Making Unilateral Changes in Placement Through the Use of Suspension or Other Removal from the Current Placement

Julie Weatherly featured an article in a journal titled In Case, Volume 48, Numbers 4-6; and in Volume 49, Numbers 1-2. The title of the article is Avoiding Legal Disputes in Special Education: 21 Training Points for Administrators. According to Weatherly, LEAs must be mindful when students with disabilities are suspended for over 10 days at a time and for more than 10 days at a time cumulatively in a school year when the pattern of removals constitute a "change in placement". Before changing the educational placement of a student with a disability the following must occur: (1) manifestation determination, (2) IEP team must plan for a functional behavioral assessment then develop a behavioral intervention plan based on the results, and (3) the IEP must determine what services are necessary for the student to participate in the general education setting and to make progress toward his/her IEP goals in the alternative education setting when the student is removed for more than 10 days. Other removals not designated "short-term suspensions" may also count toward the 10 day change in placement. For example, sending a student with a disability home to "cool down" or "home time-out".