6 of 42

Charter School Overview

Why is this presentation important?

Relationship between the school district and charter school

Circumstances in which the charter school’s actions or inactions can create liability for the school district

Although charter schools are not responsible for special education, can still be on the hook for Section 504 claims

By:

7 of 42

Special Education in OR Charters

In the relationship between the school district and charter, the school district maintains IDEA’s FAPE responsibilities
“. . . [A] school district must serve resident children with disabilities attending public charter schools located in the district in the same manner as the school district serves children with disabilities in other district schools, including but not limited to . . .”

By:

8 of 42

Special Education in OR Charters

“ . . . including but not limited to:

Identifying, locating, and evaluating students . . . to determine which children enrolled in a public charter school may be in need of special education and related services;
Implementing special education and related services according to each child’s individual education programs (IEP); and
Providing supplementary and related services on site at the public charter school to the same extent to which the school district has a policy or practice of providing such services on site to its other public schools.”

By:

9 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Rogue River School District 35

12-year-old student attending REACh
Eligible for special education due to emotional disturbance
In 6^th grade student attending RRSD, but parent unhappy
Enrolled with REACh in 7^th grade
IEP required certain amount of time of specially designed instruction and related services

By:

10 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Rogue River School District 35

Problem #1: Parties considered the charter school a ”placement”

“Each student identified with special needs must have an IEP stating that the personalized learning program offered through REACh is an appropriate placement for the student.”
“If the IEP team determines that REACh is not an appropriate placement for the student, then the student will return to his/her district of residence for appropriate placement.”

What is a placement under IDEA?
What is a location?

By:

11 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Rogue River School District 35

Problem #2: REACh’s education specialist was not given a copy of the student’s IEP

Parent asked ES several times about implementation of student’s IEP
ES told investigator that there was “something about the student having an emotional disturbance.”
ES never received instruction on implementing student’s IEP

Even if not a special education staff, charter teachers will likely have to implement some portion of an IEP

By:

12 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Rogue River School District 35

Problem #3: Student’s IEP was changed and no IEP meeting held

Case manager said REACh had to decrease the amount of SDI and RS
Said IEP meeting was not necessary
Charter said amount of SDI was not required because receiving 1:1 in the home

IEP meetings are the only avenue to change a student’s IEP
Changing IEP to meet the needs of the charter is a tricky proposition

By:

No IEP meeting was held for the Student at the beginning of the school year, and the District did not send any Prior Written Notice (PWN) noting any changes to the Student's special education placement and delivery of services from those described in the May 15, 2013 IEP. On October 7, 2013, the Case Manager called the Parent and explained that the <Charter> School needed to decrease the amount of time for SDI and RS it would provide the Student. The District prepared and the Parent signed a Written Agreement between the Parent and the District that an IEP meeting was not necessary to change the Student's IEP for this change. The Parent remembers the phone call, but does not remember signing the form. The Parent reported that they asked the Case Manager why this instructional time was being decreased and the Parent said that the Case Manager explained that because the Student was enrolled at the <Charter> School and was receiving 1:1 instruction in the home as part of the program, the Student did not need as much SDI or RS time as was then required by the IEP. The District memorialized this in a PWN on October 7, 2013, and recorded the new amount of time on the IEP Services Summary page. The PWN notes that the amount of SDI for Language Arts and Math for the Student was decreased from 50 minutes per week each to 15 minutes per week each.

13 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Rogue River School District 35

Problem #4: Charter school staff told parent some IEP services not available
Please don’t ever say this

By:

14 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Rogue River School District 35

Oregon DOE investigated three issues

When IEPs Must Be in Effect
Applicability of charter school regulation
Free Appropriate Public Education

By:

15 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Rogue River School District 35

Implementation of Student’s IEP/Charter School regulation

ODE faulted RRSD for totally assigning IEP implementation to the charter school, even though RRSD maintained FAPE responsibility
ODE blamed REACh by stating speech services were not available at the charter school, and removing services from the IEP without a meeting, and not providing services that were in the IEP
Neither party provided the ES with a copy of the IEP

“The Student did not receive the specified services, the IEP was not implemented at the start of the school year, and the ES was not informed of the Student’s eligibility and the provision of the IEP. In addition, the Charter School told the Parent that such services were not even available in the charter school setting. For these reasons, the Department substantiates this allegation and orders corrective action.”

By:

16 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Rogue River School District 35

FAPE

Did not make progress in math and communication skills
REACHs agreement with parent specified that one hour of 1:1 instruction each week, and there is a standard maximum amount of allocated funds for the student’s program
“These statements that are found in the Charter School documents strongly imply that no other special education services are available to an eligible IDEA student.”
The IEP team did not meet to review or change the IEP despite the fact that Student was now receiving educational services in a one-to-one home based type environment in accordance with the Charter’s educational program called for the placement of regular education with special education services provided in class.

By:

17 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Rogue River School District 35

FAPE

Is a charter school a change in placement? Can IEP team determine that the CS in not an appropriate placement?

Oregon does not consider a CS to be a “placement.”

Should the school(s) have held an IEP meeting?

Only because student was receiving educational services in a one-to-one home based environment in accordance with the CS educational program.
The student’s IEP called for things that could not be implemented in the “standard” CS educational program

By:

18 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Rogue River School District 35

Corrective Action

Parties ordered to review, revise IEP & expedite evaluations
Review charter school policies and revise agreement with RRSD
Training with ODE

By:

19 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Lessons from RRSD Complaint:

Charter schools are not a “placement”/IEP team can not determine student’s enrollment

What about centralized services?

When a student enrolls with an IEP, there is ZERO reason that IEP should be amended because of the change in location

If the IEP is being amended because the student is attending a charter school student, that is probably not individualized
What if the student’s IEP does not match with the curriculum of the CS?

Never change a student’s IEP without an IEP meeting
Never state services are not available at the charter school
Maintain documentation of compliance with IDEA obligations

By:

20 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Lincoln County School District

Student with a hearing impairment attempted to enroll in the charter school
District’s school psychologist expressed that the Student’s IEP could not be implemented at the charter school
While districts can generally determine where special education services can be provided, this does not mean that districts can predetermine placement without parental input.
ODE mentioned in its analysis that partial enrollment would have been an option for the committee to discuss

By:

21 of 42

District’s Obligations under IDEA

Silver Falls School District

Hearing officer found that district provided services at the charter school

Student’s June 2012 IEP called for SDI instruction under a pull-out model, and the District provided that instruction to Student on site at CRS in the Learning Resource Room.
Student’s February 2013 IEP called for SDI to be delivered pursuant to a push-in model, and the District provided Student with a one-on-one aide to facilitate the SDI in the general education classroom.
The June 2013 IEP provides for additional adult support for Student when s/he is in attendance at CRS, and there is no evidence to suggest that the District will not provide that support.

By:

22 of 42

Scenarios

Student with severe autism and intellectual disability, aggression, elopement and toileting issues

Can the charter school say the IEP cannot be implemented?
Can the district say the IEP cannot be implemented?
What if the charter school does not have room or staff?
Can the IEP team determine student should be served at a specialized district unit?

By:

23 of 42

Child Find

Federal law

All children with disabilities residing in the State, including children with disabilities who are homeless children or are wards of the State, and children with disabilities attending private schools, regardless of the severity of their disability, and who are in need of special education and related services, are identified, located, and evaluated

State law

The district in which the charter school is located is responsible for child find for students enrolled in the charter school regardless of parental resident district. OAR § 581-015-2080

By:

24 of 42

Child Find

Medford School District 549C

Charter school provides services to home-schooled students for one hour per week
Student did not meet grading expectations in reading and benchmark was well below expectations
Parent did not report any medical conditions, but mentioned Student is informally dyslexic
Teacher reported very minimal progress in reading

By:

25 of 42

Child Find

Medford School District 549C

Did charter school comply with Child Find?

The charter school assigned a reading specialist
Report card indicated “noticeable improvement” in fluency
Teacher reported that the Student is only below grade level in reading fluency and not in other academic areas, and reported that the Student continued to make some progress in Reading, though the teacher stated it was slow progress.
The Department concludes that the foregoing circumstances when reviewed together should have indicated to the District that the Student may have a reading related learning disability, however, there is no evidence that the District or Charter School had reason to suspect the Student needed Special Education or Special Education services, in light of the fact that Student was making academic progress by working with the reading specialist.

By:

26 of 42

Child Find

Medford School District 549C

Did district comply with Child Find?

Upon return to district, parent reported anxiety and dyslexia
Teacher understood parent requesting special education evaluation
District referred student to RTI services
The District erroneously delayed IDEA’s Child Find and evaluation obligations by placing the child in an RTI process for a six-week period of time before commencing Child Find or evaluation planning activities.
Irrespective of whether parents make a request for an evaluation, the Child Find obligation is triggered when a district has reason to suspect a disability and reason to suspect that Special Education and Special Education services may be needed to address that disability.

By:

27 of 42

Child Find

Lessons

Does the school have reason to suspect a disability?

Where do we get our suspicions
Enrollment records, observations, nurse, medications, behavior, attendance

If so, does school suspect a need for special education?

Grades, attendance, behavior, performance on state assessments/benchmarks

Threshold for Child Find is lower than threshold for eligibility
Have a plan to review student progress and refer to school district

By:

28 of 42

IEP Meetings

IEP teams are responsible for

Development of student’s IEP
Determining scope of reevaluations
Holding manifestation determinations

By:

29 of 42

IEP Meetings

Required Members

One or both parents;
The child where appropriate;
At least one regular education teacher of the child if the child is or may be participating in the regular education environment;
At least one special education teacher or provider of the child;
An individual who can interpret the instructional implications of the evaluation results;
Other individuals, including related services personnel invited by the parent or school district; and
A representative of the school district, who may also be another member of the team, who is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of specially designed instruction, knowledgeable about the general education curriculum, knowledgeable about district resources, and authorized to commit district resources and ensure that services set out in the IEP will be provided.

By:

30 of 42

IEP Meetings

Corvallis School District 509J

At an IEP meeting, the district’s case manager and charter school administrator stated they did not believe they had the authority to commit district resources and ensure that services set out in the IEP would be provided.
Violates the requirement that IEP team have a “representative of the school district, who may also be another member of the team, who is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of specially designed instruction, knowledgeable about the general education curriculum, knowledgeable about district resources, and authorized to commit district resources and ensure that services set out in the IEP will be provided.”

By:

31 of 42

IEP Meetings

Tips

Regular education teacher

Should be a charter school employee

Special education teacher/provider

Should be a district employee

Individual who can interpret evaluation results

Should be a district employee, unless charter school has a diagnostician, school psychologist on staff

By:

32 of 42

IEP Meetings

Tips

A representative of the school district, who may also be another member of the team, who is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of specially designed instruction, knowledgeable about the general education curriculum, knowledgeable about district resources, and authorized to commit district resources and ensure that services set out in the IEP will be provided.

Who is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of specially designed instruction – district staff
Knowledgeable about the general education curriculum – charter staff
Knowledgeable about district resources – district staff
Authorized to commit district resources and ensure that services set out in the IEP will be provided – district staff

By:

33 of 42

Section 504

Receipt of federal funds makes a school subject to Section 504
Section 504 typically has two functions:

Non-discrimination
Free and appropriate public education

By:

34 of 42

Section 504

Receipt of federal funds makes a school subject to Section 504
Section 504 typically has two functions:

Non-discrimination
Free and appropriate public education

While charters do not have IDEA obligations, charters can be subject to OCR complaints and federal litigation

By:

35 of 42

Section 504

Students with medical, physical, or psychological impairments or learning disorders
Must impact a major life activity
Schools cannot require a medical diagnosis

If a school suspects a disability it’s the school’s obligation to evaluate:

Ask for release to speak to doctor
Ask to provide information from doctor

By:

36 of 42

Section 504

Eligible students are entitled to accommodations, typically under a Section 504 plan
Most plans are for students with ADHD, food allergies, or some type of physical impairment
If a student needs more than the Section 504 plan the school’s IDEA Child Find obligation has been triggered

By:

37 of 42

Section 504 – MDRs

Eligible students are entitled to a manifestation determination before any “significant change in placement”
Office of Civil Rights interprets this as 10 school days or more
Drugs and alcohol have special rules

By:

38 of 42

Scenarios

Student brings a knife
Student brings cocaine
Student sells cocaine
Student under the influence of cocaine
Student under the influence of alcohol

By:

39 of 42

Section 504 – MDRs

Student would be eligible for an IDEA MDR under three circumstances:

Parent expressed concern in writing to supervisory or administrative personnel of the appropriate educational agency, or a teacher of the child, that the child is in need of special education;
The parent of the child requested an evaluation; or
The teacher of the child, or other personnel, expressed specific concerns about a pattern of behavior demonstrated by the child directly to the director of special education of the agency or to other supervisory personnel of the agency.

By:

40 of 42

Section 504 – Discrimination

Office for Civil Rights guidance on non-discrimination practices

Recruitment efforts

Based directly on disability (“intellectual disability”)
Based indirectly on disability (“inability to attend school”)
Based on obligations (Sign language interpreters, 504 plans, IEPs)

Charter school cannot have a policy that explicitly excludes students with disabilities, or a practice

By:

41 of 42

Section 504 – Discrimination

Cannot exclude student because of a particular service
Thus, any policy or practice where the IEP team determines if student can be admitted at the charter school is potentially discriminatory
“…if a student with a disability requires transportation as a related service to receive FAPE under Section 504, it would be disability discrimination for a charter school to decline to admit or enroll that student because the school does not currently provide transportation.”

By:

42 of 42

Section 504 – Discrimination

OCR advises against counseling out a student
If the school believes a student needs additional evaluations or services, the school must follow Section 504 evaluation and placement procedures.
Although an appropriate placement decision can, in some instances, result in the provision of services to the student with a disability in a setting other than the charter school setting, that placement decision must be made in compliance with Section 504 FAPE requirements, including procedural safeguards.

By: