Disciplinary Exclusion
Pennsylvania law applies to suspending or removing special education students from classes for disciplinary reasons that form a pattern. Before a student is excluded from school for more than 10 school days in a row, or 15 total school days in any one school year, the IEP team must meet and sign a Notice of Recommended Educational Placement (NOREP), because such exclusions are considered changes in placement.
The exclusion of a student with mental retardation for any amount of time is considered a change in placement and requires all of the steps mentioned above. When a student is subjected to a series of removals that accumulates to more than 10 days in a year, but less than 15, these removals may be a change in placement, and if so require prior notice to the parents for approval. This determination of whether or not the series of removals is a change of placement is done on a case-by-case basis. Factors such as the length of time of each removal, the total amount of time the child is removed, and the proximity of the removals to one another are used to determine if the series of removals is a considered a change in placement.
If you do not agree with the change in placement on the NOREP, your child remains in the existing placement until due process steps are complete. School officials may seek a court order to exclude your child from school to override your disapproval.
IDEA '97 allows school officials to change your child's placement for up to 45 calendar days, without your permission, in school situations involving possession of a weapon, possession or use of illegal drugs, or the sale of a controlled substance. In this new 45-day education placement (called an interim alternative educational setting), your child must be able to receive the services in the IEP and continue to participate in the general curriculum. The new placement must also offer services to deal with your child's problem behavior so it does not occur again.
When a student's placement is changed for disciplinary reasons, the IEP team, including the parents, must meet to review the IEP. They must decide if the existing IEP is adequate and if it contains an appropriate plan to address the student's problem behaviors. If the IEP has no such plan, then a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) must be completed and a behavior plan developed. (See FBA Worksheet and Designing and Implementing Effective Behavior Intervention Plans. A functional behavioral assessment reviews the student's behavior in the setting where the problems are occurring, and analyzes what is happening to trigger and reinforce the inappropriate behavior. The IEP team then identifies the steps to take to try to reduce such behaviors and replace them with appropriate ones. If a plan already exists in the IEP, the team must review it and revise it as needed.
In addition, the IEP team must conduct a manifestation determination to decide if the student's behavior is caused by his or her disability or is a "manifestation" of the disability. (See Manifestation Determination Worksheet. Students with disabilities cannot be disciplined for behaviors that are related to, or are manifestations of, their disabilities. In order to determine that a behavior is not a manifestation of the disability, the team must decide that the:
If the IEP team decides that your child's behavior was not related to a disability, his or her placement may be changed for disciplinary reasons. However, you have the right to challenge that decision.