Ma Taylor II Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 Can Special Education services be denied based on “lack of attendance” construed as “lack of instruction”? How much class time would a student need to miss in order to meet that “lack of instruction” definition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Moderators Carolyn Rowlett Posted December 9, 2022 Moderators Share Posted December 9, 2022 Not if the child has a disability and needs specially designed instruction. Excessive absences trigger the "Child Find" obligation under the IDEA no matter the circumstances of the child - wards of the state, homeless, etc. - which includes those missing school regularly. Because the excessive absences may be attributed to a disability, the school district should try to determine the underlying cause. An evaluation should be conducted and if the child is found eligible, s/he should receive special education services no matter how many absences are recorded. There is an IDEA regulation (300.306(b)(1)) that lists "lack of appropriate instruction" as a reason to find a child ineligible. However, this "lack of instructions" should not be interpreted by school districts to mean a lack of instruction due to the child's absences. It is for situations in which a school is not providing sufficient instructions OVERALL and the reason the child is behind is due to this - not due to a disability. A child with a disability and the need for specially designed instruction should receive special education services - without regard to absences. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 EmilyM Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 I've seen cases where, in lack of other data, the excess absences made it difficult to see whether the academic difficulty was due to lack of instruction and academic exposure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Kendra mackenzie Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 On 12/9/2022 at 1:04 PM, Carolyn Rowlett said: Not if the child has a disability and needs specially designed instruction. Excessive absences trigger the "Child Find" obligation under the IDEA no matter the circumstances of the child - wards of the state, homeless, etc. - which includes those missing school regularly. Because the excessive absences may be attributed to a disability, the school district should try to determine the underlying cause. An evaluation should be conducted and if the child is found eligible, s/he should receive special education services no matter how many absences are recorded. There is an IDEA regulation (300.306(b)(1)) that lists "lack of appropriate instruction" as a reason to find a child ineligible. However, this "lack of instructions" should not be interpreted by school districts to mean a lack of instruction due to the child's absences. It is for situations in which a school is not providing sufficient instructions OVERALL and the reason the child is behind is due to this - not due to a disability. A child with a disability and the need for specially designed instruction should receive special education services - without regard to absences. I would think this to there has to be a reason the excessive absent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Administrators Lisa Lightner Posted December 13, 2022 Administrators Share Posted December 13, 2022 Yes, this is one of the valid reasons to deny evaluations. I have to head off to the dentist with the kids, but I think it's in here: https://sites.ed.gov/idea/statute-chapter-33/subchapter-ii/1414 For more information, you can find me here: A Day in our Shoes Planet Sesame Street Doggy Lovin The IEP Toolkit Online IEP Advocacy Training-Registration Ends Sept 27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Backroads Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 The best way around this is to show other evidence of disability affecting learning or demonstrate why the student isn't able to attend school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Ma Taylor II
Can Special Education services be denied based on “lack of attendance” construed as “lack of instruction”? How much class time would a student need to miss in order to meet that “lack of instruction” definition?
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