School Authority in Special Circumstances

Part 2 of 9

Introduction

In addition to the general authority of school personnel to remove a student with disabilities from his or her current placement in disciplinary situations, school personnel also have the authority to remove a student with disabilities for what's known as “special circumstances.” These circumstances apply to a child with a disability:

  • who carries a weapon to or possesses a weapon at school, on school premises, or at a school function
  • who knowingly possesses or uses illegal drugs, or sells or solicits the sale of a controlled substance, at school, on school premises, or at a school function
  • who has inflicted serious bodily injury upon another person while at school, on school premises, or at a school function under the jurisdiction of a State educational agency (SEA) or a local educational agency (LEA).  [§300.530(g)]

In any of these circumstances, school personnel may remove a student to an interim alternative educational setting (IAES) for not more than 45 school days without regard to whether the behavior is determined to be a manifestation of the child’s disability. The focus of this issue of NASET’s Discipline of Students  in Special Education series will be to address the authority that school personnel have to remove a student with a disability whose violation of the student code of conduct involves any of these three factors.

To access the full issue of this month's Discipline of Students in Special Education Series, NASET members should login to view and or download a PDF file version.

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