HEADLINES
The Feds Seek to Clarify Transportation of Students with Disabilities, Part II
By Peggy A. Burns, Esq.
In Part I of this report last month, I addressed a number of the questions and answers about transporting students with disabilities issued by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) on Nov. 9, 2009. Part II explains the rest of the significant topics tackled by OSERS and expands upon the Office’s discussion of bus suspensions. Once again, my editorial comments are set apart from the OSERS’ information (“My comments”).
USE OF CLIMATE CONTROLLED VE-
HICLES: When an IEP or Section 504 team has determined that climate- controlled transportation is necessary to allow a student with a disability to access his or her
special education
services, OSERS confirmed that the local educational agency (LEA) must provide
this special transportation
free of charge to parents. It will also be necessary to provide a climate- controlled vehicle without regard to particular disability-based needs if such a vehicle is used to transport non-disabled students in similar cir- cumstances. My Comments: The lack of
specificity in the Individuals with Dis- abilities Education Act often comes as a surprise to both educators and school
transportation professionals. Like other modes of special trans- TRANSPORTATION FOR AFTER-
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: OSERS explains that whether a child with a disability has a right to transportation for ac- tivities that occur after normal school hours depends upon whether trans- portation is a related service. MY COMMENTS: OSERS’ answer to
its own question is presented in such a way that a quick read could result in confusion or inaccuracy. Tere are, essentially, two situations in which transportation will be required for an
22 School Transportation News Magazine February 2010
portation,
the
requirement
for
a
climate-controlled bus is not a gener- al mandate of federal law, but, rather, becomes an individual requirement when the IEP team determines it’s needed for an individual student in order to meet his unique needs stem- ming from a disability.
after-school activity: (1) when trans- portation is a related service and the after-school activity is required, or (2) because transportation to extra- curricular
activities is
non-disabled students. TRANSPORTATION OF PRESCHOOL
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: If the IEP team determines that transporta- tion is a related service for a preschool student, “the LEA would be respon- sible for providing the transportation to and from the setting where the spe- cial education and related services are provided.” MY COMMENTS: A number of ju-
dicial and agency decisions about transportation for preschoolers stress that transportation for a preschooler will only be a related service if there is a disability-related need for such trans-
provided to
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60