Reference no: EM133671749

Assignment:

Read the brief description of the IDEA procedural safeguard presented below. Then respond to Part 1 and Part 2 questions on FAPE.

IDEA Procedural Safeguard # 1 Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)

Description: According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), all children are afforded the right to a free and appropriate public education. This means, that irrespective of a student's educational needs, under the law (i.e., IDEA), they are afforded the right to access a free and appropriate public education. At times, the extent of a student's educational needs may extend outside of the range of educational services that their school district offers (e.g., students who may require a therapeutic day school placement but their school district may not have a therapeutic day school within the district). In this case, the school district would still be responsible for locating and paying for the appropriate service to meet the educational needs of the student even if the student required an educational placement outside of their home school district. Visit FAPE online at for more information regarding this procedural safeguard.

Part 1: Read the following scenario and in the first sentence, state whether Michael is eligible for his school district to pay all of his educational costs or only part of the cost. Then explain why or why not.

Scenario: Michael's family lives in the ABC School District. He has been referred for special education services after teachers and his parents had tried several problem-solving efforts within his current school and classroom setting to help meet his educational needs. Results from Michael's full case study evaluation suggest that he possesses behaviors consistent with an emotional disability and requires special education services for more than 50% of his school day in order to help meet his educational needs. Michael's Individual Education Program (IEP) team decides that he requires a therapeutic day placement in order to meet his educational needs.

An administrator within the ABC School District states that the school district does not offer a therapeutic day placement option for students and Michael must attend a placement outside of the county. This placement will cost over $7,000 per month, but the ABC School District has stated they can only pay $4,000 per month for an out-of-district therapeutic day placement. The quoted cost of over $7,000 per month is on the low end for a halftime placement for a student. ABC School District explains the cost was not budgeted for and the school district claims they simply do not have the money. Under FAPE, can the ABC School District offer to pay a part of the costs of providing Michael with an appropriate education as determined by the IEP team? Firstly state if this is acceptable, why or why not? State your answer and then briefly explain.

Part 2: Explore the budget of a local school district in California to become familiar with the resources available for k-12 public education. In your response, please include the district's name, total student enrollment, general fund budget, and special education budget.