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On October 26, 2010 the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Russlynn Ali issued a "Dear Colleague" letter to educators throughout the country. The purpose of the letter is to remind school officials that "some student misconduct that falls under a school's anti-bullying policy may also trigger responsibilities under one or more of the federal antidiscrimination laws enforced by the Department's Office of Civil Rights (OCR)."
Massachusetts law (M.G.L. c. 71 § 37O) now requires that your child's IEP team consider and address the skills and proficiencies your child needs to avoid and respond to bullying.
On August 3, 2010 Governor Patrick signed the bill , "An Act Relative to Insurance Coverage for Autism" (HB 4935), into law. The law mandates broader insurance coverage of diagnostic tests, medical treatment, and services for children and adults with autism. The law will go into effect on January 1, 2011.
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) recently released its state-by-state IDEA compliance findings for the 2008-2009 school year. For the fourth consecutive year, Massachusetts has not met the IDEA Part B (children 3 - 21) requirements. Read the complete report here. In addition, OSEP determined that Massachusetts is so far behind its IDEA Part C requirements (birth - 3) that federal intervention is necessary.
Governor Patrick signed an extensive anti-bullying law yesterday, prohibiting physical, emotional, and online taunting and mandating training for faculty and students. It also requires school staff to notify parents about incidents and harassment under the umbrella of bullying behavior.
Case summary: School district indefinitely suspended Student with a disability, alleging Student had inappropriately touched others, attempting to give them "wedgies." School proposed a substantially separate placement. Attorney Wong, on behalf of Parents, argued for Student's return to the general education setting with a comprehensive behavior plan in place. Hearing Officer agreed with Parents that the general education classroom was the least restrictive environment and ordered that Student be allowed to return to his regular education classroom.
Wong & Boscarine LLC
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