ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
These procedures shall govern disciplinary removals of students with disabilities from their regular school program. These procedures shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with state and federal special education laws and regulations.
A.
School
administrators may suspend students with disabilities for up to 10 cumulative
school days in the school year under the same terms and conditions as students
without disabilities are suspended, subject to the limitations set forth below:
1.
In the event
that a disabled student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) specifically
lists a school response other than a suspension that must be followed for a
particular type of misconduct, the school administrator shall follow the
requirements of the IEP in responding to that misbehavior.
2.
When
calculating the 10 cumulative school day total, school administrators shall
include school days spent in an in-school suspension or removal, unless during
that removal the student continued to have access to the general curriculum, to
the special education services in his/her IEP, and also continued to
participate with non-disabled students to the extent he/she would have in the
student’s regular program.
3.
Portions of a
school day that a student has been suspended would be included in determining
whether the student has been removed for more than 10 cumulative school days.
B.
In the event
that a school administrator must remove a disabled student from his/her school
program for more than 10 cumulative school days in the school year, the
administrator shall ensure that the following steps are followed:
1.
After
consulting with the student’s special education teacher, the school
administrator shall arrange for the student to receive an appropriate level of
educational services during the removal in question so as to ensure that the
student is able to continue to progress in the general curriculum and
appropriately advance toward the goals and objectives listed in the student’s
IEP during that removal.
Code: JKF-R
2.
The
administrator shall contact the District’s special education office to arrange
for a meeting of the student’s Pupil Evaluation Team (PET), which should meet
within 10 business days of commencing the removal in excess of 10 cumulative
school days in the school year.
3.
At the PET
meeting referenced above, the PET shall undertake all the responsibilities
established by state and federal special education laws, including reviewing or
ordering as appropriate a functional behavior assessment and a behavior
intervention plan. The Team may also
undertake a manifestation determination if the student has been removed with
sufficient frequency to constitute a “change of placement” as that term is
defined by state and federal law.
4.
Nothing in
these procedures shall prevent the PET from undertaking functional behavior
assessments, manifestation determinations, or the development of behavior plans
at earlier points in time, as determined appropriate by the PET.
C.
Should school
officials believe that the student should remain out of his/her regular program
for a sufficient length of time so as to be a “change of placement” under state
and federal law, school officials shall schedule a Pet meeting to consider that
removal. At
that meeting, the following things must occur:
1.
The Team
shall review or order, as appropriate, a functional behavior assessment and
shall review or order, as appropriate, a behavior intervention plan for the
student. The Team shall also undertake a
manifestation determination of the behaviors prompting the need for the
extended removal time.
2.
If the PET
chooses to remove the student from his/her regular program for a period of time
that would be a change of placement, the Team shall decide upon the appropriate
services for the student to receive during that removal. Those services must be calculated to ensure
that the student is able to continue to progress in the general curriculum and
appropriately advance toward the goals and objectives listed in the student’s
IEP during that removal.
File: JKF-R
3.
When such a
removal is ordered by the PET, the family shall receive the special education
statement of procedural rights as part of that decision. If possible, the chair of the PET meeting
should also attempt to inform the student’s parent/guardian at the meeting that
if he/she does not believe the service package ordered by the PET is
appropriate, then the parent/guardian may request a due process hearing challenging
the appropriateness of those services.
D.
For the
purpose of these procedures, a “change of placement” shall be any removal from
the student’s regular school program that is for more than 10 consecutive
school days in a school year, or any series of removals that constitute a
pattern because they cumulate to more than 10 school days in a school year and
are considered a change of placement because of factors such as the length of
each removal, the total amount of time the student is removed and the proximity
of the removals to one another.
E.
In any
situation where the PET determines that misconduct is not a manifestation of
the student’s disability, then the relevant disciplinary procedures applicable
to students without disabilities may be applied to the student in the same
manner as they would be applied to students without disabilities, up to and
including possible expulsion of the student in question. During any permissible disciplinary removal
in excess of 10 cumulative school days in the school year, including
expulsions, the school shall provide that student with services sufficient to
ensure that the student is able to continue to progress in the general
curriculum and appropriately advance toward the goals and objectives listed in
the student’s IEP during that removal.
The PET shall determine the services that meet that standard for
removals sufficiently long as to constitute a change of placement.
F.
Following any
disciplinary removal in excess of 10 cumulative school days in the school year,
the PET should meet to review the student’s most recent functional behavior
assessment, or if one has not been done, to order that such an assessment
occur, as appropriate. Following the
completion and/or review of the functional behavior intervention plan and order
changes in such a plan, if appropriate, to address the behaviors of concern.
G.
In those
circumstances where a student brings a weapon to school, to a school function,
or on school transportation, or where a student possesses, uses, sells or attempts
to sell illegal drugs at school, a school
function,
or on school transportation, school officials may place that student out of
school for up to 45 days, shall provide educational services for the student,
and shall schedule a PET meeting to occur within 10 business days of the
removal. At that Pet meeting, the Team
shall undertake all necessary actions discussed in these procedures for
responding to removals that constitute a change of placement for the
student. Determinations regarding what
should happen with the student after the 45-day removal shall also be made by
the PET, consistent with these procedures and state and federal law.
Legal Reference: 34 CFR §
300.121; .519-.529 (March 1999 as amended)
Me. Spec. Ed. Reg.
ch. 101 § 14 (Nov.
1999, as amended)
First
Adopted:
Page
4 of 4