Conferees ease special education discipline rules
11/23/04 -- As this issue of School Board News went to press, House and Senate conferees had just completed action on a massive piece of legislation to reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). After the full House and Senate approve the conference report, it will go to the White House for the President's signature.
The conferees agreed to ease the requirements on disciplining students with disabilities, a major priority of NSBA. However, the bill does not completely eliminate manifestation hearings, as NSBA had sought.
The conferees adopted the provisions in the IDEA bill passed by the Senate, which allows school districts to place students with disabilities in alternative settings for up to 10 days while a review is carried out to determine whether the student's conduct is related to his or her disability. Under current law, the student must stay in class pending the outcome of the manifestation hearing.
The final bill retains the 45-day limit on alternative placements for disabled students who bring weapons or drugs to school or cause serious bodily harm to others. NSBA had urged the conferees to eliminate this requirement.
"The bill will restore common sense to school discipline," says a statement by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. "Students will have the same punishment for the same infraction, unless the discipline problem is the direct result of a child's disability."
The bill also contains several improvements in other areas sought by NSBA, including provisions to eliminate or ease burdensome paperwork requirements, simplify due process, limit attorney fees, and provide greater flexibility in meeting the highly qualified teacher provisions of NCLB.
"We are pleased the conferees approved most of our recommendations," says Reggie Felton, director of federal relations at NSBA. "This bill is much less burdensome and is a big improvement over the current law. We will continue to seek further clarifications."
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