November 10, 2021 Now that most schools have resumed full in-person instruction, the frequency and outcomes of COVID-19 legal issues are becoming clearer. This latest summary provides an update since this past summer’s Special Supplement 9. As explained below, the expected surge in the number and complexity of cases has not surfaced. State complaint decisions… Continue reading COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: Fall Update
Category: Special Supplement
COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: Summer Update
July 13, 2021 With many schools having resumed full in-person instruction by this past spring semester or planning for it for the start of the new school year, the frequency and outcomes of pandemic-related legal issues are becoming clearer. The courts are slow in reaching definitive results, but the administrative level of state complaint and… Continue reading COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: Summer Update
Legal Decisions for Special Education COVID-19 Issues: Emerging Answers
This article provides, in a user-friendly form, a current snapshot of the IDEA's leading issues and emerging answers arising under the pandemic. It is being shared here with the permission of the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE). Download the article and read more.
COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: Winter Update
February 17, 2021 With re-openings increasing across the country on at least a hybrid basis and vaccinations gradually extending to teachers at least in some districts, the outlines of the nature and extent of the FAPE obligation, including the remedies for its denial, are increasingly emerging in recent legal activity specific to students with disabilities.… Continue reading COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: Winter Update
Special Supplement: Section 504 Prevalence Rates per School (and Overall State, District, and School Analyses)
Based on the recently issued CRDC data for the 2017-18 school year, this Special Supplement provides the reported percentage of "504-only" students in each school in the country with at least 250 students. For separate analyses of the 504 rates at the state, school district, and school level, respectively, in terms of the overall high… Continue reading Special Supplement: Section 504 Prevalence Rates per School (and Overall State, District, and School Analyses)
COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: Late Fall Update
November 19, 2020 The pandemic continues, and the ultimate two-part question for parents and school districts still remains open-ended: (a) has the district denied FAPE to the eligible child and, if so, (b) what is the resulting relief, including any compensatory education? In the meantime, the issue for IDEA adjudications keeps reappearing in a potentially… Continue reading COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: Late Fall Update
COVID-19 Legal Activity: Briefing Paper
Here, hot off the press, is a briefing paper that provides a snapshot of the COVID-19 legal activity. It is limited to the two state administrative avenues under the IDEA (due process hearings and written state complaints) as of the end of the first six months of the pandemic. It is the promised follow-up report… Continue reading COVID-19 Legal Activity: Briefing Paper
COVID-19 Legal Activity: Addendum to Early Fall Update
As an addendum to Supplement 5 (COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: Early Fall Update), here is a snapshot overview of the due process hearing and state complaint activity for COVID-19 issues as of August 31. It is based on a survey of state education agencies. Click here to download the addendum [PDF].
COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: Early Fall Update
September 17, 2020 Remaining as unsettled as the pandemic, the primary two-part question arising under the IDEA and Section 504 as a result of COVID-19 continues to be: (a) has the district denied FAPE to the eligible child and, if so, (b) what is the resulting relief, typically but not exclusively in the form of… Continue reading COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: Early Fall Update
COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: The Next Update
August 12, 2020 The primary two-part question arising under the IDEA and Section 504 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic is (a) has the district denied FAPE to the eligible child and, if so, (b) what is the resulting relief, typically but not exclusively in the form of compensatory education? Further Federal Guidance Since… Continue reading COVID-19 Guidance and Case Law: The Next Update
Perry A. Zirkel 