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
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 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
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
Earlier this summer, we let you know about two special education bills that had passed the Illinois legislature, which, if signed by the Governor, would provide additional services to some transition students. ...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
In the final weeks of the Trump administration, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) initiated “proactive investigations” against Seattle Public Schools and the Indiana Department of Education related...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
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
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
IAASE recently reported that HB 3897 is currently making its way through the Illinois legislative process. This bill would expand special education eligibility to students through the school year in which they turn 22....more
An Illinois hearing officer recently took the rare step of requiring an elementary school district to pay for a former student’s entire high school tuition and related expenses at an out-of-state private boarding school for...more
The Supreme Court issued its opinion in Fry v. Napoleon yesterday. The case asked the court to interpret the IDEA provision stating that the Act does not limit the rights or remedies available under the Americans with...more
At the end of last month, the Department of Education released three new sets of guidance on the federal civil rights laws that govern students with disabilities. All three offer valuable information about current and...more
The Supreme Court currently has two important special education cases on its docket for this term. The first is Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District (10th Cir.), which will revisit the free and appropriate public...more