Policy 7640

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
7640 STUDENT INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM (IEP): DEVELOPMENT AND PROVISION 

Development of Individualized Education Program

The Board directs the Committee on Special Education (CSE) or Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) to prepare a written individualized education program (IEP) for each child with a disability. Each student with a disability will have an IEP in effect at the beginning of each school year.

The IEP will be developed by the CSE or CPSE upon referral, and reviewed or revised, as appropriate, for every child with a disability at least annually or when the program no longer appears to be appropriate to meet the student's needs.

Individual Evaluations

Parental consent must be provided for an initial evaluation. If this consent is not received within 30 calendar days of receipt of the referral, the CSE or CPSE Chairperson will document all attempts made to obtain consent.

Unless a referral is withdrawn, an individual evaluation at no cost to the parent will be completed by the CSE or CPSE within 60 calendar days after written parental consent has been obtained or a parental refusal to consent is overridden, unless:

a) An extension is mutually agreed to by the parent and the CSE or CPSE for transfer students or students suspected of having learning disabilities; or
b) The parent or student repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the student for evaluation.

No student will be required to obtain a prescription for a drug or other substance identified as a controlled substance by the federal Controlled Substances Act as a condition of receiving an evaluation.

The individual evaluation will include a variety of assessment tools and strategies, including information provided by the parent. The purpose of the evaluation is to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information that may assist in determining whether the student is a student with a disability and the content of the student's IEP. 

As part of any evaluation, a group that includes the CSE or CPSE and other qualified professionals, as appropriate, will review existing evaluation data on the student including evaluations and information provided by the parents of the student, current classroom-based assessments, local or state assessments, classroom-based observations, and observations by teachers and related services providers. In addition, the group will consider information about the student's physical condition, social or cultural background, and adaptive behavior.

On the basis of that review, and input from the student's parents, the group will identify what additional data, if any, are needed to determine a variety of factors including, if the student has or continues to have a disability, present levels of academic achievement and developmental needs of the student.

The District must notify the parents if additional data is not needed, and the reasons for that determination as well as their right to request an assessment to determine whether, the student continues to be a student with a disability. The District is not required to conduct the assessment unless requested to do so by the student's parents.

The determination that a student has a learning disability will be made in accordance with the procedures outlined in Commissioner's regulations.

Individual Re-evaluations

The CSE or CPSE will arrange for an appropriate re-evaluation of each student with a disability:

a) If the District determines that the educational or related services needs, including improved academic achievement and functional performance of the student warrant re-evaluation;
b) If the student's parent or teacher request a re-evaluation;
c) At least once every three years, unless the District and the parent or person in parental relation agree in writing that the re-evaluation is unnecessary.

The re-evaluation will be conducted by a multi-disciplinary team or group of persons, including at least one teacher or other specialist with knowledge in the area of the student's disability. The re-evaluation will be sufficient to determine the student's individual needs, educational progress and achievement, the student's ability to participate in instructional programs in regular education and the student's continuing eligibility for special education. The results of any re-evaluations must be addressed by the CSE/CPSE in reviewing, and as appropriate, revising the student's IEP.

To the extent possible, the District will encourage the consolidation of re-evaluation meetings for the student and other CSE or CPSE meetings for the student.

Amendments to the IEP

Amendments to the IEP made after the annual review by the CSE or CPSE may be made by reconvening the CSE or CPSE and rewriting the IEP or by developing a written document to amend or modify the student's current IEP, provided that there is a request for, and agreement to, the amendment 

by the parent(s) and the District provides the parent(s) a written proposal to amend the IEP conveyed in language understandable to the parent(s) in their native language or other dominant mode of communication, informs and allows the parent(s) the opportunity to consult with the appropriate personnel or related service providers concerning the proposed changes, and the parent(s) agree in writing to the amendments.

If the parent(s) agree to amend the IEP without a meeting, they must be provided prior written notice of the changes to the IEP and the CSE or CPSE must be notified of the changes. If the changes are made by rewriting the entire IEP, the District will provide the parents or persons in parental relation a copy of the rewritten IEP. If the amendment is made without rewriting the entire document, the District will provide a copy of the document that amends the IEP or, upon request, a revised copy of the entire IEP with the amendments incorporated.

Use of Recording Equipment at IEP Meetings

The Board will allow recording equipment to be used at meetings regarding IEPs for students with disabilities.

Provision of Individualized Education Program

The Superintendent or designee(s) will establish administrative practices and procedures to ensure that each regular education teacher, special education teacher, related service provider, and/or other service provider who is responsible for the implementation of a student's IEP is provided with either a paper copy of the IEP or is able to access a student's IEP electronically (including amendments to the IEP) prior to the implementation of the program. The individuals responsible for implementing a student's IEP will be notified and trained on how to access the IEP electronically. For purposes of this policy, "other service provider" means a representative of another public school district, charter school, Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), or school where the student receives or will receive IEP services. Further, the District will designate at least one school official who will be responsible for maintaining a record of the personnel who have received IEP copies for each student.

Any copy of a student's IEP will remain confidential in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and District policy regarding confidentiality of student records, and will not be disclosed to any other person other than the parent of the student, except in accordance with federal and state laws and/or regulations. Appropriate training and information will be provided to designated school personnel, as applicable, to ensure the confidentiality of this information. Procedures will be established to ensure that copies of students' IEPs are stored in secure locations and retrieved or destroyed when those professionals are no longer responsible for implementing a student's IEP. 

The Chairperson of the CSE, CSE subcommittee, or CPSE will designate for each student one or, as appropriate, more than one professional employee of the District with knowledge of the student's disability and education program who will be responsible to, prior to the implementation of the IEP, inform each teacher, provider, or school personnel of his or her responsibility to implement the recommendations on a student's IEP. Relevant school personnel will have ongoing access to a copy of the student's IEP.

A copy of a student's IEP will be provided to the student's parents at no cost to the parent(s).

Functional Behavioral Assessments/Behavioral Intervention Plans

A functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is an evaluative tool, requiring parental consent, which should be used throughout the process of developing, reviewing, and revising a student's IEP when the student's behavior impedes learning of the child or others. The FBA is the process of determining why a student engages in challenging behavior and how the student's behavior relates to his or her environment.

The FBA provides a baseline of the student's problem behaviors with regard to frequency, duration, intensity, and/or latency across activities, settings, people, and times of the day and includes the:

a) Identification of the problem behavior;
b) Definition of the behavior in concrete terms;
c) Identification of the contextual factors that contribute to the behavior (including cognitive and affective factors); and 
d) Formulation of a hypothesis regarding the general conditions under which a behavior usually occurs and probable consequences that serve to maintain it.

The FBA must, as appropriate, be based on multiple sources of data such as structured interviews, behavior ratings scales, standardized assessments, and checklists. To this end, the FBA cannot be based solely on the student's history of presenting problem behavior. 

In the case of a student whose behavior impedes his or her learning or that of others, the CSE or CPSE will consider strategies, including positive behavioral interventions and supports, to address that behavior. The need for a behavioral intervention plan (BIP) will be documented on the IEP which will be reviewed at least annually by the CSE or CPSE. In addition, regular progress monitoring of the frequency, duration, and intensity of the behavioral interventions will be conducted at scheduled intervals and documented and reported to the parent(s) and CSE or CPSE.



 
Policy References:
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 USC § 1400 et seq.
21 USC § 812(c)
Education Law Articles 81, 85 and 89 and §§ 207, 3208 and 4402(7)
8 NYCRR §§ 200.1(hh), 200.2(b)(11), 200.4(b)(4), 200.4(d)(3)(i), 200.4(e)(3), 200.4(f), 200.4(j), 200.16(e)(6) and 200.22

NOTE:  Refer also to 
Policy 7618 - Use of Time Out Rooms




Adopted: 6/22/99
Revised: 9/6/22

Policy 7640