2461A - DISCIPLINING SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS
Special Circumstances Permitting Removal to an IAES
School personnel may remove a student to a IAES for not more than forty-five (45) school days without regard to whether the behavior is determined to be a manifestation of the child's disability, in cases where a child:
carries or possess a weapon to or at school, on school premises, or to or at a school function;
knowingly possesses or uses illegal drugs or sells or solicits the sale of a controlled substance while at school, on school premises, or at a school function;
has inflicted serious bodily injury upon another person while at school, on school premises, or at a school function.
Interim Alternative Educational Placement
If the school believes that maintaining the current placement of the child is substantially likely to result in injury to the child or others, the school may seek an expedited hearing. An Independent Hearing Officer may either:
return a child with a disability to the placement from which the child was removed if the Independent Hearing Officer determines that the removal would be a violation of FAPE; or
order a change in placement of a child with a disability to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting for not more than forty-five (45) school days if the hearing officer determines that maintaining the current placement of such child is substantially likely to result in injury to the child or to others.
The Public Agency may remove a student for forty-five (45) instructional days to an Interim Alternative Educational Placement (IAEP) without regard to whether the behavior is determined to be a manifestation of the student's disability, if the student:
carries a weapon to school or possesses a weapon;
knowingly possesses or uses illegal drugs or sells or solicits the sale of a controlled substance; or
has inflicted serious bodily injury upon another person; while at school, on school premises, or at a school function under the jurisdiction of the Department of Education or a public agency.
On the day the student is placed in an IAEP for violation of the weapon or drug provision, the Public Agency shall notify the parent of the decision and provide the parent with a copy of their procedural safeguards.
The student's case conference committee must convene as soon as possible but no later than ten (10) days after the placement begins to determine whether or not the drug or weapons violation is related to the student's disability. If the Case Conference determines that the behavior is a manifestation of the disability, it should review the Behavior Intervention Plan. If a behavioral intervention plan already has been developed, review the behavioral intervention plan and modify it, as necessary, to address the behavior.
If the Case Conference Committee finds no causal relationship between the student's disability and the weapon or drugs violation, the school may continue to the forty-five (45) day interim alternative educational placement and proceed with expulsion. The parent of a student with a disability who disagrees that the student's conduct was not a manifestation of the student's disability may request the following:
Mediation in accordance with 5111 IAC 7-45-2
A due process hearing in accordance with 511 IAC 7-45-3 or 511 IAC 7-45-10
Simultaneously, mediation and a due process hearing
A student is to remain in the IAEP until a hearing and appeal decision is rendered or the forty-five (45) instructional days expire, whichever happens first. If the public agency believes that maintaining the student in the current educational placement (the student's placement prior to removal) is substantially likely to result in injury to the student or others, the public agency may request an expedited due process hearing to determine an appropriate placement for the student.
A student considered to present a substantial likelihood of causing injury to others may be placed in the forty-five (45) instructional day IAEP but only after there has been a hearing to determine whether such placement is appropriate, unless the parents agree to the placement. The principal should request an expedited hearing and provide the hearing officer with sufficient data for him/her to determine that:
the school has demonstrated that keeping the student in the current placement would prove substantially likely to result in injury to the student or to others;
the current placement is appropriate;
the school has made reasonable efforts to minimize the risk of harm in the current placement, including the use of supplementary aids and services.
The IAEP meets the following requirements:
Continue to participate in the general education curriculum, although in another setting.
Progress toward meeting the goals set out in the student's IEP
Receive, as appropriate, a functional behavioral assessment and behavioral intervention services and modifications that are designed to address the behavior violation so that it does not recur.