Selective high school & Special Ed Services

[Anonymous]

If a child meets criteria to get accepted to the magnet high school of their choice (selective enrollment), but the school district says he cannot go there because they do not have the special education services he requires, is that legal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If a child meets criteria to get accepted to the magnet high school of their choice (selective enrollment), but the school district says he cannot go there because they do not have the special education services he requires, is that legal?

They don’t have to provide services in every environment. They have to provide FAPE which it sounds like they are doing. The standard is not BEST but Appropriate.

What services can the school not provide? I would think things like OT or SLP could be provided in any school as can the standard accommodations.

My kid is in Bridge. Academically he can handle advanced course work. But he needs the smaller classroom. My choice is on grade level self contained classes or honors classes with no guarantee of support. Sure it would be great if he could take a self contained APUSH class but that’s not going to happen.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's legal. You have no right to a certain program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If a child meets criteria to get accepted to the magnet high school of their choice (selective enrollment), but the school district says he cannot go there because they do not have the special education services he requires, is that legal?

I'm not sure what district your kid attends but I have a kid in the same boat in MCPS and the school absolutely had to provide appropriate services so she could attend.

[Anonymous]

Which district and what kind of needs? Is the magnet school housed in a comprehensive school? The only school I know that doesn’t also have a comprehensive program as well would be TJ. How many hours of services? Would these be serviced that might otherwise be provided at the same school for rest of the student population but they don’t want to provide it in the magnet cohort?

I don’t believe it’s legal for them to unilaterally bar you on that basis without a team agreement, but it likely depends on the precise services your child needs and whether the team (including you) believe it’s the best fit.

Check wright’s law on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a child meets criteria to get accepted to the magnet high school of their choice (selective enrollment), but the school district says he cannot go there because they do not have the special education services he requires, is that legal?

I'm not sure what district your kid attends but I have a kid in the same boat in MCPS and the school absolutely had to provide appropriate services so she could attend.

In the magnet selection process for MCPS they do a secondary review to make sure the school and program can accommodate whatever's in the 504 or IEP. If a child needs small classes or has aggressive behaviors the magnet would be out. If a child needs graphic organizers due to ADHD or special seating with a line of sight to the teacher because they are deaf the should should be able to provide that and allow the child to attend the magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which district and what kind of needs? Is the magnet school housed in a comprehensive school? The only school I know that doesn’t also have a comprehensive program as well would be TJ. How many hours of services? Would these be serviced that might otherwise be provided at the same school for rest of the student population but they don’t want to provide it in the magnet cohort?

I don’t believe it’s legal for them to unilaterally bar you on that basis without a team agreement, but it likely depends on the precise services your child needs and whether the team (including you) believe it’s the best fit.

Check wright’s law on this.

Yes it is legal. You have a right to a a free and appropriate education. You don't have a right to go to a specific school or program. This was said above and this is correct.

[Anonymous]

They can't bar your kid. Your kid can still go! Just without the services that don't exist there.

The bottom line is that if they don't have the co-taught classes, or whatever your kid had before, that's how it is and it won't change. This means you either accept the magnet as is, or stay at the previous program with full services.

Our son was in the GT/LD program of MCPS, where he received the best care in middle school, but come high school, he wanted to take all these AP courses, and none were co-taught. The IEP team just warned us that he would be moving into a less supportive environment, that's all. He kept his GT/LD resource class and IEP for a couple of years, even though he didn't actually need them, and in 12th he was put on a 504, in time to transition to college (where he still has some accommodations, but he needs to be more proactive about them).

The transition may be difficult, OP, but perhaps it will work out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a child meets criteria to get accepted to the magnet high school of their choice (selective enrollment), but the school district says he cannot go there because they do not have the special education services he requires, is that legal?

I'm not sure what district your kid attends but I have a kid in the same boat in MCPS and the school absolutely had to provide appropriate services so she could attend.

In the magnet selection process for MCPS they do a secondary review to make sure the school and program can accommodate whatever's in the 504 or IEP. If a child needs small classes or has aggressive behaviors the magnet would be out. If a child needs graphic organizers due to ADHD or special seating with a line of sight to the teacher because they are deaf the should should be able to provide that and allow the child to attend the magnet.

I always wondered about this. My kid is in Bridge and applied but he didn't get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it's legal. You have no right to a certain program.

No it’s definitely not legal to just issue a blanket prohibition on IEPs. There’s no right to a certain program but you cannot be excluded on the basis of the disability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it's legal. You have no right to a certain program.

No it’s definitely not legal to just issue a blanket prohibition on IEPs. There’s no right to a certain program but you cannot be excluded on the basis of the disability.

This was in response to the question. No one said they issued a blanket prohibition on IEPs. But sometimes kids have something in their IEPs the magnet cannot accommodate but that can be accommodated in their current program or in gen ed.

[Anonymous]

My now adult kid went to TJ with a 504. It is very possible. Most teachers were great, but there was one teacher that was not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My now adult kid went to TJ with a 504. It is very possible. Most teachers were great, but there was one teacher that was not.

504 is low level of services. Not hard to accommodate 504 generally

[Anonymous]

I say not legal. From NYC and parents formed a 2e group and pushed the school system. A lot of the specialized school created ICT/SETTS. My kiddo had SETTS at a specialized school. A lot of the parents (not me and my kiddo wasn’t in one of these schools) got ICT at the citywide test in elementary schools (99% required for acceptance) so that their kids received services all the way through. You need an advocate parent to push but they schools need by law to accommodate and much better for the kids to stay in regular public school (in my opinion) and cheaper than suing for other accommodations.