There are times when a child’s eligibility for special education and related services ends or when the parent or student chooses to end the provision of special education services.
When a parent or school personnel suspect that a child is no longer eligible for special education services and related services, a reevaluation must be conducted prior to the child’s dismissal from the program to determine if the child is no longer a child with a disability. As part of the reevaluation, the IEP team will review existing data and determine if additional assessments are needed prior to making a decision regarding dismissal.
If it is determined by the IEP team through a reevaluation that the child is no longer a child with a disability, the district will provide the parents with PWN of this decision. Typically, if the IEP team determines that a child is no longer eligible, the reason is that the child no longer has a need for special education and related services to benefit from his or her educational program.
Under the December 2008 IDEA amendment to regulation 34 CFR § 300.300(b)(4), a parent, or a student who has reached the age of majority, may revoke consent for the continued provision of special education and related services. This revocation must be provided to the district in writing so that both the parent and the district have documentation that the child will no longer receive special education and related services.
If a parent/guardian/Age of Majority student makes a request to revoke consent for special education services, the case manager will work with the Special Education Specialist to attempt to schedule an IEP meeting at a mutually agreeable place and time. For any meeting related to revocation of consent, an Special Education Specialist must be in attendance at the meeting. Every effort must be made to involve the parent in an IEP meeting prior to implementing the revocation of consent so that the implications of revoking consent can be fully explained to the Parent/Guardian/Age of Majority Student during the meeting.
Once a district receives a parental revocation of consent, in writing, for all special education and related services for a child and provides the parent/age of majority student Prior Written Notice (PWN) in accordance with 34 CFR § 300.503, the district must, within a reasonable time, discontinue all special education and related services to the child.
Once the district has received the written revocation of consent for services from the parent, the district must promptly provide the parent or student who is 18 or older with PWN regarding the change in educational placement and discontinuation of resulting from the revocation.
The PWN must be provided within a reasonable amount of time before the district discontinues services and must give the parent information and time to fully consider the change and its implications on the student’s education. This PWN will ensure that parents are fully informed of the educational services and supports that they are declining. These implications include:
If the Parent/Guardian/Age of Majority Student agrees to attend an IEP meeting to discuss a request for Revocation of Consent, the steps below are followed:
If the Parent/Guardian/Age of Majority Student does NOT agree to attend an IEP meeting to discuss the request for Revocation of consent, the following steps are followed:
Under S.C. Code Ann. § 59-65-30 (2010), students are allowed to drop out of school at age 17 and may at some point obtain a GED. If a student with a disability drops out of school, documentation must be placed in the student’s special education file. The district must inform the parents that special education services continue to be available to the student through age 20. To fulfill the district’s obligation to inform the parents of this information, the Case Manager, at the time of the student’s withdrawal, will inform the parent and student that the district remains ready to provide Special Education Services should they reenroll with GCS through the completion of the Dropout Notification letter. This letter may be provided in person, via email, or through certified mail. A copy of this letter must be placed in the student's Special Education record as evidence of this required notification.
If a student drops out of school, no PWN, consent, or reevaluation is required. However, reevaluation may be needed if the student reenrolls. A new IEP will need to be developed if a current IEP is not in place.
Following the student’s withdrawal from PowerSchool, the student will be removed from the IEP software system. If the student drops out of school, no Prior Written Notice (PWN), consent, or reevaluation is required. If the student reenrolls, a reevaluation may be needed, and a new IEP will need to be developed, if a current IEP is not in place.
When a student drops out of school, their special education file must be sent to Inactive Records at MT Anderson Support Center with a completed copy of the Withdrawal (Inactive File Transfer) form.
If the student reenrolls and has a current Greenville County IEP that can be implemented as written, the current IEP will be implemented. If any additional information has become available during the student’s absence, the IEP team will convene to consider the additional information and update the IEP, as needed.
If the student reenrolls with an expired Greenville County IEP, the Case Manager will follow procedures for students transferring into Greenville County Schools, and a Comparable Services Plan will be completed. Comparable Services will begin immediately.
Following reenrollment, the special education file will be requested from the Inactive Files by emailing spedrecords@greenville.k12.sc.us .
All students receiving special education services will receive a regular high school diploma at the completion of their secondary program if they meet the South Carolina graduation requirements. A regular high school diploma does not include an alternative diploma that is not fully aligned with the state’s academic standards, such as a certificate of attendance, an occupational diploma/certificate, or General Educational Development Tests (GED) (Federal Register, August 14, 2006, p. 46580).
No reevaluation is required prior to exiting a student due to graduation (34 CFR § 300.305(e)(2)). However, before the student completes the last semester of high school in which she/he is expected to graduate, the district must provide the student (if over age 18) and the parents with PWN of the discontinuation of services at the end of the school year. The PWN will clearly state that the student will no longer be entitled to receive special education services from the district after graduation. Parental consent is not required when a child graduates with a regular diploma (34 CFR § 300.102(a)(3)(iii)).
The LEA must make a FAPE available to any student who has not graduated with a regular high school diploma until the end of the school year in which the student turns 21. The school must provide the student age 18 and over and the parents with PWN that the services will be discontinued at the end of the school year; however, parental consent is not required. A reevaluation is also not required when a student ages out of eligibility for services upon turning age 21 (34 CFR § 300.305(e)(2).
Even when the student or parent states that he or she does not intend to return to school for the next school year, the IEP team must provide the student with notice that he/she is eligible to continue receiving services through age 20 and develop an IEP for the student.
If a student turns age 21 after September 1 of the school year, the district must permit the student to enroll and complete the school year if the student will graduate or exit with either a state-issued high school diploma, certificate of attendance, district diploma, or district certificate. If a student turns age 21 on or prior to September 1, the district is not required to permit the student to enroll.
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Discontinuing Special Education Services