[blindkid] School placement question

Steve & Karen Leinart s.leinart at comcast.net
Thu Dec 11 23:55:20 UTC 2008


I'm new to this board, but am in a similar situation with my own son.  
He's currently in kindergarten, and the school system would much prefer 
his placement be at a school that has a vision resource room.  He has 
albinism and 20/800 near vision and is learning Braille as well as 
print.  At any rate, I've spent considerable time researching this.  
Here's another segment from the Wrightslaw website:


In implementing IDEA's LRE provisions, the regular classroom in the 
school the student would attend if not disabled is the first placement 
option considered for each disabled student before a more restrictive 
placement is considered. If a student with a disability can be educated 
satisfactorily with appropriate aids and supports in the regular 
classroom in the school the student would attend if not disabled, that 
placement is the LRE placement for that student. However, if the 
placement team determines that a student cannot be educated 
satisfactorily in that environment, even with the provision of 
appropriate aids and supports, the regular classroom in the school the 
student would attend if not disabled is not the LRE placement for that 
student. Any alternative placement selected for the student outside of 
the regular educational environment must maximize opportunities for the 
student to interact with nondisabled peers, to the extent appropriate to 
the needs of the student.

A more complete discussion of inclusion and LRE can be found at:  
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/lre.faqs.inclusion.htm

Karen Leinart

Kieszak, Stephanie (CDC/CCEHIP/NCEH) wrote:
> I've posted before about our disagreement with the county about school
> placement for my daughter.  The county wants us to send her to the
> school with the resource 
> room; we disagree.  Today her TVI told me she was told last week that
> the reason is because the resource room school has a TVI there all day
> and they already have the 
> necessary technology. She was told it was based on number of hours of
> TVI time needed.  Since Kendra is a totally blind Braille reader, they
> argue she should be at the 
> resource room school while a child with low vision wouldn't need to go
> there.  I located the section below on the Wrightslaw website. Is there
> other language I'm missing 
> which addresses this as well?
> Thank you.
>
>   
>> 8. What are the permissible factors that must be considered in
>> determining what placement is appropriate for a student with a
>> disability? Which factors, if any, may not be considered?
>> ANSWER: The overriding rule in placement is that each student's
>> placement must be individually-determined based on the individual
>> student's abilities and needs. As noted previously, it is the program
>> of specialized instruction and related service contained in the
>> student's IEP that forms the basis for the placement decision. In
>> determining if a placement is appropriate under IDEA, the following
>> factors are relevant:
>> the educational benefits available to the disabled student in a
>> traditional classroom, supplemented with appropriate aids and
>> services, in comparison to the educational benefits to the disabled
>> student from a special education classroom;
>> the non-academic benefits to the disabled student from interacting
>> with nondisabled students; and the degree of disruption of the
>> education of other students, resulting in the inability to meet the
>> unique needs of the disabled student.
>> However, school districts may not make placements based solely on
>> factors such as the following: 
>> *	category of disability; 
>> *	severity of disability; 
>> *	configuration of delivery system; 
>> *	availability of educational or related services; 
>> *	availability of space; or 
>> *	administrative convenience.
>>
>>  http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/lre.osers.memo.idea.htm
>>
>>     
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blindkid:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/s.leinart%40comcast.net
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com 
> Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.9.16/1843 - Release Date: 12/11/2008 8:36 AM
>
>   



More information about the BlindKid mailing list