White Collar Crime in our Backyard?

A simple law that was created to protect the civil rights of children with severe disabilities by giving them the right to a free education base on their individual need due to their disability has been violated. The same law that allows a child with special needs to have a individualized education plan (IEP) designed by parents and school district based on the child's individual disability was also violated.

Also in violation of the law is the parents right to define and determine alternative services through their school district by "continuum of alternative services" and their right to be properly notified if any changes will be made in services.

The heavy regulated “No Child Left Behind” statute imposed many restrictions on our children's right to a free public education guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA laws established in 1974 by enforcing curriculum guidelines into IEP (Individual Education Plan) making any IEP throughout the US void. The purpose of an IEP is to allow the school district and parent to design a proper special education plan that meets the individual needs of the child.

It is the school district and parent who can accessed alternative services through "continuum of services" which is part of their child's civil rights. It also guarentees that they cannot be removed without first notifying their parents.

However the children were removed without parental notification from a school at was closed by the MR/dd Superintendent and Board who re-defined "services" and transferred the childen without their parent's permissin to another location or to the district school without first notifying parents. "Services" that are to be determined by parent and district school according to federal law.

It is through the 1974 IDEA federal law that allows children the right to attend a special therapy center through "continuum of alternative services" and protects them from being removed without properly notifying the parents or guardian. How these services are defined and determined are through the parents and district schools. The facility providing services cannot remove or transfer a child into another location or service because they are only providing the services, not defining it for the parents and districts.

Here are some references to look at:

Question: Once a determination is made that a disabled student cannot be educated satisfactorily in the regular educational environment, even with the provision of supplementary aids and services, what considerations govern placement?

ANSWER: IDEA does not require that every student with a disability be placed in the regular classroom regardless of individual abilities and needs.This recognition that regular class placement may not be appropriate for every disabled student is reflected in the requirement that school districts make available a range of placement options, known as a continuum of alternative placements, to meet the unique educational needs of students with disabilities. This requirement for the continuum reinforces the importance of the individualized inquiry, not a "one size fits all" approach, in determining what placement is the LRE for each student with a disability. The options on this continuum must include "the alternative placements listed in the definition of special education under § 300.17 (instruction in regular classes, special classes, special schools, home instruction, and instruction in hospitals and institutions). " 34 CFR §300.551 (b) (1).These options must be available to the extent necessary to implement the IEP of each disabled student. The placement team must select the option on the continuum in which it determines that the student's IEP can be implemented. Any alternative placement selected for the student outside of the regular educational environment must maximize opportunities for the student to interact with nondisabled peers, to the extent appropriate to the needs of the student.It also should be noted that under IDEA, parents must be given written prior notice that meets the requirements of §300.505 a reasonable time before a public agency implements a proposal or refusal to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child, or the provision of FAPE to the child. Consistent with this notice requirement, parents of disabled students must be informed that the public agency is required to have a full continuum of placement options, as well as about the placement options that were actually considered and the reasons why those options were rejected. 34 CFR §§300.504-300.505; Notice of Policy Guidance on Deaf Students Education
Posted by Labeled Disable

Good Services Forced Into Decline ...

MR/dd Tax Levy Review.pdg

Cutting the tree down ...

Here's an interesting report that shows a steady increase in number of children served from 1995 to 1999... and then it drops off. This is when they started closing the federal-state-county run preschools that were housed in MR/dd facilities...