YOUR HANDS ARE (NOT) TIED: SCHOOL-BASED ETHICS WHEN PARENTS REVOKE SPECIAL EDUCATION CONSENT

C Psychology in the Schools, Vol. 00(0), 2014 View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pits 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/pits.21814 YOUR HANDS ARE (NOT) TIED: SCHOOL-BASED ETHICS WHEN PARENTS REVOKE SPECIAL EDUCATION CONSENT RACHEL STEIN AND JILL SHARKEY University of California at Santa Barbara Parents currently have the unilateral ability to reject special education services. Yet, it is unclear how schools should support students with special education needs in this situation as schools may not challenge a parent’s choice to revoke special education assessment consent or the provision of services. Guidelines for school professionals to address this quandary currently do not exist, thus this paper will draw on legal mandates, court precedents, and ethical analysis to provide recommendations for appropriate responses to these situations. In particular, what the related laws dictate, how to support students in the general education classroom, and how to deal with behavior and disciplinary infractions are discussed with attention to the National Association of School C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychologist’s ethics for school psychologists. “Andres” is a 6-year-old boy in the first grade. In kindergarten, following a series of behavioral crises, he was assessed and found eligible for special education as a student with autism spectrum disorder. For the remainder of his kindergarten year, Andres spent part of his time in the general education classroom and part of his day in the Special Day Class. He also had aid support, particularly to help with transitioning and high frustration activities (e.g., reading). Andres started first grade and seemed to be doing well with this program. He did not have any more behavioral crises and was making progress on his Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals. In November, prior to Andres’s annual Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting, Andres’s parents wrote a letter to the school revoking consent for special education services and provisions. Education law, at the state and federal levels, provides guidelines on how to identify, assess, and serve children with special needs. Yet, what is less clear for special education specialists and school psychologists is a school’s role for students whose parents have revoked special education services. Although the law states that parents have a legal right to revoke special education services for their child (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA], 2004b), what happens afterward is more ambiguous. The situation becomes especially uncertain when the student begins exhibiting challenging behaviors or acting in ways that disrupt the classroom and school environment. Guide- lines for school professionals to address this quandary currently do not exist; thus, this article will draw on legal mandates, court precedents, and ethical analysis to provide some recommendations for appropriate responses to these situations. In particular, this article discusses what related laws dictate, how to support students in the general education classroom, and how to deal with behavior and disciplinary infractions. This article will explore the legal and ethical implications for school professionals when working with students who have suspected or identified special needs but whose parents have decided not to pursue assessment or have revoked their consent for special education. A B RIEF H ISTORY In 1972, the cases of Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Pennsylvania and Mills v. District of Columbia Board of Education ruled that children with disabilities could not be excluded from public education (Jacob, Decker, & Hartshorne, 2011; Yell, 2006). The Education Correspondence to: Rachel Stein, Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106. E-mail: rstein@umail.ucsb.edu