LM Nov-Dec 2022

LegalCorner

Chad Watkins IASA Associate Director/General Counsel

To help school leaders navigate complex matters, IASA has partnered with leading law firms throughout Illinois to provide districts with critical guidance during the 2022–23 school year. In every issue of Leadership Matters, the

IASA Legal Corner will showcase an article written by attorneys who specialize in legal matters related to education. It is our hope you find the content insightful, timely and helpful in addressing the critical matters you face.

U.S. Department of Education Issues Letter to State Special Education Directors Regarding HighlyMobile StudentsWith Disabilities

By Courtney N. Stillman, an attorney with Himes, Petrarca & Fester To address concerns about evaluations and services provided to mobile students with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) issued a letter to State Special Education Directors on November 10, 2022. Highly mobile children are migratory or homeless children, military children, or Youth in Care, who frequently change school districts. Children suspected of having a disability and needing special education must be timely evaluated. OSERS emphasized that if a child transfers to a new school district during the same year that a previous school district is conducting a special education evaluation, the new school district may not delay the evaluation or extend the evaluation time frame to implement Response to Intervention/MTSS. The new district must promptly request student records from the previous district because exchange of these records is critical to coordinating and completing the assessment. OSERS strongly encouraged schools to complete evaluations of highly mobile children within expedited time frames (e.g., within 30 school days to the extent possible), consistent with the child’s individual needs. When a student with a disability moves into a new school district within the same state, the receiving district must provide services

comparable to those the child received in the previous district until the receiving district either adopts the previous district’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) for the child or develops a new IEP for the student. If a student transfers to a new district from out of state, the new district must provide comparable services to the previous IEP until the new district conducts its own evaluation, if determined necessary, and develops a new IEP. In its letter, OSERS explained that the requirement to provide comparable services applies to Extended School Year (ESY) services and not only to services that the student would receive during the regular school year. The letter, Ensuring a High-Quality Education for Highly Mobile Children, also provides various resources for schools serving highly mobile students. If you have questions about this letter, evaluations or providing comparable services, please contact your HPF attorney. Himes, Petrarca & Fester was established over 70 years ago. The firm provides legal counsel and advice in multiple areas that include School Law, Litigation, Labor Relations & Collective Bargaining, Students’ Rights & Special Education, Employment Discrimination, Student Records, Employee Discipline, Finance & Elections, Construction Law, Boundary Disputes & Proceedings, Annexation & Detachment and Municipal Law.

11 LM Nov/Dec 2022