portation (as opposed to, merely, an age-based issue, if preschoolers who do not have a disability are not transported to and from preschool.) If no state or lo- cal statute, regulation or policy requires the provision of transportation to pre- school programs offered by a school district, transportation for a preschool- er with a disability will not be required, either, unless there is a particular need stemming from the student’s disability, or if the parents can show that, without school-provided transportation, the student could not access the services reflected in his IEP. Whether or not you must transport to and from private day care as opposed to the student’s home is likely to depend upon the provisions of school district policy.
NEED FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNI-
CATION: You’ll want to quote OSERS’ specific language: “Effective com- munication between schools and transportation
providers is essen-
tial, including communication about transportation needs and potential problems of children with disabili- ties.” But
there’s a reminder of the
necessity of informing school bus drivers or other transportation pro- viders about the need to protect the confidentiality of information about individual students’ special needs, and the “strategies and assistance that may be available to drivers” to address the needs of riders who are disabled. MY COMMENTS: Here’s yet another
official statement about the need for transportation professionals to have information to enable them to safely and effectively transport students with disabilities. But with that flow of information must also come pointed reminders about the confidentiality of such information.
DISCIPLINE: OSERS answers the
question of the relationship of a bus suspension to procedural pre-req- uisites for students with disabilities. If transportation is included in the child’s IEP, there are a number of rami- fications if a student is suspended from such related service transpor-
tation. OSERS does not spell all of them out in its Q&A document, but, instead, references the federal regula- tions in 34 CFR §300.530 “and all of the discipline procedures applicable to children with disabilities.” The source for the information set forth below is OSERS “Questions and Answers about Disciplinary Procedures,” revised in June 2009: • If the suspension is a short-term removal (fewer than 10 days), the suspension may be carried out in the same way it would for a non-disabled child. • An LEA need not provide alterna- tive transportation to a child with a disability who has been suspended from the bus for 10 days or less unless it does so for non-disabled children for similar short-term bus suspensions. • If a child with a disability is suspend- ed from transportation for more than 10 school days and transportation is included in the child’s IEP, and the LEA provides no other form of trans- portation, the bus suspension will be a change of placement. Tis will also be true if the suspension is for longer than 10 non-consecutive days and the LEA determines, “on a case-by- case basis, that a pattern of removals constitutes a change of placement because the series of removals total more than 10 school days in a school year; the child’s behavior is substan- tially similar to the behavior that resulted in the previous removals; and because of such additional factors as the length of each removal, the total amount of time the child has been removed, and the proximity of the re- movals to one another.” (OSERS Q&A about Discipline, F-3) When the suspension constitutes
a change of placement, as described above, the LEA, along with the par- ent and relevant members of the IEP team, must conduct a manifestation determination review and proceed as indicated in the federal regulations. It will be the responsibility of special edu- cators to initiate this process. MY COMMENTS: Still
in force, al- though not addressed in OSERS new
www.stnonline.com 23
Q&A document, is the fact that, if transportation is provided only on the same basis as it is to non-disabled stu- dents — and not as a related service — a bus suspension does not count to- ward the 10-day rule. In that case, “the child and his or her parents would have the same obligations to get to and from school as a non-disabled child who had been suspended from the bus” (Analysis to the Regulations, §300.530). However, the Analysis goes on to say: “…Public agencies should consider whether the behavior is similar to be- havior in a classroom that is addressed in an IEP and whether the child’s be- havior on the bus should be addressed in the IEP or a behavioral intervention plan for the child.” And, as a general matter, “when a
child’s ‘behavior impedes his or her learning or that of others,’ the IEP team must ‘consider, if appropriate, strat- egies, including positive behavioral interventions, strategies and supports to address that behavior’ (§300.324). If the child’s bus behavior impacts social goals included on the IEP, or otherwise impacts his/her or others’ learning once s/he gets to school, or if the child’s be- havior results in exclusions from the bus that impacts learning, this mandate would apply. Tis would seem to be especially true if behaviors are demon- strated in both the classroom and the bus. Analysis, §300.530.” (“Where Does it Say Tat?” by Peggy A. Burns, www.
educationcompliancegroup.com.) n
Peggy Burns is an attorney and con- sultant, and owner of Education Compliance Group, Inc. (
www.educa-
tioncompliancegroup.com.) She is the editor of Legal Routes, and developer of four video training programs for school bus drivers, “Te Road to Compliance for Special Needs Drivers,” “Putting the Brakes on Harassment,” “Steering Clear of Liability,” and “Confidential Records” and co-author of School Bus Stops: A Safety Guide for Transporters. Peggy can be reached at (888) 604-6141, and by e-mail to
ecginc@qwestoffice.net.
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