Governor Josh Shapiro recently announced that the proposed 2024-2025 budget for the Pennsylvania Department of Education includes a $1,436,815,000 special education appropriation....more
School aged children lost much in the pandemic, including critical learning time in the classroom, social development, mental health, extracurricular activities, and much more. According to a 2023 study published in the...more
The Supreme Court unanimously held in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, No. 21-887 (Mar. 21, 2023) that a student can sue for compensatory damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) even when they have not...more
Summary of the ruling (& its underlying alphabet soup): The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) requires school districts to provide their disabled students a Free Appropriate Public Education...more
A.N. v. Upper Merion Area School District, 2022 WL 3371612 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 16, 2022). The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania upheld a hearing officer’s award of 5.5 hours of compensatory...more
On July 19, 2022, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) released several guidance documents concerning the civil rights of students...more
In Illinois, as universal masking is fading, the next question looms: what will the end of universal masking mean for staff and students with disabilities who are at high risk? Across the county, issues regarding universal...more
In July, the Illinois State Board of Education published non-regulatory guidance to assist schools in implementing HB 40 and HB 2748, now Public Act 102-0172 and 102-0173, respectively. The FAQ addressed many of questions...more
Welcome to the 2021-2022 school year. As the new year gets underway, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) within the Department of Education advised states and districts that it will be...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented hardships for all students and school leaders, and it has been particularly challenging for students with disabilities and their IEP teams. Over the last nine months, districts and schools...more
OCR recently published a Q&A document providing expectations for compliance with civil rights laws during the pandemic. While OCR is not responsible for enforcing the IDEA, it is responsible for Section 504. Because students...more
The Federal District Court of Connecticut, in A.R. v. Connecticut State Board of Education, recently ruled that under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) students in Connecticut have the right to special...more
Just as remote learning has become the new normal, we turn to planning for ESY and the 2020-21 school year. While the timeline for returning to school buildings remains uncertain, the eligibility of some students with...more
And so it begins. While we have encouraged schools to focus on meeting student needs during the school closure and planning to meet student needs when we return to school buildings, we knew the temptation to jump ahead to...more
After three weeks of being out of school buildings and one week of remote learning, we can all see that the IDEA was not written for pandemics and widespread school closures. While requests for IDEA flexibility have been...more
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) recently issued a “Supplemental Fact Sheet” updating its earlier Questions & Answers and Fact Sheet on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and clarifying that schools should not refrain...more
In the wake of Governor Pritzker’s recent order requiring all Illinois schools to close between March 17 and March 30, many schools and school districts have been left guessing how to best serve students with disabilities and...more
As you are all aware, a basic educational requirement in the State of Connecticut is that each school district must make a minimum of 180 days of instruction available to students each school year. ...more
You probably will not be surprised to learn that students with disabilities are more likely than their general education peers to be referred for a threat assessment. Indeed, students who have deficits in social...more
Part 2: California Laws Impacting Schools and School Districts for 2020 - Last year brought many changes to the legal landscape affecting educators. In this Best Best & Krieger LLP Legal Alert series, we look at some of...more
A hearing officer with the Arkansas Department of Education (“ADE”) finds that a school violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) by failing to evaluate and develop a behavior intervention plan (“BIP”)...more
Over the past few years, we have seen a steadily increasing number of states enact legislation legalizing marijuana for recreational or medical use. There are currently a total of 34 states, the District of Columbia, Guam,...more
School districts have an additional defense in their arsenal when faced with an alleged procedural violation of the IDEA: the student’s own poor motivation. The United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, whose...more
A recent decision by the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals underscored the importance of monitoring and ensuring the progress of special education students under their Individualized Education Plans (“IEP”), and...more
In what appears to be the first case of its kind within the Second Circuit, a United States District Court Judge within the District of Connecticut has crafted an order of over $200,000 in compensatory damages for a school...more