Removals

When a student with a disability violates the District’s code of conduct, that behavior could result in suspension or expulsion. Such removals from school are subject to the disciplinary provisions of special education law. Removals may be short-term or long-term removals. Removals include the following:

• any partial days of removal


• days of in-school suspension in which the student with an IEP is not provided the opportunity to access the general curriculum, special education services, and /or accommodations as outlined in the IEP


• removals from transportation and the student is not transported to school by alternate means


• days of removal from a previous school or district in the current school year

Short Term Removals

School officials may unilaterally remove a student with a disability who violates the student behavior code of conduct from his or her current placement to an appropriate Interim Alternative Educational Setting (IAES), another setting, or suspension, for not more than 10 consecutive school days (to the extent those alternatives are applied to students without disabilities), and for additional removals of not more than 10 consecutive school days in that same school year for separate incidents of misconduct, as long as those removals do not constitute a change of placement or total more than 30 days as reflected in state law (S.C. Code Ann. §59-63-220 (2004). The school is not required to provide educational services during the first 10 days of removal in a school year, unless it provides educational services to students without disabilities who are similarly removed.

When subsequent short term removals occur and total greater than 10 cumulative days, the school-level administrator will complete an Analysis of Removals. When the Analysis of Removals for short-term suspensions culminating in more than 10 school days shows a pattern constituting a change of placement there are specific steps to follow as outlined below under Long Term Removals (Change in Placement). Removals beyond 10 days are reported to the Assistant Superintendent of Special Education and to the South Carolina Department of Education(SCDE) through an annual report.

If the short-term suspension includes the 11th cumulative school day of suspension in a school year, necessary services identified by the IEP team must be provided. The 11th day rule applies, whether or not the 11th school day of suspension results in a pattern of removal that constitutes a change of placement.

Long Term Removals (Change in Placement)

A removal of a student with a disability is a change of placement when:

• The removal is for more than 10 consecutive school days (including recommendation for expulsion); or


• The removal is one of a series of short-term removals that constitutes a pattern of removals.

There are specific steps to follow when school officials consider either a long-term suspension for more than 10 consecutive school days, an expulsion, or another short-term suspension that cumulates to more than 10 school days and shows a pattern constituting a change of placement (34 CFR § 300.530(d)(5) and (e)).

• On the date the decision is made to make a removal that constitutes a change of placement for a student with a disability, the school-level administrator will complete the Notice of Disciplinary Change in Placement form in order to notify the parents of that decision, and provide the parents with a copy of the Parent Handbook to Special Education (Procedural Safeguards).


• As soon as practical, but not later than 10 school days after the date on which the decision is made to change the placement of a child with a disability because of a violation of a student code of conduct, the representative of the school, the parent and other relevant members of the child’s IEP team, as determined by the parent and the school, must meet to conduct a Manifestation Determination Review. A Manifestation Determination Review is an evaluation of the relationship between a student’s disability and an act of misconduct. The Team Leader for the student must send a Notice of Meeting (Manifestation Review) to the parent/guardian, student, or adult student as soon as possible and well within the 10 school days to ensure appropriate notice of the meeting.


• On the 11th school day of removal, the school must begin providing appropriate special education and related services. The IEP team decides what these services will be and where they will be provided.

Special Circumstances: Drugs, Weapons, Serious Bodily Injury

School officials may remove a child with a disability to an IAES for up to 45 school days without regard to whether the behavior is determined to be a manifestation of the child’s disability, if the child:

• Carries a weapon to or possesses a weapon at school, on school premises, or to or at a school function under the jurisdiction of the District or the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE). A weapon means any weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than 2 ½ inches in length;


• Knowingly possesses or uses illegal drugs, or sells or solicits the sale of a controlled substance, while at school, on school premises, or at a school function under the jurisdiction of the District or the SCDE (tobacco and alcohol are not illegal drugs under this definition); or


• Has inflicted serious bodily injury upon another person while at school, on school premises, or at a school function under the jurisdiction of the District or the SCDE. Serious bodily injury is a bodily injury that involves one or more of the following: a substantial risk of death; extreme physical pain; protracted and obvious disfigurement; or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.

When a child has been removed to an IAES, the IEP team must determine WHAT special education and related services are needed and WHERE the services will be provided to enable the child to:

• Participate in the general education curriculum, although in another setting; and


• Progress toward meeting their goals set out in the child’s IEP.

Although a manifestation determination review is necessary, this unilateral removal can be made without regard to whether the behavior is determined to be a manifestation of the child’s disability.