lawprofessors

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Going to an IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting is not just "going to a meeting," although it may seem like that.  It is going to war.  This is a war for our children and their education.  IEP meetings tend to be deceptively simple, where everyone "gets along," and the school members seem to decide all, with the parents just observing.  As such, it is important, prior to going to any IEP meeting, to put together documents which will help parents get what they want for their children.  This can mean the difference between a good education and a bad one for a special education student. A critical document that a parent should obtain well in advance of the IEP meeting is a  demand letter from an attorney setting forth requests and support for those requests.  Often parents' wishes may be ignored until an attorney steps into the matter.  Attorneys speak with authority ...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Okay- you are going along in life, minding your own business.  Your kids are fine, attending school, seem to be able to read and all is right with the world when suddenly, you receive a letter, call, or see sky writing telling you that your son who attends Local High School is now INVOLUNTARILY TRANSFERRED to the... CONTINUATION SCHOOL!  Can the district do this?  Yes they can, provided they jump through a few hoops. First hoop: per California Education Code section 48432.5  notice of the intent to involuntarily transfer cannot come by sky writing, but must come via written notice.  In other words, you receive a letter which must state that an involuntary transfer is pending, but that you have a right to request a meeting with a school district representative.  Note this meeting will not just occur- you have to request it.  Please do. Second hoop:  If you request the meeting, ...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Recently, the Ninth Circuit Court affirmed the United States District Court for the Central District of California's decision in CB v. Garden Grove Unified School District (2009).  This case (hereinafter "Garden Grove") addresses the issue of parent reimbursement for placement of a special education student at a non-public agency.  The affirmation solidified further the rights of parents to be repaid when a public school district  does not offer a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). It is yet to be seen whether this decision will be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, but for now, Garden Grove stands for/reconfirms the following propositions: 1)  If a District fails to provide FAPE, full reimbursement may be sought by the parents. 2) Such reimbursement may be sought even if the parents place a student with a non-public agency, rather than a non-public school. 3)  Th...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Yesterday in Elk Grove, California, a suburb south of Sacramento California, an Elk Grove "E-Tran" bus transporting students was in a traffic accident where three students were injured.  According to media reports  (e.g. Fox 40  and the  Sacramento Bee ), the bus driver says the bus was proceeding through a green light and was cut off by a driver turning right at a red light.  Traffic information will be reviewed . Although the media reports seem to point to the car driver being at fault, with school bus accidents things are not always as clear cut as they seem.  For example, video footage inside the bus may show something different, such as a driver looking the other way or even texting.  Sadly, we all remember the fatal California  train crash in 2008 where the operator was texting just prior to impact. It was very lucky that the students involved were not seriously in...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 A family came to my office about a month ago with a scenario which was absolutely baffling to me.  Their son had been expelled in a remote district in California for an interaction with a coach.  That was not the shocking part.  The stunner was HOW the expulsion went down. The "hearing" was not a hearing at all and the family was left to observe the whole process.  Their rights were severely trampled.  Needless to say, I went in and the expulsion was immediately reversed and expunged.  The boy is now back in school and everyone pretends the whole ordeal never happened.  What a joke.  The sad thing is, the school did not reverse itself until I officially got involved as even when the parents asserted their rights, they were ignored.  This is because districts don't listen to parents on legal matters, they only listen to lawyers. Let me tell you just some of the violations...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Once in awhile, a parent is surprised when their child tells them they were held in during recess by the teacher, and did not get a break that day.  Unfortunately, this may be okay for a teacher to do.  However, such restrictions should not be overused. Recently I met with a family involved in a discipline dispute with a school district.  During our discussion, it came up that the boy who had gotten into trouble had not had any recesses for a long period of time due to continuing behavior issues.  Although this was not the main focus of our discussion, what the family reported to me was disturbing simply as this was the "new" schedule of this boy, one with NO RECESS.  Additionally, the withholding of his recesses did NOT solve his behavior issues. Per California Education Code section 44807.5: " The governing board of a school district may adopt reasonable rules and regulations to authorize ...