Source: http://www.gahaganlaw.com/about-us/idea/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 18:08:20+00:00

Document:
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (“IDEA”) governs how states provide early intervention, special education, and related services to students with disabilities. The IDEA guarantees students with disabilities a free appropriate public education (FAPE). The purposes of the IDEA include ensuring that all children with disabilities have access to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) that “emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.” 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A).
The information provided below is only a snapshot of the requirements of the IDEA and issues that can arise for students with disabilities. For more information about your child’s rights, please contact us for a consultation.
Under the IDEA, school districts are required to identify and evaluate children with disabilities, including children in private school, children who are being homeschooled, and homeless children. 34 C.F.R. § 300.111.
After identifying a child with a disability, the school district must convene a referral meeting and determine whether the school district should evaluate the child. The evaluations must include assessments to determine if the child is a child with a disability under the IDEA and to determine the educational needs of the child. 34 C.F.R. § 300.301.
After the evaluations are completed, a meeting is convened with the parents and school staff, and a determination is made as to whether the child is eligible for services under the IDEA.
The disability must also affect the child’s academic performance. 34 C.F.R. § 300.8(a). If the disability does not affect the child’s academic performance, the child still may require accommodations under Section 504.
Refusing to find a child eligible for services.
Once a school district finds a child eligible under the IDEA, it must develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP), a document that describes the child’s strengths and challenges, sets forth annual goals, details the services the school will provide, and indicates how the child’s progress will be measured and reported to the parents.
The members of an IEP team include parents and school staff, including teachers of the student (both regular education and special education), any related service providers, a representative of the school district, and an individual who can interpret evaluation results. 34 C.F.R. § 300.321.
The team must consider certain special factors, including whether the child’s behavior impedes the child’s learning or that of others and whether the child needs assistive technology devices and services. 34 C.F.R. § 300(a)(2).
The school district must review and revise the IEP at least annually. 34 C.F.R. § 300.324(b).
IEP goals that repeated from year to year.
During the IEP meeting, the team must determine the educational placement where the child will be educated. Placements include the regular education classroom, special education classroom, separate school, private school, and homebound instruction. 34 C.F.R. § 300.116. The placement must also be as close as possible to the child’s home.
Deciding that a child cannot be educated in a regular education classroom, because he or she is educated on the Extended Content Standards (Adapted Curriculum).
The school must implement the IEP as written, including the specially designed instruction, related services, and any accommodations, modifications, and supports. The school must also provide parents with progress reports on the IEP goals, as often as nondisabled children receive progress reports (typically every 9 weeks). Upon request, the school should be able to provide the parents with copies of all data collected on the IEP goals.
Failing to monitor if a child is actually progressing on goals and adjusting instruction accordingly.
When issues arise between parents and the school system regarding the above issues, parents have several options, ranging from informally raising the issues with the school district to filing due process, a formal lawsuit filed against the school district in the Office of Administrative Hearings.

References: § 1400
 § 300
 § 300
 § 300
 § 300
 § 300
 § 300
 § 300