disc912

For discussion purposes only

Discipline Task Force Minutes

Friday, September 12, 1997

12:00- 2:30 p.m.

Weber School District Office

Attendance: Margaret Lubke, Davale Saley Miller, Ken Reavis, Holly Dixon, Deb Cheney, Tom VanGorder, Ann Miller, Deb Andrews, Nan Gray, Mae Taylor-Sweeten

Action Steps:

Scheduled Meetings:

Next Scheduled Meeting Tuesday, September 23, 1997

10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Park City School District Office

Tom Van Gorder

645-5600 ext 132

Future meeting scheduled: Friday October 3, 1997

10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

West Valley City Jr. High

3400 South 3450 West

Salt Lake City

Sharon Neyme, Principal

(801) 964-7630

Reference Materials used during this meeting:

Agenda
P.L. 105-17 (Part B) Formatted by TRL Monitoring
Rob O'Neill's Article on Functional Analysis

Discussion

1. The Task Force reviewed the focus of the committee as described in the meeting agenda.

2. The Task Force reviewed the minutes from the last meeting and recommended that several clarifications be added.

"School Personnel" (see below), was defined in two ways:

1. For changes in placement for more than 10 days:

"School personnel" refers to a district superintendent or designee, or a special education director/coordinator

Thus, only a district superintendent or designee or special education director/coordinator can unilaterally change the placement of a student but only for not more than 10 days.

2. For suspending a student for not more than 10 days

"School personnel" refers to a school principal, a district superintendent or designee, or a special education director/coordinator

Thus, in reference to suspensions, the definition of "school personnel" is expanded to include school principals and they can suspend a student for not more than 10 days.

Sec. 615 (k) of PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS section:

(k) Placement in Alternative Educational Setting.-

(1) Authority of school personnel.-

School personnel under this section may order a change in the placement of a child with a disability-

to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting, another setting, or suspension, for not more than 10 school days (to the extent such alternatives would be applied to children without disabilities); and

to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting for the same amount of time that a child without a disability would be subject to discipline, but for not more than 45 days if--

the child carries a weapon to school or to a school function under the jurisdiction of a State or a local educational agency; or

the child knowingly possesses or uses illegal drugs or sells or solicits the sale of a controlled substance while at school or a school function under the jurisdiction of a State or local educational agency.

The Task Force further discussed the definition of 10 school days in terms of whether it should be "cumulative" days or if a student could be suspended multiple times for 10 days. They concluded that it should be left as "non-cumulative" in the federal code and "cumulative" in the state rules. There was some discussion about requiring suspensions that exceeded 10 school days be referred to the special education director. However, no decision was made regarding the discussion.
The group noted that if a student's parent agrees, a student could be suspended for more than 10 school days.

5. There was much discussion regarding the question- "Does an IEP team have to meet after a student is suspended for one day?" (See below). Everyone was most concerned regarding the implications of a such a requirement and recommended that the regulations/and or state rules read "the IEP team would review the student's IEP and if conditions warrant, conduct an IEP meeting."

(B) Either before or not later than 10 days after taking a disciplinary action described in subparagraph (A)--

if the local educational agency did not conduct a functional behavioral assessment and implement a behavioral intervention plan for such child before the behavior that resulted in the suspension described in subparagraph (A), the agency shall convene an IEP meeting to develop an assessment plan to address that behavior; or

if the child already has a behavioral intervention plan, the IEP Team shall review the plan and modify it, as necessary, to address the behavior.

6. The Task Force interpreted the requirement "the agency shall convene an IEP meeting to develop an assessment plan to address that behavior" (see above) to mean "the agency shall convene an IEP meeting to gather assessment information to develop a behavioral plan to address the behavior [that resulted in the suspension]."

7. The Task Force noted that a school wide discipline plan might be considered a behavior intervention plan.

8. The Task Force also noted that and IEP meeting could be held by alternate means of participation such as a conference call between parent(s) and school personnel and the meeting could be brief.

9. One Task Force member recommended including a functional behavior analysis as one of the classification requirements for students with behavior disorders. This recommendation will be passed on to the Evaluation and Eligibility Task Force.

10. In reference to the provision in Sec. 615. (k)(1)(A)(ii) "for the same amount of time that a child without a disability would be subject to discipline,", it was noted as a matter of further clarification, that the Jeffers Amendment and Gun-Free School legislation is built in to P.L. 105-17. Also, further clarified was the fact that students can be placed in an interim alternative setting for not more than 45 days without consent and longer with parental consent.

11. The task force again discussed the term "others" in Sec.615.(k)(2) (below)

(2) AUTHORITY OF HEARING OFFICER.--A hearing officer under this section may order a change in the placement of a child with a disability to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting for not more than 45 days if the hearing officer--

(A) determines that the public agency has demonstrated by substantial evidence that maintaining the current placement of such child is substantially likely to result in injury to the child or to others;

The group felt that "others" could be interpreted as meaning "property"?

The phrase "likely to result" was also discussed but no decisions were made regarding the interpretation of the phrase.

12. The Determination of Setting was discussed as it applies to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting for not more than 45 calendar days. The meanings of several terms were discussed.

(3) DETERMINATION OF SETTING-

(A) IN GENERAL- The alternative educational setting described in paragraph (1)(A)(ii) shall be determined by the IEP Team.

(B) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS- Any interim alternative educational setting in which a child is placed under paragraph (1) or (2) shall-

(i) be selected so as to enable the child to continue to participate in the general curriculum, although in another setting, and to continue to receive those services and modifications, including those described in the child's current IEP, that will enable the child to meet the goals set out in that IEP; and

(ii) include services and modifications designed to address the behavior described in paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) so that it does not recur.

participate in the general curriculum: The word "participate" needs to be more clearly defined-one suggestion might be "access to".

general curriculum: This term should refer to content of the core curriculum.

those services: Several options were considered in attempting to define this term-take it out, define it as modified services versus replicated services, define it as "as modified by the IEP team".

current IEP: This could refer to the IEP completed after the incident.

Designed . . . so that it does not recur: It is critical to focus on the verb in this sentence "designed". It does not say that we have to "guarantee" the behavior does not recur. A behavior reentry plan might be used to address this requirement. The group also noted that in this instance, Congress was probably focusing on gross negligence situations.

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