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Top 10 Actions (or Inactions), that Spur Special Education Impartial Hearing Requests for School Districts
Commonwealth Court voids Pennsylvania Department of Education’s newly imposed Age-Out Plan for failure to implement it in accordance with Pennsylvania Laws.* PSBA, Inc., et al. v. Dr. Khalid N. Mumin, Secretary of Education...more
On May 16, 2024, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court overturned a Pennsylvania Department of Education (“PDE”) regulation stating special education students are entitled to a free and appropriate public education until the...more
As school districts around the Commonwealth embark on the 2023-24 school year, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has sprung a surprise by issuing direction that local educational entities (LEAs) must now provide...more
The long-anticipated state biennial budget (Ohio House Bill 33) is headed to the Governor for approval. The Bill contains significant changes for Ohio schools; below is a summary of those changes. Also, be on the lookout for...more
At its March 10, 2023 meeting, the General Assembly’s Education Committee began the process of approving bills. The following is a brief summary of the bills that the Committee voted favorably on and advanced out of...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
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) recently announced a resolution agreement with the Los Angeles Unified School District largely addressing issues related to OCR’s finding that the District...more
The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) published a Question and Answer document to advise school districts on returning to in-person instruction. The OSERS Q&A...more
In this immediate post-COVID-19 education landscape in which schools are contemplating a full return to in-person instruction, schools are also grappling with the stark realities of achievement gaps and the disproportionate...more
Bricker attorneys Melissa Bondy and Katy Osborn will discuss ODE’s proposed changes to the Special Education Operating Standards and special education issues facing districts as they resume in-person instruction....more
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, no formal flexibility has been granted to schools to deviate from State and federal special education requirements. ...more
As the issues related to the mandated school closures in response to the COVID-19 crisis continue to rapidly evolve, the Governor extended the closure through April 7, and in all likelihood, Illinois schools will remain...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
The U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a fact sheet today entitled “Addressing the Risk of COVID-19 in Schools While Protecting the Civil Rights of Students.” The fact sheet addresses various...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
Once again, the Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (“OSERS”) has weighed in on the rights of school districts to limit outside evaluators from accessing school classrooms. The...more
On October 20, 2017, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS) within the U.S. Department of Education rescinded 72 education policy guidance documents. Sixty-three of the documents are from the...more
In Endrew, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a higher standard of education for children with disabilities, which then raised many fundamental questions about special education across the nation. What is required for a...more
On December 7, 2017, the United States Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services [“OSERS”] issued guidance for schools on determining whether a special education program is designed to...more
The U.S. Department of Education recently issued a Q&A document providing guidance on the issues the U.S. Supreme Court addressed in its decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District Re-1. The document explains the...more
On February 24, 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13777. This order required Federal agencies to evaluate their existing regulations and make recommendations to the agency head regarding their repeal, replacement,...more
Recently, the U.S. Department of Education published regulations to implement Rosa’s Law, legislation enacted in 2010 to replace the term “mental retardation” with “intellectual disability” in federal laws. These laws include...more
The 2017 Regular Session of the Connecticut General Assembly concluded at midnight, June 7, 2017, without accomplishing its most important task (passing a budget). As such, the General Assembly will eventually have to convene...more