Reply to Charter school placing out due to special needs

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Here's the process:

Someone, either parent or school or both together, makes the decision to consider an outside placement.

A document is written, called a "Justification for Removal" that outlines the reasons why this is being considered.  It includes all different kinds of data.  It is sent off to OSSE along with a packet full of IEPs and work samples and other things.

OSSE has 30 days in which to convene a meeting with the school.  In the interim they usually talk to the parents, visit the child at school, and talk to school professionals.

At the meeting, the OSSE rep asks any clarifying questions they may have, and gives people opportunities to speak about the child.  They then make a "state recommendation" which can be either to place or move.  Usually there have to be very compelling reasons for a child to be moved.  They also offer "training and technical assistance" which is OSSE speak for suggestions on what the school could try.  It's important to note that charter schools have the responsibility to educate any child who can be served in an inclusive environment.  [b]They have a responsibility to set up self contained classrooms if that's what a child needs, [/b]or hire dedicated aides, or bring in specialists. [b] If a child could function in a special education autism class in DCPS they can function in a special education autism class in a charter school and the charter needs to develop one. [/b]

The IEP team then considers the OSSE's recommendation and makes a final decision.  They can disagree with a recommendation to place elsewhere, but most schools are hesitant to do so as it comes with increased monitoring etc . . . In addition, the OSSE knows the private placements, and often has good suggestions.  So, frequently if the OSSE says no the school decides to try again.

If the IEP team decides that they've exhausted all options for providing FAPE in the LRE then the OSSE has 10 days to find a placement and move the child there.****

OSSE then pays tuition to the private school, they take the student's allotment to pay for part of it, and eat the cost for the rest.  The charter school continues to be the LEA of record, and school employees attend IEP meetings etc . . . When the new IEP team at the new school decides the child is ready to move they return to the charter, even if it's midyear, even if it's full, even if it's 4th grade and the school doesn't usually accept new 4th graders.

**** This is the trickiest part of the whole thing.  They'll ask you your thoughts on schools as a parent, but if that school doesn't have an opening in 10 days your child won't be placed there.  The only way around this, is to apply before the process or early in the process so you can tell OSSE that a certain school already accepted your child.  However, given that the top private schools generally only accept kids for fall placements, this can get very tricky with timing and deadlines. [/quote]

NP here. Don't mean to derail this thread, but the bolded parts above don't make sense to me. How can a charter school have an obligation to set up a self-contained classroom or an autism classroom based on one student's needs? That seems highly impractical--they presumably would not have an extra classroom sitting open, plus there would just be one student in that room. Am I misunderstanding something here?[/quote]

If I understand it correctly, if a Charter acts as its own LEA, it acts as its own very small school district and therefore is subject to all the laws that govern school districts regarding special education- in that they are required to provide FAPE to all special education students.  The way that DC set up its charters means that Charters must accept all students that are enrolled in their school and provide for their appropriate education regardless of what that entails.  [/quote]

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