By Ryan L. Everhart on Posted in Uncategorized
Last week, the New York State Education Department announced that it has developed a “blueprint” for local school districts to develop effective special education programs for students with disabilities. SED stated that the blueprint is intended to “ensure that students with disabilities have the opportunities to benefit from high quality instruction, to reach the same… Continue Reading
By Ryan L. Everhart on Posted in Student Issues
Ever since New York State adopted the common core standards, there has been questions about how these standards would apply to students with disabilities. The response to these questions has been fairly consistent—disabled students are expected to meet the same standards as their nondisabled peers. This was the answer that the U.S. Department of Education… Continue Reading
By Andrew J. Freedman on Posted in Student Issues
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) released a filed advisory memo on the selection and appointment of impartial hearing officers to conduct a special education due process hearing. You can read the memo on NYSED’s website.… Continue Reading
By Ryan L. Everhart on Posted in Student Issues
On November 12, 2014, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), and the U.S. Department of Justice distributed a joint Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) regarding schools’ responsibilities to ensure that students with hearing, vision, or speech impairments have sufficient communication modalities. This guidance… Continue Reading
By Andrew J. Freedman and Ryan L. Everhart on Posted in Student Issues
On November 21, 2014, Governor Cuomo signed Chapter 434 of the laws of 2104. School districts are now required, upon a student’s enrollment, to “notify every parent or parent in parental relation of their rights regarding referral and evaluation of their child for the purposes of special education services or programs.” This provision states that… Continue Reading
By Andrew J. Freedman and Ryan L. Everhart on Posted in Student Issues
Yesterday, James P. Lorenzo at SED issued a Special Education Field Advisory outlining changes in regulations to the impartial hearing process. One amendment authorizes the impartial hearing officer to grant extensions of time for settlement negotiations. This is significant because it allows parties to fully engage in settlement negotiations without being pressured by the hearing… Continue Reading
