Pacific Northwest Institute on Special Education and the Law
2024 Institute Agenda
Monday, September 16, 2024
| 8:30 - 5:00 PM | Optional Pre-Institute Mini-Courses |
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
| 7:30 AM | Registration Desk Opens |
| 8:30 - 10:00 AM | First General Session |
| GS 1 | Special Education Law Year in Review |
| Jan Tomsky, Attorney at Law/Partner, Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost, LLP, Oakland, California In this fast-paced session, school attorney Jan Tomsky highlights key judicial decisions and federal guidance from the past 12 months to illustrate a variety of compliance conundrums faced by public school districts—where they went right and where they went wrong. This session also includes practical pointers gleaned from each decision to help special education administrators and IEP teams make legally sound decisions and assist in avoiding costly litigation. | |
| 10:00 - 10:30 AM | Break |
| 10:30 AM-12:00 PM | Tuesday Morning Workshops |
| WS 1 | Prior Written Notices |
Joel Hungerford, Partner, The Hungerford Law Firm, L.L.P., Oregon City, Oregon This session will discuss the legal requirements, along with best practice tips, regarding documenting IEP meetings and formal decisions by school districts. | |
| WS 2 | Related Service Review: What is Required Under the Law? |
| Betsey Helfrich, Attorney, The Law Office of Betsey Helfrich, LLC, St. Louis, Missouri From nursing to transportation services, this fast-paced presentation will examine the IDEA regulations and case law to help you determine which related services may be needed to provide a student with FAPE. | |
| WS 3 | Taking the Mystery out of Manifestation Determinations |
| Elizabeth Polay, Attorney, Garrett Hemann Robertson P.C., Salem, Oregon With rising behavior concerns for students across the country, appropriate discipline for special education students is an ever-present question. Join Attorney Elizabeth Polay for a deep dive into the intricacies of Manifestation Determination Reviews (MDRs). This session will provide insight into the legal frameworks, procedural nuances, and practical considerations surrounding MDRs. From understanding the criteria for determining whether a student’s behavior is a manifestation of a disability to effectively engaging in positive dialogue with parents or district staff, this presentation will include practical strategies, expert guidance, and clarity on the MDR process, while also looking at some especially challenging questions for those tasked with this important procedural requirement. | |
| 12:00 - 1:00 PM | Break |
| 1:00 - 2:30 PM | Second General Session |
| GS 2 | Update of Recent Ninth Circuit Decisions |
| Jan Tomsky, Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost LLP, Oakland, California Over the past several years, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has weighed in with binding decisions regarding numerous special education issues, ranging from child find to least restrictive environment to school district obligations to parentally placed private school students. Attorney Jan Tomsky examines these recent decisions, which are organized by topic, and provides practical insights on what these cases mean and why they matter to educators. | |
| 2:30 - 3:00 PM | Break |
| 3:00 - 4:30 PM | Tuesday Afternoon Workshops |
| WS 4 | Student Record Roundup: Complying with Student Confidentiality |
| Betsey Helfrich, Attorney, The Law Office of Betsey Helfrich, LLC, St. Louis, Missouri There are many laws relating to student records and confidentiality - particularly special education records. This presentation will examine IDEA, FERPA, COPPA, and HIPAA requirements and how these laws intersect and apply to student records. Recent case law, guidance documents, and practical tips will help guide your teams to determine what can be shared and when regarding students with disabilities. | |
| WS 5 | So It’s Time to Go Out Into the Big World! Transition Services and Related Issues Under IDEA |
| Jose Martín, Attorney at Law, Richards Lindsay & Martín, Austin, Texas An IDEA student’s preparation for experiences after high school is a crucial application of the IDEA FAPE requirement. This session addresses all key aspects of the IDEA transition process, from conducting appropriate transition assessments, transition planning, selecting an overall transition objective, developing appropriate annual goals, implementing transition services, and outreach to outside transition agencies, to completing the transition process and graduating. The session will review cases demonstrating common errors schools make in the transition process, including mismatches of assessment data and services, overly standardized and limited transition services, and insufficient transition assessments, as well as cases on parents disputing the actual outcome of transition efforts and cases seeking private postsecondary tuition reimbursement. In addition, the session will also cover legal issues in students’ transition to adulthood, including transfer of rights, records issues, summaries of performance, pre-graduation evaluations, termination of IDEA services, and issues involved in graduation under state laws and in compliance with IDEA. | |
| WS 6 | Childfind in an MTSS World: The Duty to Timely Refer Students for an Evaluation |
| Julie Weatherly, Attorney at Law/Owner, Resolutions in Special Education, Inc., Mobile, Alabama Recent court and agency decisions show that the law’s child find requirement is alive and well in an RTI/MTSS world. However, there is the potential for tension between RTI/MTSS frameworks and the law’s child find requirement that must be balanced. In this session, Julie will examine the overall legal duty to refer a student for an evaluation when there is sufficient “reason to believe” or “reason to suspect” that the student has a disability and the need for special services under IDEA or Section 504. Julie will then examine identification triggers and review a checklist of “referral red flags,” based upon relevant case law and agency guidance, designed to assist educators in the avoidance of potential litigation in the area of child find. | |
| 4:30 - 6:00 PM | Welcome Reception |
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
| 8:30 - 10:00 AM | Wednesday Early Morning Workshops |
| WS 7 | 504 and What's Coming Next |
| Dave Richards, Attorney at Law, Richards Lindsay & Martín, LLP, Austin, Texas We are still waiting on proposed Section 504 regulations… It would be great to know what’s coming so that we can be prepared. What will change? Will schools finally get some help understanding substantial limitation? Will new procedural protections be added? Will parents become required members of the group of knowledgeable people (504 Team or Committee)? In this lively session, veteran school attorney Dave Richards will look to the history of 504 including the thinking behind civil rights laws and the fascinating reason that Congress identified individuals with a disability as a protected class. We’ll examine the changes to the regulations proposed by advocacy groups (concerns that appear to have been ignored when the 504 regulations were originally created in the late 1970’s), changes school attorney are proposing, and the compliance issues in the current school climate that OCR is likely considering as it prepares the changes. The proposed changes point to areas of compliance that schools can begin to address now. Dave will help you identify those areas as we wait. Don’t make the mistake of delaying compliance efforts until the proposed regs are made public. There is plenty to do in the meantime. | |
| WS 8 | You Can’t Learn If You Don’t Show Up: Absences & School Refusal |
| Geneva Jones, Founder/Managing Director, Geneva Jones & Associates, Sugar Land, Texas It is nearly impossible to provide FAPE when truancy and absenteeism prevent the child from accessing the educational environment. Chronic absenteeism is a primary cause of low academic achievement, and a powerful predictor of which students will eventually drop out of school. Even sporadic absenteeism can devastate the outcomes for special education students. While not all absenteeism stems from a disability, IEP teams are compelled by law to investigate and address student attendance. This session will explore the multiple causes and factors that interfere with student attendance. Participants will examine special education law and court cases to understand what obligations fall on the school and the IEP team followed by a practical discussion on how to address absenteeism to improve student outcomes. | |
| WS 9 | Dangerous Students with Disabilities and Discipline: What Are the Options? |
| Julie Weatherly, Attorney at Law/Owner, Resolutions in Special Education, Inc., Mobile, Alabama With the staggering increase in the number of students with mental health issues in schools these days, it goes without saying that it is extremely difficult for school personnel to understand what they can or cannot do when a student with a disability’s escalating behavior poses a threat to the physical safety of other students, adults, or the student himself. This session will provide an overview of statutory and regulatory provisions related to the management of dangerous students with disabilities and frequently asked questions about those provisions. Among other things, the IDEA’s 45-day interim alternative educational setting provision will be addressed, as well as other options available when “special circumstances” are not present or when the student is a “504-only” student. In addition, the topics of contacting criminal authorities and the use of seclusion and restraint will be discussed. All of these issues will be approached from a practical perspective and addressed within a Q&A format. | |
| 10:00 - 10:30 AM | Break |
| 10:30 - 12:00 PM | Wednesday Late Morning Workshops |
| WS 10 | What Happens When the Student with a Disability is Academically Successful: Choice Schools & Accelerated Classes |
| Dave Richards, Attorney at Law, Richards Lindsay & Martín, LLP, Austin, Texas Grades and academic success are too frequently used as the evidence that a student should be referred to Section 504 or IDEA and once eligible, whether the student continues to be eligible. A persistent assumption in the minds of some educators is that if one is disabled, good or great grades and academic success are not possible. To be eligible, the student must be failing or barely passing. In this lively session, veteran school attorney Dave Richards will look at that misguided assumption. We’ll discuss twice exceptional students and academically successful students as they access and participate in choice schools and accelerated classes (AP, Honors, Gifted, Baccalaureate, etc.). We’ll examine the difficult question of accommodations and services in these school and classes including the function of prerequisites and entrance criteria, and the need to determine whether FAPE can be provided in the classroom or program. Finally we'll examine the impact of the FAPE requirement and the reality that (1) not all special education services can be provided in all settings, and (2) not all placements can be made appropriate for the disability needs of all students. We’ll look at the tension between rights of access and the demands of the IEP and consider some strategies to discuss with the school attorney on what to do when IDEA FAPE cannot be provided in the choice school, program or accelerated class. We’ll also examine the dynamics created when academically successful students with disabilities challenge their nondisabled peers for academic honors and a seat in choice classes or schools where enrollment is coveted. | |
| WS 11 | Dispute Resolution under the IDEA: Considerations on Compromise |
| Carlos Chavez, Partner, Pacifica Law Group, LLP, Seattle, Washington Carlos Chavez, an experienced special education defense attorney located in Seattle, Washington, will provide an overview of the formal and informal alternative dispute resolution mechanisms available to parents and school districts under the IDEA. The focus of the presentation and anticipated discussion will be on practical issues to consider when engaging in the forms of alternative dispute resolution, such as confidentiality, preparatory strategies, and building durable resolutions. | |
| WS 12 | Successful IEP Meetings: Lessons from Both Sides of the Table |
| Elizabeth Polay, Attorney, Garrett Hemann Robertson P.C., Salem, Oregon IEP meetings are the keystone of the IDEA. They form the foundation for a student’s education but can also be a source of frustration, missed communication, and tense relationships between district staff and parents of students with disabilities. This session will provide suggestions for successfully navigating the often-fraught waters of facilitating IEP meetings with an eye toward ensuring legal compliance. Attorney Elizabeth Polay has represented both parents and districts over the course of her legal career and will share valuable insights from advocating and participating in IEP meetings from both perspectives. | |
| 12:00 PM | Institute Adjourns |