LRE changes between charter and district school while looking for homebound 1:1 help

[Elemeno]

I'm trying to look for any resources on the matter. I read the articles about requesting homebound services and this is a situation that is a bit off the norm. Student is attending a cyber charter through the state and has an IEP for behavior, education autism. Parents have an upcoming evaluation for a medical diagnosis of autism. The school is the type that requires a parent or someone they provide to be the "learning coach". 

The parent is completely overwhelmed by the student's behaviors and is at the point where they can no longer effectively help with the student and are looking into officially requesting 1:1 in-home help from the school. The school hints that this is a huge change in LRE as this would be effectively homebound instruction with the usual parent helping being dropped in favor of an in-person teacher. The idea has come up to move to a traditional district, which the parents are opposed to, preferring the in-home situation for personal reasons (hence the cyber charter). Traditional school, even with any potential self-contained class, might be considered an increase in LRE. Theoretically, the district school would have greater ability to provide homebound services if the IEP team went that way.

But that seems an awful lot of bouncing around in LRE levels.

The cyber charter has offered increased virtual support and parent training, but parents are worried it won't be enough. My concern is that the request for an in-home 1:1 is based more on the parents' needs and less on the student. While by state law the cyber charter can't counsel the student out, it seems the IEP team could recommend a different school.

Any advice on where to take this?

[EmilyM]

Based on this, it does sound as if your parent wants the best of both worlds, and I don't think IDEA will cover that.

I presume they picked the online school, and most online schools require the parents to provide the at-home help (no publicly funded school can afford to send out personal teachers). The offered accommodations are reasonable, but if the end goal is homebound instruction, they may have to look outside the offerings of IDEA.

Are there any options for them to apply for grants/scholarships for a private teacher?

Otherwise, they may have to have that school choice means making choices and see how things go in the district school. I don't think "this is harder than we thought" will be the best argument when they chose that school. A provided learning coach will have to be based on the kid's needs with the charter school being the most reasonable and effective placement for learning, and that's a tough argument to make.

 

Edited March 3 by EmilyM

[Lisa Lightner]

Hospital and homebound are the most restrictive environments. But, some kids need that.

If the student has major behaviors at home, I am assuming that in a public school setting with noise, commotion, transitions and distractions...it would likely be worse? Or that is the parents' concern?

An out of district placement in a small setting, yes, that is an option. The IEP teams (or LEA) can come to the table at any time and change their offer of FAPE, which may or may not include a placement change.

I would advise that the parents take a step back, take a look at their child, and envision a setting in which the child can be successful. What does that look like? And then begin their advocacy efforts to steer toward an IEP that provides that.

 

 

[Elemeno]

Thanks for the information!