Educational Rights for Childhood Cancer Patients and Survivors

The Evaluation Process
Federal Law – IDEA
– All eligible students, ages 3-21, are entitled to a free
and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least
restrictive environment (LRE)
– Supports and services designed to meet the student’s
individual needs as designated in the student’s IEP
Montgomery Law | www.ed-law.com

20 USC § 1401 – Definitions
– (29) Special Education
• The term “special education” means specially designed
instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the UNIQUE needs
of a child with a disability, including:
(A)instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals
and institutions, and in other settings

Interventions in general education
– special education not the first stop

Working together:
• The IDEA requires school officials to work with
parents to develop IEPs for all children in need of
special education and related services
• Before IDEA, district’s could make decisions
(placement and otherwise) unilaterally without
parental input.

20 USC 1414 – Evaluations, eligibility
determinations, IEPs, and educational placements
– Request for initial evaluation (a)(1)(B)
• A parent or the LEA may initiate a request for an initial
evaluation to determine if the child is a child with a disability
– (D) Consent
• (i)(I) Parental consent for evaluation shall not be construed
as consent for placement or for receipt of special education
and related services.

Child Find: There is an affirmative obligation on the LEA to
establish a procedure to make certain that all children with
disabilities are properly identified and evaluated to determine
whether they are entitled to receive special education.
– Identify  Locate  Evaluate: how far do they have to look?
• Before providing special ed services, a thorough evaluation must be
completed.
• Reevaluations

– Evaluations must be completed within 60 days from the
time in which parental consent is received (or within the
requirements set by the state – whichever is less time).
• Uncooperative Parent
• Summer
– Extent of evaluation: in conducting evaluations, school
officials must use a variety of assessment tools and
strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental,
and academic information, including information provided
by the parent .. In all areas of the suspected disability
• “unique needs of the child”

PENNSYLVANIA NEW JERSEY
Students with disabilities are entitled to
attend school until the age of 21
Students who turn 21 anytime during the
school year may continue to receive those
services until the end of that school year
Students who turn 21 prior to the start of
the first day of the school year are no
longer entitled to receive special
education supports and services through
their school district
SAME AS PENNSYLVANIA
Students who turn 21 anytime after June
30th are entitled to complete the
upcoming school year as their last year of
school, until the end of the school year.

A school district cannot evaluate a
student without written parental consent
Parental consent for evaluation may be
revoked in writing at any time
A district may request a due process
hearing to have a student evaluated.
However, if found eligible for services,
only a parent can approve the program
and placement
The law does not require a district to seek
due process if a parent refuses to agree to
an evaluation

Consider allowing the district to
implement general education options
prior to requesting an immediate
evaluation, or allow them to implement
general education options during the
evaluation process
A request for an evaluation, with your
reasons for the request and the nature of
the child’s difficulties, should be made in
writing in order to begin the evaluation
process

1. A school district is required to provide
interventions within the general
education program to students
experiencing educational and/or social
emotional problems prior to referring a
student for a special education
evaluation
2. Exception: If it is clear, based on data,
that a student’s educational and/or social
emotional problems indicate that he or
she may have a disability, or if a parent
makes a written request for an
evaluation, a referral must be made for a
special education evaluation
1. SAME AS PENNSYLVANIA. General
education options should be exhausted
first. Special education is NOT the first
stop!
2. Same as Pennsylvania but a referral is
made to the Child Study Team (CST)
composed of a School Psychologist, Social
Worker , and Learning Disabilities Teacher
Consultant (LDTC)

If a verbal request is made for a student
evaluation, school must provide Permission To
Evaluate (PTE)–Evaluation Request form
within 10 calendar days, excluding summer
break . Form Not given if request is in writing
Within 10 calendar days, excluding summer
break, when written request or the Evaluation
Request form is received, parent is sent a
Permission To Evaluate-Consent Form which
outlines the types of evaluations that will be
conducted
If a verbal request is made parent is asked to
put the request in writing and informed as to
whom it should be sent
A meeting is scheduled with CST, general
education teacher (s) and parents within 20
calendar days of written request, including
summer breaks, but not school holidays, to
determine if an evaluation is warranted. Parent
must be given written notice of decision to
evaluate to determine eligibility within 15
days of the meeting

All evaluations and the Evaluation Report must
be completed within 60 calendar days of
receiving written parental consent for the
evaluation, not including summer break.
IEP developed within 30 calendar days after
Evaluation Report is completed and IEP
implemented within 10 school days after
parent has approved IEP
Exceptions to timelines: If the parent
repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the child
for the evaluation, or moves to another
district
Evaluations, determination of eligibility, and if
eligible, development and implementation of
the IEP for the child must be completed within
90 days of receiving written parental consent,
including summer break but excluding school
holidays
Exceptions to timelines: Same as Pennsylvania

Parent approves IEP by signing the Notice of
Recommended Educational Placement/Prior
Written Notice (NOREP/PWN)
For initial evaluations parent must sign the
NOREP in order for the program to be
implemented
For reevaluations, parent has 10 days to sign
and return the NOREP noting approval or
disapproval. If it is not returned, the IEP will
be implemented
Parent approves IEP by signing IEP
For initial evaluations, parent must sign the
initial IEP in order for the program to be
implemented
For reevaluations, parent has 15 days to sign
and return IEP page noting approval or
disapproval . If it is not returned, the IEP will
be implemented

If the school denies your request for an
evaluation or reevaluation it must provide a
Notice of Recommended Educational
Placement/Prior Written Notice form which
explains its decision not to evaluate your child
You then have the right to disagree with the
district’s decision and can request mediation
or due process in an attempt to have your child
evaluated
Due process proceedings are held in front of a
hearing office
Parent must be given written notice of
decision not to evaluate or reevaluate within
15 days of the meeting held to determine is
testing was warranted
Due process proceedings are held in front of an
administrative law judge (ALJ)

Mandated every three years except students
with intellectual disabilities (MR) (PARC Decree)
specific to Pennsylvania
May be completed more frequently
Parent may waive reevaluation EXCEPT for
students with intellectual disabilities
Mandated every three years for all students
but can be done more frequently
Parent may waive reevaluation process

1. Parent can remove special education supports and
services for their child at any time by putting request
in writing to the school
2. Parents are not able to select the supports and
services they wish to remove. ALL supports and
services will be removed
3. The school may not challenge the decision via due
process
4. Within 10 calendar days of receiving parent written
request to remove services, the school will issue a
NOREP/Prior Written Notice before stopping services
to the student
5. The school is not obligated to amend the student’s
records or remove any reference to special education
1-3. Same as Pennsylvania
4. Within 20 days of receiving written revocation of
consent, the school district must notify parent that it
received request. School district may schedule a
meeting to discuss request
Parent has 15 days after receiving notice to revoke
request
5. Same as Pennsylvania

If child is eligible for special education services,
an IEP is developed by the IEP team:
– Must include all of the mandated components
and…
– Provide for the meaningful participation of the
parent

Independent Evaluations (IEEs)
– If a parent is not satisfied with the outcome of the LEA’s evaluation,
they now have the right to request an IEE of their child
– Public expense v. Insurance
– More than just a second look
– “appropriate”
– When a district does not want to provide IEE
– Always have the right to an Independent Evaluation
• Prior notice
• “consider”
– One (1) IEE

Special Considerations / AT
– Consider the need for assistive technology devices and services:
• To meaningfully participate in the general education curriculum
• Participate in school and extra curricular activities
• To access necessary educational/print materials
• For written communication/computer access
• For augmentative communication
• To participate in state and local assessments
The law makes it clear that the purpose of AT is to improve the
functional capabilities of the child with a disability

Special Considerations / AT
– The IEP team will:
• determine if the use of school purchased AT devices can be used in
the home if needed for FAPE
• May include providing AT devices or software when needed for
homework, or for functional skills necessary across environments,
such as communication using an augmentative / alternative
communication (AAC) device
It is the responsibility of the local educational agency (LEA) to provide
the assistive technology and services identified in the IEP

Parent right to revoke supports/services
– Parents can remove special education supports and services for
their child at any time by putting request in writing to the school
– Parents are not able to select the supports/services they wish to
remove. All supports and services will be removed.
– The school may not challenge the decision via due process
– Within 10 calendar days of receiving parent written request to
remove services NOREP issued
– The school is not obligated to amend the student’s records or
remove any reference to special education

Moving from out of state:
– No requirement that a new “initial evaluation” be
completed
– IEP must be comparable
– If IEP team determines that additional data is
required, it would now be considered an initial
evaluation and those rules would apply

Things to remember:
– Assessments must address all areas of suspected
disabilities
– IEPs can be invalidated if they are not derived from
appropriate evaluations
– IEP must be developed within 30 calendar days after
evaluation or reevaluation report is completed
– Parents can revoke services at any time

Educational Rights for Childhood Cancer Patients and Survivors

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