Procedural Safeguards

Parents/legal guardians of children with disabilities from ages three through twenty-one have specific educational rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These rights are called procedural safeguards. Individuals serving as surrogate parents and students aged eighteen receiving special education services, are also entitled to these rights.

The District is required by law to give parents/legal guardians timely written notice before proposing or refusing to assess your child. In addition, the District is also required by law to give you notice before it changes your child’s identification as a student with a disability, education placement or special education services.

You must also be notified prior to a long-term change in your child’s educational program or placement. A long-term change is one that lasts for more than ten (10) school days. This includes your child’s removal from school because of a suspension or expulsion.

Each notice must be in language understandable to the general public and must include:

• A description of and the reason(s) for the proposed assessment, change in identification or change in placement;
• A description of the documents, materials, or any other information or factors used as a basis for, or relevant, to a proposed assessment, change in identification or change in placement;
• A description of any options the District considered and why those options were rejected; and
• A statement of your right to give or withhold your consent to have your child assessed.

The notice must be in your primary language whenever possible. If your primary language or other mode of communication, such as sign language, is not a written language, the school must document that the notice was translated in some other way to you that you understood the notice.