On October 23, 2001, the Department of Public Instruction
received a complaint under state and federal special education law from XXXXX against the Lake Country School District. This is the department’s decision regarding that complaint. The issues are whether the district,
during the 2001-2002 school year, failed to properly determine an educational
placement for a child with a disability and safeguard the confidentiality of a
child’s education records by releasing personally identifiable information in a
school board meeting notice and during a board meeting.
The child whose education is
the subject of this complaint is a five-year-old child with a disability who
has been enrolled by her parents in a community preschool. An individualized education program (IEP)
developed on January 8, 2001, provides that the child will receive two
30-minute speech and language therapy sessions each week in the speech and
language room. The IEP also requires two
weekly physical therapy sessions totaling sixty minutes. In March 2001, the complainants contacted the
district to request early kindergarten admission for their child. On August 9, the complainants received a
letter from the board indicating that their child was not eligible for early
admission and denying their request. On
August 28, district staff met with the complainants to discuss their request
for early kindergarten admission. The complainants were informed that according
to district policy, early entrance into kindergarten is predicated on advanced
levels of developmental and intellectual performance and their child was not
eligible for early admission.
The child’s IEP requires
itinerant speech and language therapy two times per week for 30 minutes each
session in the therapy room with the related service of physical therapy two
times per week for sixty minutes total. The IEP team concluded that these are the services the child needs in
order to receive a free appropriate public education. The district is permitted to provide
itinerant instruction to preschoolers and has offered a placement based on the
educational needs of the child. In
response to the parents’ concerns, on September 11, the district initiated, but
has not completed, a reevaluation of the child and
could reconsider the amount and type of special education service the child
needs.
In early September, the
complainants requested that at the next closed session meeting of the Lake
Country School Board it consider their request to pay tuition for a
four-year-old kindergarten program in a nearby district. On September 12, the Lake Country School District regular school board
meeting agenda included as an action item "Tuition Request-(Parents’
name)." This item also was printed in
the local newspaper under public notices. A school district is
required to safeguard the confidentiality of personally identifiable
information in a student’s education records. The name of the student’s parents or other family members is defined as
personally identifiable information under federal records law. Generally, personally identifiable
information cannot be disclosed without parental consent. The district was not permitted to disclose that the
child’s parents were requesting the school district to pay tuition in the
meeting notice. The district is directed
to submit, within 30 days of receiving this decision, a plan of correction to
ensure the protection of personally identifiable information in student
records.
This concludes our review of
this complaint.
//signed 12/21/01
Carolyn Stanford Taylor
Assistant State Superintendent
Division for Learning Support: Equity and Advocacy
Dec/dht
For questions about this information, contact Patricia M. Williams (608) 267-3720
Last updated on 3/24/2008 10:56:12 AM
Home
About Us
