An amendment to section 300.300:
"A parent may revoke consent for special education services for their child. The LEA may not use mediation or due process to pursue the continuation of services. The LEA may inquire as to why the parent is revoking consent but may not require a parent to provide an explanation, either orally or in writing, prior to the ceasing the provision of special education and related services., The LEA will not be considered in violation of FAPE for the child when services are discontinued. The parent must revoke their consent in writing. The LEA must then provide the parent with prior written notice a reasonable amount of time before the discontinuation of services. (300.503) Prior written notice must inform the parent that the student will no longer receive special education, related, and transition services, and the student will no longer receive the protections of the IDEA disciplinary procedures. The LEA does not have to call an IEP meeting when the child discontinues special education services at parent request. If a State chooses to add additional requirements under this part, the State must ensure that any additional procedures are voluntary for the parents, do not delay or deny the discontinuation of special education and related services, and are otherwise consistent with the requirements under Part B of the Act and its implementing regulations.
If a child experiences academic difficulties after a parent revokes consent to the continued provision of special education and related services, nothing in the Act or the implementing regulations would prevent a parent from requesting an evaluation to determine if the child is eligible, at that time, for special education and related services. If a parent who revoked consent for special education and related services later requests that his or her child be re-enrolled in special education, an LEA must treat this request as a request for an initial evaluation under § 300.301 (rather than a reevaluation under § 300.303). However, depending on the data available, a new evaluation may not always be required. An initial evaluation, under § 300.305, requires a review of existing evaluation data that includes classroom based, local, or State assessments, and classroom based observations by teachers and related services providers. On the basis of that review and input from the child’s parents, the IEP Team and other qualified professionals must identify what additional data, if any, are needed to determine whether the child is a child with a disability, as defined in § 300.8, and the educational needs of the child.
Concerning the issues about a student who reaches the age of majority holding a school responsible for loss of Part B services, § 300.300(b)(4)(iii) provides that, if the parent of a child revokes consent in writing for the continued provision of special education and related services, the public agency will not be considered to be in violation of the requirement to make FAPE available to the child because of the failure to provide the child with further special education and related services.
The child find provisions in section 612(a)(3) of the Act and § 300.111 require each State to have in effect policies and procedures to ensure that all children with disabilities residing in the State and who are in need of special education and related services are identified, located, and evaluated. Children who have previously received special education and related services and whose parents subsequently revoke consent should not be treated any differently in the child find process than any other child, including a child who was determined eligible and whose parent refused to provide initial consent for services. A parent who previously revoked consent for special education and related services may continue to refuse services; however, this does not diminish a State’s responsibility under § 300.111 to identify, locate and evaluate a child who is suspected of having a disability and being in need of special education and related services. A public agency must obtain informed written parental consent, consistent with § 300.300(a), before conducting an initial evaluation.
Regarding prior knowledge of a disability in discipline issues, § 300.534(c)(1)(ii) states that a public agency is not deemed to have knowledge under this section if the parent of the child has refused services under the regulations implementing Part B of the Act. When a parent revokes consent for special education and related services under § 300.300(b), the parent has refused services as described in § 300.534(c)(1)(ii); therefore, the public agency is not deemed to have knowledge that the child is a child with a disability and the child may be disciplined as a general education student and is not entitled to the Act’s discipline protections.
Regarding 504 plans, the final regulations implement provisions of the IDEA only. They do not attempt to address any overlap between the protections and requirements of the IDEA, and those of Section 504 and the ADA."
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