While only a handful of cases have been reported related to districts’ provision of special education services remotely, we are watching carefully for lessons learned. So far, courts have not required in-person instruction as stay-put, but have indicated the importance of providing remote services tailored to student needs. These early cases reinforce our guidance to make individualized decisions to meet student needs in these extraordinary circumstances. Further, documenting these determinations in an individualized remote learning plan that is incorporated into the student’s IEP can help guard against both procedural and substantive challenges.
Continue Reading Will Hearing Officers and Courts Order In-Person Instruction as Stay-Put?

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 from providing distance learning out of fear that they cannot adequately serve students with disabilities. In the updated guidance, ED advises school districts that the delivery of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) remains required but may look different when schools are physically closed. The guidance also addresses the impact of school closures on special education timelines, including urging schools “to work with parents to reach mutually agreeable extensions of time.” School districts should keep the fact sheet in mind when crafting general distance learning options and specific services and supports for individual students.
Continue Reading Department of Education Stresses Special Education Should Not Discourage Distance Learning Efforts

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 comply with IDEA timelines during the closure. While forthcoming guidance from ISBE and the U.S. Department of Education may provide additional flexibility and clarity, for now we can share the following update to ease your mind a bit. In summary, schools can safely consider that all special education deadlines calculated using “school days,” including evaluations, are postponed. Guidance is limited with respect to other timelines and so we recommend that you contact legal counsel to address how your school district will proceed with those calculations.
Continue Reading In the Nick of Time—Special Education Timelines During School Closures for COVID-19

Sign From Presentation at IAASEDana Fattore Crumley and Kendra Yoch were honored to present at the IAASE 21st Annual Winter Conference in Springfield on “The Crossroads of Special Education Evaluation and Risk Assessment: Which Issue Has the Right of Way?” For anyone who was not able to make the conference or session, here is a handy recap and some key takeaways to bring you up to speed on the intersection between threat assessment and special education evaluations.
Continue Reading What Did I Miss? Recap of IAASE Presentation on Special Education Evaluations and Threat Assessments

Is your school threat assessment team in place and ready to act in order to meet upcoming legal deadlines? Does it understand the interaction between threat assessments and special education evaluations? Is it adequately prepared so that your school will not be the next one in the media spotlight for a threat assessment gone wrong? In this post, we highlight three key issues involving threat assessment and describe upcoming opportunities to learn what you need to know to properly conduct threat assessments going forward.
Continue Reading Threat Assessments: Three Key Issues for Illinois Schools

When you get a request for a service animal in school, your mind may race with concerns. What if students or staff are allergic? Is the dog going to be a distraction for other students? Where will the dog relieve itself? Though these concerns are valid considerations, you might be surprised that in most cases, courts do not find they justify excluding service animals from schools.

The school context is especially complicated because school administrators cannot only think of the rights of the student requesting to bring a service animal to school. Administrators must also consider the needs of faculty and other students and the need to maintain a safe and effective learning environment. Let’s look at the general legal requirements and some common myths to help you determine when and under what circumstances service animals must be permitted.
Continue Reading Who Let the Dogs . . . In? Five Myths Busted About Service Animals in Schools

On October 17, 2019, Franczek P.C. Special Education team members Dana Fattore Crumley and Emily Tulloch presented at the IAASE 2019 Fall Conference on Fighting Friendly Fire in your IEP: Avoiding Internal Challenges to IDEA Compliance. This session provided an overview of common internal challenges that can sabotage IEP compliance. For a summary of

You would be forgiven if you can’t keep up with the many changes in the Illinois laws governing education at back-to-school time this year. As if Illinois special educators and administrators don’t have enough to do already, a significant number of laws passed or awaiting Governor Pritzker’s “John Hancock” impact special education. See the end of this post for information about the many Franczek resources on the horizon to assist with understanding the current education-legislation landscape. For now, we wanted to make sure you are aware of some particularly noteworthy legal changes relating to students with medical concerns and medication needs that you should be actively working on now. We have all you need to know here.
Continue Reading Marijuana, Medication, and Minors, Oh My! New Medication Laws For Schools

Including Guest Author Tracey Truesdale

One of the things we love the most about Franczek P.C. is the synergy that exists between our practice areas. A recent letter from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is one example in which the worlds of special education law and labor and employment law—our two main practice areas at Franczek—collided. We called on our Partner Tracey Truesdale, who has vast experience in this area of labor and employment law, to help us understand this law and its potential impacts on IEP teams.

The Wage and Hour Division of the DOL issued the letter in response to a request from a concerned parent. The parent sought an opinion on whether the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) would provide job protection to an employee who takes time off to attend individualized education program (IEP) meetings for their children. The DOL determined that parents may take intermittent leave under the FMLA to attend IEP meetings for children who have “serious health conditions.”Continue Reading DOL Gives Working Parents FMLA Pass to Attend Children’s Special Education Meetings

It’s a nightmare scenario: You come back to school rested after a well-deserved summer break to find a parent complaining that their child should have been evaluated over the summer and had an IEP in place on the first day of school. You received the request for an evaluation, either near the end of the school year or during the summer, but those pesky timelines can be so hard to keep up with when the sun is shining and vacation is on the horizon. What rules can help you avoid the timing trap for special education eligibility requests during the summer?
Continue Reading The Evaluation Was Supposed to Happen When?! Timing of Special Ed Evaluations Over the Summer