IDEA Complaint Decision 24-054

On May 3, 2024, the Department of Public Instruction (department) received a complaint under state and federal special education law from #### (complainant) against the #### (district). This is the department’s decision regarding that complaint. The issues are whether the district, during the 2023 24 school year, improperly shortened the length of the school day of a student with a disability and properly responded to the student’s parent’s request for a functional behavioral assessment.

 

To the maximum extent appropriate, school districts must ensure students with disabilities are educated with their peers who do not have disabilities. Special classes, separate schooling, or other removals of students with disabilities from the regular educational environment should occur only if the nature or severity of a student's disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. 34 CFR § 300.114(a)(2). Under Wisconsin law, each student's individualized education program (IEP) team determines the student's placement. Wis. Stat. § 115.78(2). It is only appropriate to shorten the length of the school day for a student with a disability if the student’s IEP team determines a shortened day is required to address the student’s unique, disability-related needs. This should be a very rare occurrence. Before deciding to shorten the student’s day, the IEP team must consider if there are other ways to meet the student’s needs. When a student’s school day is shortened, the student’s IEP must include an explanation of why the student’s disability-related needs require a shortened day, and a plan for the student’s return to school for a full day, including a plan to meet more frequently to review student data and determine whether the student is able to return to school full-time. The student should return to a full school day as soon as they are able, and under most circumstances, a shortened school day should be in place for a limited amount of time. Shortened school days may not be used to manage student behavior or as a means of discipline. A school district may not require a student to "earn" back the return to a longer or full school day by demonstrating good behavior. 34 CFR § 300.116; DPI Special Education Information Update Bulletin 24.01. Sending the student home, shortening the student’s day, or other types of removals may result in a denial of or the failure to provide the student a free, appropriate public education.

 

The student who is the subject of this complaint attended school on a full-day schedule until April 18, 2024. On April 18, 2024, the student’s IEP team met to conduct a reevaluation of the student. The complainant had requested the evaluation to gather more information regarding the student’s behavior at school. The IEP team determined the student’s school day would be shortened to one hour per day in response to the increasing frequency of behavioral disturbances exhibited by the student. In reaching this decision the team did not consider if there were other ways to meet the student’s disability-related needs including providing additional supports or services to the student, providing services in other environments, or shortening the student’s day to a lesser extent. The team did not discuss how shortening the student’s day would address the student’s disability-related needs. The team did commit to meeting more frequently to discuss the student’s shortened day but did not establish any benchmarks by which the student’s progress would be measured or how meeting benchmarks would relate to returning the student to full-time instruction. The district improperly shortened the length of the student’s school day.

 

As corrective action, the district must convene the student’s IEP team within 20 days of the date of this decision. The IEP team shall return the student to a full school day and may only consider a shortened day after the IEP team fully discusses and documents other ways to meet the student’s disability-related needs and how a shortened day would address the student’s disability-related needs. If the IEP team determines a shortened day is appropriate, the IEP team must fully develop and document a plan for returning the student to full-day instruction as soon as possible. The team must also consider whether the student needs compensatory services as a result of the improperly shortened day. The district shall provide the department a copy of the student’s IEP within five days of the meeting.

 

A functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is considered part of an initial or reevaluation when the purpose of the FBA is to determine the nature and extent of a student’s special education services or to determine initial or continued special education eligibility. There is no required approach to conducting an FBA. FBAs should gather data related to student strengths as well as barriers to access, engagement, and progress in the general education curriculum. DPI Special Education Information Update Bulletin 23.01. A district must complete a FBA within 60 days of receiving consent for the FBA. § 115.78(3)(a).

The complainant requested an FBA of the student on January 15, 2024. The district received the complainant’s written consent for the FBA on February 20, 2024. The student’s IEP team met on April 18, 2024, to conduct the reevaluation which included a review of the results of the FBA. In conducting the FBA and completing it within 60 days of receiving consent the district properly responded to the student’s parent’s request for a functional behavioral assessment.

 

All noncompliance identified above must be corrected as soon as possible but in no case, more than one year from the date of this decision. This concludes our review of this complaint. This decision is final for the IDEA State Complaint process. These issues may be addressed through other dispute resolutions, including mediation and due process hearings. For more information, visit the department’s website at http://dpi.wi.gov/sped/dispute-resolution or contact the special education team at (608) 266-1781.