EDLD 5344 School Law PEDG 5344 School Law for Teachers

Week 4: Student and Personnel Management

Overview In this weeks assignment, you will complete your work with Joseph. Your final step will be to make suggestions about how management policies and procedures for special education students at your school can be improved. To complete the assignment, you must familiarize yourself with both statewide special education policies and those in place at your district and school. The assignment also requires you to use knowledge gained from your lectures and readings and from communication with leaders at your school, including your principal, special education coordinator, and classroom teachers. You are expected to cite the relevant law and/or policy that you used to formulate your answers.

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Rubric
Use this rubric to guide your work. Week 4: Student and Personnel Management Investigating Complaints Accomplishe d Cites course material in thoroughly explaining procedures for investigating complaints against school personnel, including proper documentation techniques (3 points) Cites course material in explaining manifest determination hearings and outlines in detail procedures for disciplining special education students (3 points) Cites course material in explaining the appeals process regarding student discipline (3 points) Uses information Needs Improvement Provides a broad response that lacks detail (1 point)

Proficient

Unacceptable

Explains some actions that should be taken when investigating complaints against a school employee (2 point)

Does not describe processes for effective investigation of school personnel (0 points)

Manifest Determinatio n

Explains in general terms the possible outcomes of a manifest determination hearing (2 point)

Provides a broad response that lacks detail (1 point)

Does not explain possible outcomes of a manifest determination hearing (0 points)

Appeals

Demonstrates general understanding of the appeals process related to student discipline cases (2 point) Provides general

Provides a broad response that lacks detail (1 point)

Does not demonstrate understanding of the disciplinary appeals process (0 points) Does not provide

In-Depth Analysis

Provides a broad

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from course materials and personal interviews to provide indepth analysis of school or district special education policies and make suggestions for improvement (4 points) Mechanics No or few errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation. (1 point)

suggestions for how to improve school or district special education policies (3 points)

response that lacks detail (1 points)

suggestions for improvement of school or district special education policies (0 points)

Responses lack clarity and depth and/or have multiple errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation. (0 points)

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Week 4: Student and Personnel Management

Directions: Refer to your lectures and readings from throughout the course to answer the following questions related to investigating complaints against school employees, disciplining a special education student, personnel documentation, and school liability. One morning, you hear a commotion coming from Josephs classroom. He is shouting and swearing at his teacher, and you are concerned that he may become violent. You call in campus security to restrain him. You call Josephs mother to your office following the incident, and she claims that the teacher has been antagonizing Joseph. She says that the teacher is resentful of the accommodations that have to be made for Joseph and has ignored his IEP. She also claims that the teacher is trying to embarrass Joseph in front of his classmates, which was the cause of his disruptive behavior in class that day.

Workspace
How will you go about investigating the parents claim that Joseph is being singled out and discriminated against in class in a way that will ensure that you are not indifferent to the claim?

The investigator shall obtain as much information as possible from the individual making the complaint, including dates, times, and locations of the alleged acts of discrimination, names of any witnesses, and physical and documentary evidence. The investigator will begin an investigation within five working days of receiving the information from the individual making the complaint. An investigation should include a discussion with the individual who allegedly committed the alleged discrimination to explain the specific allegations and to offer an opportunity for a response. Upon completion of the investigation, the individual making the complaint should be informed about the resolution of the complaint. Upon completion of the investigation, the individual who allegedly committed the discriminatory act should be informed of the resolution of the complaint. The individual may be accompanied by a representative of his or her choice to discuss the resolution of the complaint; and upon completion of the investigation, the EEO Complaint Response Form, documentation of the steps taken to investigate the complaint and the proposed resolution must be sent to EEO. The investigation may consist of personal interviews with the parent; the teacher who alleged violated the students rights, Joseph and any others who may have knowledge of the alleged discrimination against Joseph. The investigation may also consist of the inspection of any referrals written by Josephs teachers or documentations of Josephs actions within the classroom. We will look at Josephs IEP plan to make sure that his behavior has been noted for the teachers. The students in the class will be questioned to see if any wrong doing was done. After investigating the students and teacher, along with Joseph the district and school will
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determine what actions need to be done. Josephs parent will be notified of any actions that will take place. Upon the investigation, the district has the last words.

If during your investigation you discover that Josephs mothers claims do have validity, how will you go about documenting this teachers behavior? What is your district policy regarding actions that can be taken in this case?

When documenting the teachers behavior, one must correctly identify that under Section 504, we must educate each student with a disability along with students without disabilities, to the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of the student with the disability. The teacher will be reprimand for her action because one must not discriminate against a student with a disability. All teachers are aware that if an IEP is in place for each child, we must do exactly what is said. Josephs teacher should have not antagonized him in front of the other students because she knows that he has an emotional disturbance that makes him act out in class. Having the class as his audience caused him to retaliate on the teacher. The teacher was wrong all along because she was discriminating against Joseph due to his disability. According to (FAPE)free appropriate public education to each qualified person with a disability in its jurisdiction, regardless of the nature of severity of the disability. Meeting with the teacher, allowing her to explain what happened and what was her reason for her actions. The meeting will be documentated and the school board will be notified of the situation. Each person involved will be noted of the districts decision of the teacher. The district will place the teacher on administrative leave until a complete investigation is done. The teacher will not have any contact with any students for the moment due to the investigation. The teacher might lose her teaching license due to discrimination of a child with disabilities.

Who will participate in the meeting in which potential punishments are discussed? How will Josephs ARD committee determine the appropriate punishment for him regarding his classroom outburst?

Persons who will participate in the ARD meeting is: the parent of Joseph, Joseph, the special education coordinator or representative of the Office of Programs for Exceptional children, one general education teacher, one special education teacher, a representative

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of the school: counselor, principal or assistant principal; a social worker and at the discretion of the parent, other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the student. Under IDEA 2004, the committee must hold a manifestation determination for short term (10 days or less) disciplinary actions cumulatively exceed the 10-day standard. This hearing is to determine if the behavior that led to the proposed punishment was the result of Josephs disability. It the committee determines that there is a direct and substantial relationship between the childs disability and the behavior, the district may not be able to proceed with the punishment as planned. If the committee determines that there is no relationship between the disability and the behavior, then the student may generally be disciplined in the same manner as a non-disabled student. Within the ten school days after the decision to take disciplinary action is made, the manifestation determination review meeting must be held unless the conditions for an expedited meeting exist. The team works toward consensus of the participants not a majority vote on the final decision. The participants must consider: the behavior subject to the disciplinary action; all relevant information including evaluations and diagnostic results: information supplied by Josephs parent; observations of Joseph; and Josephs current IEP and placement. In either case, the committee will consider changes to the students IEP to address the situation that led to the disruptive behavior.

Assuming Josephs mother wishes to challenge the disciplinary action suggested for him, what recourse does she have? According to Texas law and school district policy, what due process rights does Joseph have in this situation?

According to the Fourteenth Amendment if Josephs parent objects and requests a due process hearing, the student is placed in the disciplinary setting until the issue is resolved. Under procedural due process Josephs parent has access to an attorney and a fair trial in front of a jury of peers. According to Texas law and HISD policy, when the parent appeals the decision regarding placement or with the manifestation determination, if it believes that maintaining the current placement of the student is substantially likely to result in injury to the student or to others, may request a hearing regarding placement from the Texas Education Agency. A hearing officer shall hear and make a determination regarding an appeal requested. In making the determination, the hearing officer may order a change in placement of a child with a disability.
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Based on your lectures, readings, and communication with educators at your school, you now have an opportunity to recommend ways in which special education evaluation, accommodation, and communication can be improved. Use this final section to outline ways in which you feel the process can be improved. Is the IEP development process in place at your school or district effective? If not, what suggestions do you have for how any of the components of this scenario can be improved?

Each school district or school should incorporate the method of: SMART IEPs S - Specific; goals and objectives M - Measured; reached/mastered A Action words; My child will be able to . . . R Realistic and relevant; Address your childs unique needs T Time- limited; enable you to monitor progress. I am satisfied with the degree to which equal access to education opportunities is made available in our school district for students with disabilities. Our district has an effective Special Education IEP development process or evaluation. The elements of an IEP are used to assure that we are following the law and doing the right thing for our students. The scenario could have explained more about Josephs disability and what exactly was the teacher supposed to have said or done. How was the teacher embarrassing Joseph to make him act out?

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