Opinion ID: 472144
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Duty To Promulgate a Policy or Institute Monitoring Procedures

Text: 120 The state also takes issue with the portion of the district court's judgment enjoining the state either to draft a policy on the disciplining of handicapped students that complies with the EAHCA or to develop a procedure for monitoring the compliance of local educational agencies. The state defendants contend that the EAHCA does not require them to promulgate such a policy, that they voluntarily submitted a policy to the district court before it issued its judgment, and that the state has at all relevant times had a federally approved monitoring plan. 121 We do not find any of these arguments persuasive. The EAHCA expressly provides that, in order to qualify for federal assistance, a state must have in effect a policy that assures all handicapped children the right to a free appropriate public education. See 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412(1) (1982). The district court concluded that the state's disciplinary procedures for regular education students were not adequate to protect the rights of handicapped students under the EAHCA, and that this gap in state policy contributed to the violation of the plaintiffs' rights by the SFUSD. We agree. We also think that the policy later submitted to the district court by the state was completely inadequate in light of the standards we enunciate today. Finally, the state's monitoring procedure was demonstrably insufficient to protect the rights of handicapped students such as Smith and Doe. In this regard, it is immaterial that the executive branch approved the state's overall plan for handicapped children. The EAHCA empowers a reviewing court to decide independently whether state and local procedures satisfy federal requirements. See 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1415(e)(2) (1982). When it finds a violation, a court may grant such relief as [it] determines is appropriate. Id. We believe the district court acted well within its scope of discretion in fashioning the remedy it did.
122 As previously discussed, the state recently enacted legislation dealing with the disciplining of handicapped children. See Cal.Educ. Code Sec. 48915.5 (Deering Supp.1986). This legislation takes significant strides toward satisfying the terms of the district court's injunction and bringing state law into compliance with the EAHCA. As we held earlier, however, sections 48915.5(e) and 48915.5(g) of the new law are violative of the EAHCA and its regulations. The state must revise these provisions in accordance with the relevant principles of this opinion.