An interesting article from Special Ed Connections...."A student with LDs is involved in a sale of marijuana at school. The district holds a school board meeting, where it decides to expel the student. It then conducts a manifestation determination review.
The parents in Farrin v. Maine Sch. Administrative Dist. No. 59, 35 IDELR 189 (D. Me. 2001), argued the district should have conducted the MDR first. The court disagreed, noting there is nothing in the IDEA that spells out in what order a disciplinary hearing and MDR must take place.
"It makes sense to hear the student's side of the story; determine, for sure, did he commit this offense; then determine, for sure, the proposed penalty," said Jim Walsh, a school attorney at Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Aldridge & Gallegos, P.C., in Austin, Texas. "Otherwise, you're doing a manifestation determination before you've even officially . . . determined exactly what the student did."
This is just one source of contention that commonly arises between parents and school personnel during MDRs, Walsh said. Other areas where potential missteps can occur include staving off disagreements about committee composition, addressing consensus problems, and administering long-term suspensions.
Walsh spoke about and offered guidance on each of these issues during LRP's audio conference Getting Manifestation Determinations Right: Practical Strategies for Compliance."
No comments:
Post a Comment