are also available upon request.

The VDOE has a Parent Ombudsman who provides assistance and information on special education matters and coordinates VDOE's activities with Virginia's Parent Resource Centers located in many school divisions in Virginia. The location of the Centers may be found on the VDOE Web site at: . You may call or write the VDOE parent Ombudsman at:

Virginia Department of Education P.O. Box 2120 Richmond, VA 23218-2120 1-800-422-2083 (voice)

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You may also find information on special education and other education issues by referring to the VDOE Web site at or the United States Department of Education Web site at . The toll free telephone number for the U.S. Department of Education is 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327).

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