And By Guest Author Tracey Truesdale
In what is perhaps an agency first, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued a 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. In a somewhat surprising turn of events given the current political climate, the DOL determined that parents may take intermittent leave under the FMLA to attend these meetings for
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Discipline, Special Education, and Race: Key Takeaways From Civil Rights Commission Report
In a July 2019 briefing report, the United States Commission on Civil Rights warned that students of color with disabilities face exclusionary discipline, like suspensions and expulsions, at much higher rates than their peers without disabilities. What is the Commission, what were its findings and recommendations, and what do they mean for your school or school district?
What is the Commission on Civil Rights?
The Commission describes itself as an independent, bipartisan, fact-finding federal agency that aims to inform the development of national civil rights policy and enhance enforcement of federal civil rights laws. The Commission studies alleged deprivations
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Chicago City Council Unanimously Approves Fair Workweek Ordinance
The Chicago City Council passed the new Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance by a unanimous vote earlier today, as reported by the Chicago Sun Times.The text of the ordinance is available here:
Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance
There have been some significant changes since the legislation was first proposed. Stay tuned for a detailed summary.
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The Evaluation Was Supposed to Happen When?! Timing of Special Ed Evaluations Over the Summer
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
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What You Should Know About the Critical Skills Test for ESY
Summer is upon us and so it’s the season for Extended School Year (ESY) services. What better time than now to brush up on the law in this area? Most special education school leaders are familiar with the regression/recoupment test, but many are less aware of the critical life skills test. What is it, and when does it apply?
Extended school year (ESY) services are special education and related services offered by public school districts beyond the normal school year. Extended school year services include traditional classroom experiences but may also include the continued provision of related services or enrollment
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First Circuit Refuses to Heighten the Endrew F. FAPE Standard or Find LRE Violation for Self-Contained Program Placement
A recent decision from the First Circuit Court of Appeals (the highest federal court in the jurisdictions of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island) rebuffed attempts by a student’s parents to heighten the “[f]ree appropriate public education” (FAPE) standard under Endrew F. The court also applied the same standard used by the Seventh Circuit, which has jurisdiction over Illinois, to analyze a claim that a school district failed to provide a student a FAPE in the “[l]east restrictive environment” (LRE). The decision is therefore a useful read for school leaders in Illinois and beyond. Don’t miss the
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Alabama Becomes Latest State To Restrict Salary History Inquiries
On June 11, 2019, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a new law that prohibits wage discrimination based upon sex and protects workers who decline to share their salary history with a prospective employer. The new law takes effect August 1, 2019. Unlike laws in some other states, the Alabama law does not bar employers from asking for salary history information, but prohibits employers from refusing to interview or hire applicants who decline to provide such information.Alabama joins a growing list of jurisdictions to ban or limit the use of salary history inquiries in the hiring process, including:
- California (statewide and in
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Illinois Poised to Ban Salary History Inquiries
Among the bills awaiting signature by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is an amendment to the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 that would ban employers from asking job applicants for information about their wage, salary or benefits history. Governor Pritzker is expected to sign the bill, HB834. With this new law, Illinois joins at least 12 other states and multiple counties and municipalities in restricting employers’ ability to obtain or use applicants’ compensation history in the process of hiring and setting compensation.New Restrictions on Requesting and Using Salary HistoryHB834 specifically prohibits employers from screening job applicants based on their current
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Fair Workweek Ordinance May Be Coming Soon in Chicago
The City of Chicago has flirted with enacting a “Fair Workweek” ordinance, aimed at ensuring predictable work schedules for workers, for several years. While the ordinance failed to gain traction in its prior iterations, this time it has a powerful proponent in Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has made passing the ordinance one of her priorities for her first 100 days in office.If it passes, the ordinance will impose significant new regulatory obligations on day and temporary labor service agencies, hotels, restaurants, building services, healthcare facilities and programs, manufacturers, airports, warehouses, retail employers, and childcare providers. The Chicago City Council
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Six Key Takeaways from Nevada Decision on GPS Tracker’s Audio Function
AngelSense™, Amber Alert GPS™, Pocket Finder™, Filip™. The list of tracking devices for students with special needs constantly grows, and parents increasingly seek to send such devices with their students to school. The use of GPS is usually uncontroversial. But what if the device allows parents to listen into or even record what the student hears at school? Such functions can raise a plethora of legal concerns. In a recent due process decision from Nevada, an impartial hearing officer decided that parents of a student with Autism could not use the “listen-in” function of an AngelSense tracker at school. What
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Avoiding Reading Curriculum Wars in Special Education
A recent Education Week Curriculum Matters blog post, “Meet the Moms Pushing for a Reading Overhaul in Their District,” is an important reminder of the challenges that can arise when parents and school staff do not agree on reading methodology for students with special needs. While the law allows schools to choose methodology for students receiving special education and related services in reading and other curricular areas, conflicts over curriculum choices can be expensive to litigate and can undermine parent-staff relationships. How do you minimize the risk of curriculum wars over reading methodology?
The Education Week post describes
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Back to Basics: The Four Questions You Must Ask to Assess Requests for Modifications in Athletics and Extracurricular Activities
We all know by now that some modifications and accommodations are required to provide students with disabilities equal access to extracurricular activities. But the details can be tricky for even the most well-seasoned special education professionals. Our own John Swinney will be tackling this and other exciting student activities topics tomorrow, April 12, 2019, at the Illinois Directors of Student Activities State Convention in Rosemont. He hopes to see many familiar faces there! For those who want a taste of what he will discuss on this hot topic, read on for the four key questions to ask (and insight on how to
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Recent Lower Court Decision in Fry v. Napoleon Sheds Light on New Exhaustion Standard
In 2017, the Supreme Court issued an opinion, Fry v. Napoleon, stating that unless parents/guardians seek relief that is also available under the IDEA, they need not exhaust IDEA procedures by filing a complaint for a due process hearing before filing a lawsuit under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the Michigan federal trial court so that it could collect more facts and apply the “Fry tests” that the Supreme Court set forth in the case. Earlier this month, the trial court
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Back to Basics: OCR is at the Door – Five Steps to Mount Your Best Defense
Most of the cases the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) handles involve disability discrimination, including claims that a school failed to implement an IEP or Section 504 plan. In our experience, however, OCR is often an afterthought for school employees who work in the field, and when OCR comes knocking school leaders often feel unprepared. Read on for five tips to help you feel more confident the next time you receive notice of an OCR complaint.
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Accommodation or Modification: What’s the Difference, and Does It Matter?
In the realm of special education, the use of specialized jargon and unique terminology it the norm. Whether it’s terms that seem basic to us now, like “IEP” and “LRE,” or more of-the-minute phrases like “significant disproportionality,” those of us who work in special education law are expected to be fluent in a veritable alphabet soup of terms and phrases. Two of the most confusing phrases that we come across are “accommodation” and “modification,” so much so that a quick review of court, hearing officer, and Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) decisions shows these terms being used interchangeably,
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A Distinction with a Difference? Accommodations vs. Modifications
If you’ve ever been confused by the use of the terms “accommodations” and “modifications” in the realm of disability student rights, you’re not alone. Our friends over at LRP Publications, the makers of the Special Ed Connection website, asked our own Jackie Wernz to host an upcoming webinar on the topic because of the prevalence of confusion over the terms and how they come into play under both the IDEA and Section 504. The webinar, “Is This an Accommodation or a Modification? Understanding the Difference to Ensure Compliance,” will be held this Thursday, March 14, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. Central. More
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