Dated March 11, 2008

Dr. John Copenhaver

Director

Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center Utah State University

1780 North Research Parkway, Suite 112 Logan, Utah 84341

Dear Dr. Copenhaver:

This letter is in response to your electronic mail (email) communication
dated January 8, 2008, regarding requirements for membership on the
State Advisory Panel (SAP) under 34 CFR §§300.167-300.169 of the
regulations for Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (Part B). The regulations at 34 CFR §§300.167 through 300.169
governing the SAP implement the statutory provision at 20 U.S.C.
1412(a)(21) and contain language that is substantially identical to the
statutory language. The purpose of the advisory panel is to provide
policy guidance with respect to special education and related services
for children with disabilities in the State. 34 CFR §300.167. Under 34
CFR §300.168, the advisory panel, whose members must be appointed by the
Governor or any other individual under State law who is authorized to
make such appointments, must be representative of the State population
and must be composed of individuals involved in, or concerned with, the
education of children with disabilities. With regard to membership, you
ask the following three questions:

1\. 34 CFR §300.168(a)(1) refers to \"\[p\]arents of children with
disabilities (ages birth through 26). Does this mean if a Panel member
has a child that exceeds age 26, at that point the panel member does not
meet qualifications?

**Response: **Under 34 CFR §300.168(a)(1), the SAP must include parents
of children with disabilities (ages birth through 26). The parent of an
adult child who is aged 27 or older would not meet the membership
requirement under 34 CFR §300.168(a)(1). Such a parent could be
appointed by the State to serve on the SAP, but the State would also be
required to appoint parents of children who are ages birth through 26 in
accordance with 34 CFR §300.168(a)(1), who along with other individuals
with disabilities, must be a majority of the SAP\'s members. 34 CFR
§300.168(b).

2\. Does the \"and\" in \[34\] CFR 300.168(a)(5), (8), and (11) mean
both? Or if a panel had at least one in each area, would this satisfy
the requirements?

**Response: **The answer to your question cannot be provided based only
on the language of these membership provisions. In light of the purpose
of the SAP, States have some flexibility in appointing members based on
the particular needs of children with disabilities in the State to
ensure that the panel is representative of the State population and is
composed of individuals involved in or concerned with the education of
children with disabilities. 34 CFR §300.168(a).

Page 2 - Dr. John Copenhaver

Under 34 CFR §300.168(a)(5), the SAP must include \"State and local
education officials, including officials who carry out activities under
subtitle B of title VII of the McKinney­Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
(42 U.S.C. 1431 *et seq.).\" *Therefore, to satisfy this membership
requirement, the State and local education officials included on the SAP
must include officials who carry out activities under Subtitle B of
Title VII of the McKinney­Vento Homeless Assistance Act. How a State
otherwise chooses to allocate appointments to other State and local
education officials to satisfy this membership requirement is a matter
left to State discretion.

Under 34 CFR §300.168(a)(8), the SAP must include representatives of
private schools and public charter schools. To satisfy this membership
requirement, a State must appoint one or more representatives of each
type of school.

Under 34 CFR §300.168(a)(11), the SAP must include representatives from
the State juvenile and adult corrections agencies. Therefore, to satisfy
this requirement, the SAP must include one or more representatives of
both agencies.

3\. Most membership citations use the plural rather than singular. Does
this mean each category would need more than one representative or would
one in each category be sufficient?

**Response: **The regulation specifies when the State must meet a
membership category by having only one representative and when more than
one representative is required. [Compare ]{.underline}34 CFR
§300.168(a)(9) and (a)(10) (requiring at least one representative) with
34 CFR §300.168(a)1) through (8) and (a)(11) through (14) (requiring
individuals or representatives). However, the regulation does not
otherwise specify how States allocate representatives if a membership
category represents multiple constituencies. Accordingly, we believe
that States have flexibility in this regard based on the particular
needs of the children with disabilities in their State, and that
assignment of representatives of specific constituencies is a matter of
State discretion.

Based on section 607(e) of the IDEA, we are informing you that our
response is provided as informal guidance and is not legally binding,
but represents an interpretation by the U.S. Department of Education of
the IDEA in the context of the specific facts presented.

We hope this information is helpful to you. If you have further
questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Deborah Morrow at
202-245-7456.

Sincerely,

/s/

William W. Knudsen

Acting Director

Office of Special Education

Programs