QUESTION:
My child is in the 8th grade and is and spends his day in a
special education classroom with a full time "one-on-one aide ever
since he was found eligible for special education services. Recently
the school hired a new Director of Pupil Services who has stated that
the school’s goal is to eliminate "one-on-one" aides and use one or
more classroom aides. My child has some pretty big health issues. Can
they take away his "one on one"
aide?
ANSWER: The short answer is "yes",
but the "they" must be the student’s IEP Team of which you are a
member.
There are two types of paraprofessionals (or aides) that can be
provided to a disabled student. One if the "classroom" aide that
assists the classroom teacher and provides services to one or more
students. The other is a "one-on-one" aide that assists only one
student (on occasion I have seen 2:1 aides where the aide is included
in the IEP but is shared between two students).
One-to-one aides are provided via a student’s Individualized Education
Plan (IEP). As such, a "one-to-one" aide can only be removed by an IEP
Team decision. A blanket administrative decision to eliminate all
"one-to-one" aides, if carried out, would subject the school to a
claim of non-individualized decisions made outside the IEP Team
setting and possible class action for discrimination. As with any IEP
Team decision, a parent can challenge the removal via mediation and/or
a due process hearing.
That being said, given the budget stress that many schools are under
due to decreased state funding and the federal governments failure to
fully fund IDEA, in my practice I have seen an significant increase in
the number of school districts that are directing their IEP Team
members to eliminate the "one-on-one" aides when the student’s IEP
comes up for annual review. In some cases to avoid a hearing, they
will tell the parent that will continue the aide but it will now be a
"classroom aide". However, when reference to a classroom aide is not
included in the student’s IEP the school can assign multiple students
to the aide, and more significantly, remove the aide without risk of a
claim from the parent that the IEP is not being properly implemented.
At the same time, I advise my clients that they should act proactively
if their child’s aide is being challenged. They can do this by
assembling the aide’s logbooks that detail the tasks being performed
by the aide and gathering statements that support the need for a
"one-on-one" aide. Such statements should come from those most
familiar with the child, including medical professionals, the aide,
etc. Sometimes I have found that the classroom teacher is the best
advocate for a full time "one-to-one" aide as it allows them to focus
their attention on teaching.
John Brower, JD
Education Law Center, PLLC
www.michedlawcenter.com
Education Law Center, PLLC · 810-227-9850
·
www.michedlawcenter.com
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