8.5.2 Change of Placement
8.5.2 Change of Placement aetrahan Tue, 03/07/2023 - 09:32A “change of placement,” which is a term of art under the IDEA, triggers an LEA’s responsibility to provide a student with a disability with heightened procedural protections. In general, a change of placement occurs in any disciplinary removal for more than 10 consecutive days such as a long-term suspension or an expulsion.1
A change of placement also occurs when a series of short-term disciplinary removals cumulatively add up to more than 10 school days in a school year and the removals constitute a pattern.2 The IDEA lists several factors to consider when determining whether a series of removals constitutes a pattern: (1) the similarity of the student’s behavior in each incident; (2) the length of each removal; (3) the total amount of time the child is removed; and (4) the proximity of the removals to one another.3 The LEA determines on a case-by-case basis whether a pattern of removals constitutes a change of placement, subject to review in accordance with due process requirements. However, the more similar the behavior and length of removals, as well as the closer in proximity the incidents are, the more likely the removals will be determined to be a pattern.4
Disciplinary removal is any instance in which a student with a disability is removed from the student’s educational placement for disciplinary purposes. As such, it can include in-school suspensions, partial-day removals, and undocumented suspensions (i.e., when a school calls a parent to come pick up a child but does not document it as a removal). In-school suspensions are considered removals unless the student is given the opportunity to continue to appropriately participate in the general curriculum, receive all IEP services and instructional minutes, and participate with nondisabled children to the extent required under the student’s current IEP. Additionally, when transportation is an IEP service (and so has been determined to be necessary for the student to access educational services), a student’s removal from the bus is considered to be a suspension unless transportation is provided in some other way. Because cumulative removals of 10 days may trigger heightened disciplinary protections, it is important to keep track of all these shorter-term removals.