On January 24, 2007, the Department of Public Instruction received a complaint under state and federal special education law from XXXXX against the Sun Prairie Area School District. This is the departments decision regarding that complaint. The issues are whether the district, during the 2006-2007 school year:
- Properly determined services needed to permit a student with a disability to participate in an elective class;
- Properly implemented the students individualized education program (IEP) regarding participating in an elective class; and
- Properly implemented the students behavior plan.
At the beginning of the year, the students teachers, including the teacher of the elective class, received a document titled "IEP at a glance." The document described the students strengths and weakness but did not clearly include the positive behavioral supports and the supplementary aids and services provided for in the students IEP. The students IEP was also revised in December 2006 and included some additional supports. The teacher of the elective class was given neither a copy of the revised IEP nor a revised "IEP at a glance." During the semester, an occupational therapist observed the class and determined that the demands of the class or the class environment were not beyond the students ability. The IEP team, in developing the IEP, considered the individual needs of the child and properly determined the services necessary for the student to participate in this elective class as well as other classes. Consequently, the district properly determined the necessary services. However, because the teacher did not receive adequate information regarding the provisions of the IEP not all of them were implemented.
In responding to this complaint, the district has already directed special education staff to revise the "IEP at a glance" document to clearly include the positive behavioral supports and supplementary aids and services, and ensure that the information is provided to all teachers, including elective teachers. In addition, the district must, within 30 days from the date of this decision, develop a corrective action plan to ensure that when a students IEP is revised, updated information is provided to all pertinent staff.
This concludes our review of this complaint.
//signed CST/SJP 3/26/07
Carolyn Stanford Taylor
Assistant State Superintendent
Division for Learning Support: Equity and Advocacy
Dec/pmw