(2022, February) | Useful to all those involved in or concerned with children with disabilities who are placed by their parents in private schools
This OSEP-revised document, Questions and Answers on Serving Children with Disabilities Placed by Their Parents in Private Schools, is intended to provide guidance regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requirements applicable to children with disabilities placed by their parents in private schools, students who are not enrolled in the local educational agencies (LEA), and for whom the provision of free appropriate public education (FAPE) is not at issue.
Access the Febrary 2022 Q&A and its PDF version at:
https://sites.ed.gov/idea/idea-files/questions-and-answers-on-serving-children-with-disabilities-placed-by-their-parents-in-private-schools/
This Q&A updates and supersedes the Department’s guidance, titled Questions and Answers on Serving Children with Disabilities Placed by Their Parents in Private Schools. That document was first issued in April 2011. This 2022 update includes additional questions and answers that address topics that have arisen as the field continues to implement the applicable provisions of IDEA and its implementing regulations.
Additional Information about the Q&A
Children with disabilities attending private schools will generally fall into one of three categories:
- those placed by their parents, who are not enrolled in the LEA, and for whom the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is not at issue;
- those placed by their parents and who are, or previously were, enrolled in the LEA and the provision of FAPE is at issue; and
- those placed by the LEA as the means of ensuring that FAPE is made available.
This document applies to children in the first category. As used in this document, the phrase “FAPE is not at issue” means there is no disagreement between the parent and LEA about the availability of a program to provide FAPE to the child and the parent has placed the child in a private school and is not seeking financial reimbursement for the private school placement.
Contents of the Guidance
To give you a peek at the kind of info that’s in the guidance, it is divided into the sections listed below. Within each section, there are multiple questions posed and then answered.
A. Child Find and Individual Evaluations
B. Consultation with Private School Representatives and Representatives of Parents of Parentally-Placed Private School Children with Disabilities
C. Equitable Services
D. Provision of Equitable Services
E. Services Plans
F. Location of Services and Transportation
G. Equitable Service Providers
H. Out-of-State Children with Disabilities and Children with Disabilities Whose Parents Live in Other Countries
I. Home-Schooled Children with Disabilities
J. Preschool Children
K. State Voucher and Scholarship Programs
L. Children in For-Profit Private Schools
M. Extended Public School Closures
N. Proportionate Share Calculation for Equitable Services
O. Expenditures and Allowable Use of Funds
P. Property, Equipment, and Supplies
Q. Dispute Resolution: State Complaints, Mediation, and Due Process Complaints