|
The individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that, before a child with a disability may be suspended/expelled beyond 10 days in a school year, the team must consider whether the child’s behavior is a manifestation of his/her disability.
The IEP team should ask themselves the following questions in making a manifestation determination:
Process:
Have the parents been notified that their child has engaged in behavior that is now leading the team to consider a removal that constitutes a change in placement?
Is the manifestation determination review being conducted by the IEP team and other qualified personnel?
Is the IEP team and other qualified personnel responsible for making this determination aware that they may determine that the behavior of the child was not a manifestation of the child’s disability only if they (the IEP team and other qualified personnel) meet the requirements in Section 300.523(c) and (d)?
Requirements:
The IEP team and other qualified personnel must consider, in terms of the behavior subject to disciplinary action, all information, including:
|
(i)
|
evaluation and diagnostic results, including the results or other relevant information supplied by the parents of the child;
|
|
(ii)
|
observations of the child;
|
|
(iii)
|
the child’s IEP and placement.
|
They must the determine:
|
(i)
|
in relationship to the behavior subject to disciplinary action, the child’s IEP and placement were appropriate and the special education services, supplementary aids and services, and behavior intervention strategies were provided consistent with the child’s IEP and placement;
|
|
(ii)
|
the child’s disability did not impair the ability of the child to understand the impact and consequences of the behavior subject to disciplinary action; and
|
|
(iii)
|
the child’s disability did not impair the ability of the child to control the behavior subject to disciplinary action.
|
If the IEP team and other qualified personnel determine that any of the standards above were not met, the behavior must be considered a manifestation of the child’s disability.
|
