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Special Education Law Tips

July 2016
2 Things that will help your child with school

Since we know that parents of special needs kids don't have a ton of spare time, our newsletter is designed to be short but sweet.  Enjoy these 2 Things and if you know someone who will also benefit from these tips, please feel free to pass it along.  Thank you from all of us at SchoolKidsLawyer.com!

IEE ay ay ay!
In order for a child to be eligible for special education and related services, the child must first be evaluated by the school to determine if there is a disability and whether the disability affects their ability to learn.  However, those evaluations are not always thorough, accurate, or unbiased.  Usually such evaluations are performed by the school psychologist and other school employees and they may skew the results so as to minimize the services that must be provided to the student.  The child and his/her parents are entitled to challenge the school evaluation and request an "Independent Educational Evaluation" (IEE) by a non-school professional.  When an IEE is requested because the school evaluation is not trusted, a school district has two (and ONLY two) options: (1) challenge the right to an IEE through due process; or (2) permit the IEE at the school's expense.  If a challenge is made through due process, a hearing officer will determine if it must be conducted at the school's expense.  If the school is ordered to or agrees to the IEE, then the only restrictions it can place on the IEE are a cap on the cost and that the evaluator has certain credentials.  Other than that, parents can pick who they want to perform the IEE.  One last concern: the IEP team does NOT have to adopt the results of the IEE; the members must only consider the results of the IEE in developing the IEP.
Putting the 'Stay' in Stay Put
If you have a dog as a pet and you teach the dog to "STAY!", you are already familiar with the concept of 'stay put'.  You don't want the dog to move from its current location.  The same principle applies in special education law.  If a student has an IEP, but the school wants to change something - placement, services, classification, etc., the parents and child have the right to challenge that through due process.  Once the proposed change to the IEP is in due process, the child is then in 'stay put' and the last approved IEP must remain in full force and effect.  For example, if the IEP has placed the child into a private school as the most appropriate place for special education and services, and the school wants to return the child to public school, by filing for due process the parents have engaged 'stay put' and that student must remain in the private school placement.  This is an important feature of IDEA because it prevents a school from unilaterally changing an IEP without the parents' approval.  If a child with a disability is succeeding with the current IEP, why change it? (Often the reason is that the school district is trying to save money.)  As an extra precaution, you or your special education attorney should file a "Motion for Stay Put" in the due process case to ensure that that right is enforced.  Recently, cases have suggested that stay put remains until all appeals of the case are resolved. 
Our upcoming events:

Aug. 2016 (TBA) - Special Education Law 101 at the Camden County Family Services Organization (FSO)

Oct. 27-28, 2016 - Autism NJ 34th Annual Conference, Harrah's, Atlantic City, NJ - Exhibitor Booth (come see us!)

Novemember 2016 (TBA) - Seminar: Your Child's Special Education Rights - Strategies for Fighting the School District


Our book SchoolKidsLawyer's Guide to Special Education Law: Workbook for Parents, Advocates and Lawyers
ON SALE NOW!



Go to http://schoolkidslawyer.com/book for more details!
 
If you have a group or organization that is interested in hosting a special education seminar, please contact us at info@schoolkidslawyer.com.

School Kids Lawyer

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