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
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
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
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
The Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education recently issued a new Fact Sheet. The Fact Sheet repeats prior guidance that “the responsibility for schools to comply with Section 504 continues regardless of how...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 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 U.S. Department of Education (DOE) released new guidance on Aug. 24 related to school districts’ child find obligations during the pandemic as well as ongoing responsibilities to provide students with disabilities a Free...more
On May 13, 2021, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights published a Q&A on Civil Rights and School Reopening in the COVID-19 Environment. ...more
The Department of Education recently issued Volume 2 of its COVID-19 Handbook. The handbook offers suggestions for creating safe and healthy learning environments, addressing lost instructional time, and supporting educator...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
New York state’s mandated school closures due to COVID-19 have resulted in a number of questions related to special education. One such question relates to conducting special education evaluations. Under the regulations,...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
In a previous post, we forecasted further guidance from ISBE and the U.S. Department of Education to provide additional clarity for schools in regard to how to best serve students with disabilities during school closures as a...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
On March 18, 2020, ISBE issued guidance on providing special education during the current mandatory two-week school closure. While the guidance responds to some of the questions arising from this unprecedented situation,...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