Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), parents have specific rights to seek reimbursement for the cost of enrolling their child in a private school when the public school has failed to provide a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Here are the key points regarding these rights:
Requirement of FAPE Failure: Parents are eligible for reimbursement if they can demonstrate that the public school did not make FAPE available in a timely manner before the private school placement was made.
Notice Requirement: Generally, parents must inform the public school at the most recent IEP meeting that they attended prior to removing their child from the public school, or by written notice at least 10 business days (including any holidays that occur on a business day) before the removal, that they are rejecting the placement proposed by the public school, state their concerns, and express their intent to enroll their child in a private school at public expense.
Unilateral Placement: If parents choose to place their child in a private school without the agreement or referral by the public school, they may still seek reimbursement. However, whether reimbursement will be granted depends on whether the courts or hearing officers find that the public school did not provide FAPE and that the private placement is appropriate.
Equitable Considerations: The amount of reimbursement awarded can be reduced or denied based on several factors. For instance, if the parents did not make their child available for evaluation before placing them in a private school, or if the parents failed to provide notice of the private placement as required.
Exception to Notice: Courts may waive the notice requirement if they find that the school prevented the parent from providing notice, the parents were not informed of the notice requirement, or compliance with the requirement would likely result in physical harm to the child.
Reasonableness of Placement: Even when a public school fails to provide FAPE, reimbursement may be reduced or denied if the court finds that the private school placement was unreasonable under the circumstances.
These rights are critical for parents to understand as they navigate the special education process and seek to ensure that their children receive the education they are legally entitled to under the law.
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