Instructor: Hi, everyone.
This is a presentation
on understanding legal requirements for student discipline.
To set the stage,
historically, schools have had
significant discretion in discipline,
as a 1977 Supreme Court ruling
left such matters to the states.
In fact, currently 19 states
still allow corporal punishment in schools,
including Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri,
Mississippi, Kansas, Kentucky,
Texas, Tennessee, Wyoming,
Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia,
Idaho, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
And schools have the right to discipline all students,
including those with disabilities.
However, specific requirements under IDEA,
Individuals with Disability Education Act,
and Section 504
govern the discipline of students with disabilities,
and we're gonna get into that a little bit more.
So these protections also extend to students
whose parents have requested a special education evaluation
or when school administrators
know the child has a disability,
even if eligibility has not yet been officially determined.
As you may know, many schools implement
various response strategies to support student behavior.
A frequent one is time-out.
Time-out should not be confused with seclusion.
This is not a removal of a student.
This is essentially removing the reinforcement
for a student.
If you are working in a school
that is implementing Developmental Design
or Responsive Classroom,
you may find that in the classroom
there's something called a take-a-break chair,
where students have an opportunity
to reflect on their behavior
and even engage in some mindfulness activities.
You'll also see a very popular response strategy
is communication with families and caregivers.
This is critical not only when a student is engaged
in an interfering or challenging behavior,
but more importantly,
those proactive phone calls home
so that as an educator,
we're building those relationships
with our families and caregivers.
You may see in some schools
something referred to as a planning room.
This is often a room outside of the classroom
where a student may process a situation with an adult
to discuss strategies to improve
and to also repair some of the damage
that may have happened due to their interfering behavior.
Similarly, restorative approaches as well.
So these are often referred to as circles,
really holding students accountable to their community
and the community and school-wide agreements.
Then there's often sometimes, unfortunately,
suspension and expulsion,
and these are really the absolute last resort,
and there's many and much data
to show that the efficacy
of suspending or expelling students
actually leads to increase in poor life outcomes
and is not really effective
for students or the school community.
It's important to note that restraint and seclusion
should not be used as disciplinary actions.
And for more information,
refer to the CEC position paper
on ethical use of these measures
which I've posted on our Brightspace page.
For students on IEPs,
the exclusion for fewer than 10 days
does not require educational services,
a change in placement, or a manifestation determination.
This means that if a student is suspended
who is on an IEP
and the suspension is less than 10 days,
either cumulatively or consecutively,
there's no requirement for educational services,
it is not a change of placement,
there's no manifestation determination required,
and the team does not at this point
need to conduct a functional behavioral assessment
or behavior support plan.
Students on IEPs
who have a suspension exceeding 10 days,
whether it's consecutive or cumulative,
are considered a change of placement,
which requires IEP services
and a manifestation determination.
Now, it's important to note that the administrator
needs to consult with a special education case manager
and provide an opportunity
for an informal school hearing or meeting
for caregivers and the student
before suspending a student
for up to 10 consecutive school days
or placing a student
in an interim alternative education setting, IAES.
And we'll get into that in a little bit.
It's important to keep in mind
when you're talking about suspending a student,
portions of the day must be counted.
If the student is suspended at 10:00 AM,
it needs to be counted.
In-school suspensions don't count if the child
is afforded the opportunity
to continue progressing in the general curriculum,
continue to receive IEP services,
and continue to participate with non-disabled peers
as much as possible.
And more importantly,
if a student is sent to a planning room, for example,
we just talked a little bit about that,
as long as the planning room also serves students
in the general education curriculum
and the special educator
provides the student with their work and services,
it does not count as suspension.
Also, if bus removal is part of the IEP
and transportation is provided,
it does not count toward the suspension days.
However, if removal from the bus
means a student can't get to school,
it counts as a suspension.
Suspensions exceeding 10 days,
whether they're consecutive or cumulative,
are considered a change in placement, as previously shared,
and this requires IEP services
and a manifestation determination.
So, if a student is removed for more than 10 days,
as I just mentioned,
it is considered a change of placement,
and due to the change of placement,
the following are required.
A school must still provide IEP services
and a school must conduct a manifestation determination
before applying discipline such as suspension.
So what is a manifestation determination?
Manifestation determination,
it's the process that determines if the behavior
is directly related to the student's disability
or a failure to implement the IEP,
including any behavior intervention plans.
If the behavior is related to the disability,
so the team determines that yes,
the behavior is related to the disability,
the team may conduct a functional behavioral assessment
to revise and/or create a behavior plan.
The student would then return
to their original IEP placement
unless the IEP team agrees to change.
So the student should then be able to reenter the school
unless the IEP team agrees to change the placement.
If the behavior is not related to the disability,
so the IEP team has a conversation and meets
and they look at the behavior
in relation to the student's disability
and it's determined that the behavior is not related,
the student is subject to standard disciplinary procedures
with IEP services continuing.
And that's an important note.
A student on an IEP must maintain services,
even if a student is suspended
or is experiencing disciplinary procedures.
So I mentioned an interim alternative educational setting.
There are really four reasons an administrator
can unilaterally place a student in an IAES
regardless of a manifestation.
These are very significant behaviors.
So if a student on an IEP
is engaged in a weapon possession, illegal drugs,
sale or solicitation of controlled substances,
or infliction of serious bodily injury,
the team and the administrator has the right
due to the significant serious nature of these behaviors,
they can unilaterally place the student in an interim.
Now, interim is key.
It's not permanent, it's not a final placement;
it's an interim alternative educational setting.
So, this is an opportunity for the team
to decide where it will be,
this interim placement, or setting,
and how the services will be provided.
It also gives the teams time to determine
whether the IEP team
is going to give additional days of suspension,
do a change of placement, revise the IEP, et cetera.
And there's 45 days associated with this,
and these days are just for those four behaviors
and do not count as suspension.
So the bottom line is,
when we're talking about legal requirements
regarding suspension or disciplinary procedures
for students on IEPs and 504s,
the number-one thing we need to focus on
is really understanding
and know the special ed regulations
and know what they are when it comes to school discipline.
We also know,
and you all have learned this,
we need to use positive
and proactive behavioral approaches first and foremost.
We need to focus on tier 1
proactive preventative strategies for all students,
including our students with disabilities.
And also tier 2.
As I've mentioned previously,
we tend to jump
to really highly-intensive interventions, tier 3.
We need to focus on building in our schools
some targeted level interventions
so we're preventing students
from needing those higher levels of interventions.
We also really need to use
functional behavioral assessments proactively
to plan effective behavioral interventions
before we end up in situations
where suspension is being considered.
We know suspension is a last resort
and it's not an effective deterrent for students
And as I mentioned previously,
it leads poor life outcomes, especially expulsions.
So if we can be proactive,
get ahead of it, develop an effective plan,
we will be doing the best for our students.
We also know that many schools
refer to something that's called wraparound.
So this is an opportunity for students
really with complex needs
who need high level of intervention
to wrap around the student
and the family and the caregivers
and bringing a variety of expertise to the table.
These experts include mental health professionals,
medical professionals, community members.
What are the resources that we can do
and utilize within our educational community
in our environment
to really wrap around students with complex needs
to proactively support them
before it gets to a situation
where we're even considering expulsion or suspension?
So, thank you all so much.
I hope this was helpful.
Enjoy your readings,
and feel free to reach out
with any questions you may have.
Have a great week.