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The Butte school district has violated federal law and a special education student’s rights, according to a June 8 report in response to a complaint filed April 13 with the state Office of Public Instruction. The district failed to provide an administrator at the student’s Individual Education Plan meetings, which resulted in the student receiving inadequate services, the complaint states. Mary Boyle, of Butte, mother of the 6-year-old kindergarten student who has disabilities, said that the district failed to assign a one-on-one full-time paraprofessional for her daughter, which was required by her daughter’s Individual Education Plan, because no administrators capable of assigning the paraprofessional attended the IEP meetings.

Metro Nashville Public Schools continues to move its 8,200 special-needs population into mainstream classes, satisfying parents who want inclusion for their children. The school district and the mayor's office made it a priority last year because federal law requires students with disabilities to be educated in the least-restrictive environment available.

Parents and students with disabilities aren't as involved in the process of mapping out their goals with schools as much as they should be, although federal law intends for parents and school staff to work together on these plans, a new study finds. The study, published this month online in the Journal of Disability Policy Studies, found that participation in IEP (Individualized Education Program) meetings varied based on the type of disability a student has, their family income, and their racial or ethnic background. Parents of students who had demonstrated "challenging" behavior at school, or who had poor social skills, reported they found meetings about their IEPs or transition from high school to college or work less than satisfactory, the authors found.

Let's keep IDEA PTA alive with renewed parent input and involvement.    The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the home of Mary Hall of PLUK, which is located at 380 Keith, which is the NW corner of Keith and Hilda in the University area.   Several of our wonderful MT CAAN members have already brainstormed some exciting ideas as to how parents can unite with enlightened educators to utilize this group as an important vehicle by which:  Parents can gain the empowerment and voice they should have in the special education process and at school, generally; We can work together systematically to achieve the kind of meaningful changes, opportunities, and supports that we want and need to see in the school environment, so that all children, regardless of diversity, get the free and appropriate education they are due by law and that they deserve by human right.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked the Obama administration for its views on whether a parent may bring a negligence claim against a school district that allegedly failed to identify a high school student's disabilities. The justices asked the U.S. solicitor general's office to weigh in on the issue raised under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

What: The COPAA Training Committee is proud to present this five part webinar series on Legal Issues in Special Education. Please note new pricing for webinars! We also have a brand new subscription option - you can now register for one session, one series or for one entire year! Legal Series (live sessions) Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 12:00pm - 1:30pm Mountain 2010 Annual Case Law Review Presenter: Judith Gran, Esq. Tuesday, October 11th, 2011 12:00pm - 1:30pm Mountain Legal Claims for Bullying and Harassment Presenters: Catherine Merino Reisman, Esq., Amy Carolla, Esq. Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 12:00pm - 1:30pm Mountain Litigating Claims for Unlawful Retaliation and Interference with Rights Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 12:00pm - 1:30pm Mountain Social Emotional Assessment: Meeting IDEA Requirements Presenter: Ann E. Simun, PsyD Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 12:00pm - 1:30pm Mountain Expanding Your Arsenal with Section 504 For a complete list of past recorded sessions (included in the subscription or available individually), please visit: http://www.copaa.org/conference-training/webinars/ Fees View Event Fees View Event Summary View Event Agenda Register for Event

"Do I have a right to observe the class before agreeing (or not agreeing) to a placement for my child? The special ed director said I cannot observe the class because of confidentiality issues with the other children." Pete says: I have represented kids with disabilities since 1978. In all these years, I have never had an instance where a school denied a parent, or the parent's private sector expert, the opportunity to observe a potential placement. The school board attorneys with whom I have worked over the years have always permitted observations by parents and the parent's outside experts.   When a school administrator takes this position, it creates an appearance of two things (both bad): (1) that the program is clearly not appropriate and the parent will quickly discover this, and (2) that the school is attempting to keep important information from parents. I think many Hearing Officers and Administrative Law Judges would view a refusal to allow an observation as grounds to find that the proposed placement was not appropriate.

In particular for families of children with disabilities, Thursday's Supreme Court ruling upholding most of the Affordable Care Act may come as a huge relief. Other government health insurance programs, including Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, have filled some of the gaps in health insurance coverage for people with disabilities before the health care law, but they didn't go far enough.

For the first time in IDEA’s nearly 40-year history, the U.S. Department of Education has included the performance of students with disabilities on state and NAEP assessments as part of determining how states are implementing IDEA.  And the results are humbling. 35 states and the District of Columbia were found to “need assistance” or “need intervention” after outcome data was combined with compliance measures that demonstrate adherence to the law. To be clear, the overwhelming majority of states “meet requirements” when just looking at compliance with IDEA, in fact only 9 were deemed as “needs assistance”. 

Click here to register for this event What: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost 60 percent of American adults say they endured abuse and other difficult family situations as children, otherwise known as adverse childhood experiences. Those experiences can have long-term health consequences. The annual financial burden to society of childhood abuse and trauma is $103 billion, according to a 2007 Federal Economic Impact Study. The costs include annual direct costs such as hospitalization, mental health care, child welfare service, and law enforcement, as well as indirect costs such as special education, juvenile delinquency, mental health and health care, adult criminal justice system, and lost productivity. The SAMHSA 10x10 Wellness Campaign invites you to a free training teleconference titled, “The Impact of Trauma on Wellness: Implications for Comprehensive Systems Change.” This teleconference will educate diverse stakeholders about comprehensive systems change, including preventing harm and inadvertent retraumatization and ensuring that services and supports are welcoming, engaging, and culturally attuned. The goal is to help facilitate the healing process among people who have experienced trauma so that they can become fully engaged in their communities. When: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 1:00 - 2:30p.m. Mountain Presenters: Cathy Cave, Senior Program Associate, Advocates for Human Potential Roger Fallot, Ph.D., Director of Research and Evaluation, Community Connections Ann Jennings, Ph. D., Founder and Executive Director, The Anna Institute

There are many types of speech and language disorders that can affect children. Over one million students are being served in our schools under the speech or language impairment category of IDEA, the law that authorizes special education. Do you have a student in your classroom who struggles with articulation, fluency, voice, or language? Is the student’s academic performance being negatively affected? This blog will give you 8 tips to help support students in your class who have speech or language impairments.