Serving Unit 5 and El Paso-Gridley District 11

Behavioral Intervention and Discipline

A. Behavioral Intervention
     1. Behavioral interventions shall be used with students with disabilities to promote and strengthen desirable behaviors and reduce identified inappropriate behaviors.
     2. A committee shall be established by MVSEA and each of its Member Districts to develop and monitor procedures on the use of behavioral interventions for students with disabilities. The committee shall review the ISBE’s guidelines on the use of behavioral interventions and use them as a non-binding reference. The behavioral intervention procedures shall be furnished to the parent(s)/guardian(s) of all students with Individualized
Educational Plans (IEP) within 15 days after their adoption or amendment by, or presentation to, the Board or at the time an IEP if first implemented for a student; all students shall be informed annually of the existence of the procedures. At the annual IEP review, a copy of the Member District’s behavioral intervention policy and procedures shall be given and explained to parent(s)/guardian(s). A copy of the procedures shall be available at any time and provided upon request of the parent(s)/ guardian(s).
     3. A behavioral intervention plan shall be based on a functional behavioral assessment and shall include positive behavioral intervention strategies to address the inappropriate behavior. A functional behavioral assessment shall be completed, if appropriate, in relationship to the development or modification of a student’s behavioral intervention plan. A functional behavioral assessment is an assessment process for gathering information
regarding a student’s target behavior, its antecedents and consequences, controlling variables, the student’s strengths, and the communicative and functional intent of the behavior, for use in developing behavioral interventions. The conduct of the functional behavioral assessment does not require parental consent unless the IEP team decides to conduct individualized assessments that go beyond the review of existing data and the
administration of tests or other evaluations that are administered to all students.

B. Discipline of Students with Disabilities
     1. MVSEA and its Member Districts shall comply with the provisions of the IDEA when disciplining students. No special education student will be expelled if the student’s particular act of gross disobedience or misconduct is a manifestation of his/her disability. Any special education student whose gross disobedience or misconduct is not a manifestation of his/her disability may be expelled pursuant to the expulsion procedures, except that such student shall continue to receive educational services as provided in the IDEA during the period of expulsion.
     2. A special education student may be suspended for periods of no more than 10 consecutive school days each in response to separate incidents of gross disobedience or misconduct, regardless of whether the student’s gross disobedience or misconduct is a manifestation of his/her disability, as long as the repeated removals do not constitute a pattern that amounts to a change of placement (considering factors such as length of each removal, the total amount of time the student is removed, and the proximity of the removals to one another) and provided that such student receives educational services to the extent required by the IDEA during such removals.
    3. Any special education student may be temporarily excluded from school by court order or by of a duly appointed State of Illinois due process hearing officer changing the student’s placement to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting for up to 45 days, if the Member District demonstrates that maintaining the student in his/her placement is substantially likely to result in injury to the student or to others.
    4. A special education student who has carried a weapon to school or to a school function or who knowingly possesses or uses illegal drugs or sells or solicits the sale of a controlled substance while at school or a school function may be removed from his/her current placement. All such students shall be placed in an appropriate interim alternative educational setting for no more than 45 days in accordance with the IDEA. The length of time a student with a disability is placed in an alternative educational setting must be the same amount of time that a student without a disability would be subject to discipline.

C. Special Education Suspension Procedures
     1. All suspension notices and suspension review procedures established by the School Code shall be followed when suspending a student with a disability. In addition, a student with a disability who is suspended from school for more than 10 school days in a school year shall receive educational services in accordance with the IDEA.
     2. The first time a student is removed for more than 10 cumulative school days during the school year, MVSEA or its Member District shall, no later than 10 business days after the decision to suspend a student is made, convene an IEP meeting to review and, if appropriate, modify the student’s behavior intervention plan, as necessary, to address the student’s behavior. If no behavior intervention plan is in place, the IEP Team shall develop
a plan for a functional behavioral assessment that must be used to develop a behavior intervention plan.
     3. For all subsequent removals of the student with a disability do not constitute a change of placement, the IEP Team members must review the behavior intervention plan and its implementation. If any team member indicates that the plan may need to be modified, the IEP Team must be convened to review the plan and revise it, if appropriate.
     4. For all removals that exceed 10 cumulative days during one school year, the Member District must provide services to the student. School personnel, in conjunction with the student’s special education teacher, shall determine the services to be provided. Such services must be designed to enable the student to progress in the general curriculum and advance toward his/her IEP goals. 

D. Special Educational Expulsion Procedures
     1. The Member Districts shall promptly provide the student’s parent(s)/ guardian(s) of the gross disobedience or misconduct and whether the student shall be recommended for expulsion. All procedural protections pertaining to notice provided under the Member Districts discipline policy shall apply to a notice recommended expulsion in the case of a special education student. The parent(s)/guardian(s) shall also receive a copy of the procedural safeguards and written notification that:

         a. An IEP conference shall be convened to determine whether the student’s gross disobedience or misconduct is a manifestation of his/her disability. The IEP meeting shall take place as soon as possible, but no later than 10 school days after the decision to discipline the student is made.
         b. The student’s parent(s)/ guardian(s) are requested to attend the IEP Team meeting at the date, time and location specified in the notice.

     2. For purposes of such manifestation determination review, the IEP team
shall include the members of the student’s IEP team and other qualified personnel including, but not limited to, the authorized administrator familiar with the act of misconduct.
     3. In carrying out the manifestation determination review, the team shall consider, in terms of the behavior subject to the disciplinary action, all relevant information including:

         a. Evaluation and diagnostic results, including relevant information supplied by the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s);
         b. Observations of the student; and 
         c. The student’s IEP and placement;

     4. The IEP team may determine that the student’s behavior was not a manifestation of the student’s disability only if it is determined that:

         a. The student’s IEP and placement were appropriate and the special education services, supplementary aids and services, and behavior intervention strategies were provided in a manner consistent with the student’s IEP and placement.
         b. The student’s disability did not impair the ability of the student to understand the impact and consequences of the behavior subject to the disciplinary action, and;
         c. The student’s disability did not impair the ability of the student to control the behavior subject to the disciplinary action.

     5. If, at the IEP manifestation determination review conference, it is determined that the behavior of the student was a manifestation of his/her disability, the authorized administrator shall not continue with his/her recommendation for expulsion. The authorized administrator may request a review of the appropriateness of the educational placement of the student in accordance with the federal and state law. During the period necessary 
to propose a new placement, the student will remain in his/her then-current placement unless:

          a. The student has not served a full 10 school day suspension imposed for the gross disobedience or misconduct, in which case the student may be required to serve the remaining days of his/her suspension; or
          b. The parent(s)/guardian(s) and the Member Districts agree on an interim placement; or
          c. The Member District(s) obtains an order from a court of competent jurisdiction or a State of Illinois impartial due process hearing officer changing the then-current placement or providing for appropriate relief.

     6. If, at the IEP manifestation determination review conference, it is determined that the behavior of the student was not a manifestation of his/her disability, the authorized administrator may continue with his/her recommendation that the student be considered for expulsion by the Board of Education of the Member District(s). In addition to issues regularly determined at an expulsion hearing, the authorized administrator must present evidence that the manifestation determination review team met and concluded that the student’s misconduct was not a manifestation of his/her disability, which shall be duly noted by the Board. The administration shall ensure that relevant special education and disciplinary records of the student are transmitted for consideration by the Board.
     7. If a student with a disability is expelled from school in accordance with the procedures set forth above, MVSEA or its Member Districts shall convene an IEP meeting to develop an educational program to deliver educational services to the student during such period of expulsion.

E. Weapon and Drug Offenses
    1. In accordance with the procedures set forth above, the Member Districts may take one or more of the following steps when a student with a disability carries a weapon to school or to a school function or knowingly possesses or uses illegal drugs or sells or solicits the sale of a controlled substance while at school or at a school-related function.

        a. Suspend the student from school for 10 school days or less.
        b. Convene an IEP conference to:

            (1) determine placement in an interim alternative educational setting for up to 45 calendar days,
            (2) review and, if appropriate, modify the student’s behavior intervention plan, as necessary, to address the student’s behavior (if no behavior intervention plan is in place, the IEP team shall develop a plan for a functional behavioral assessment that must be 
used to develop a behavior intervention plan), and

            (3) conduct a manifestation determination review.

    2. The student may be placed in an interim alternative educational setting even if the behavior is a manifestation of the student’s disability.  The interim alternative educational setting must:

         a. Enable the student to continue to progress in the general curriculum; 
         b. Enable the student to receive the services and modifications set forth in his/her IEP; and
         c. Include services and modifications designed to address the misconduct to prevent it from recurring.

     3. If the parent(s)/guardian(s) disagree with the interim alternative educational placement or with the Member District proposed placement and initiate a due process hearing, the student must remain in the interim alternative educational setting during the authorized review proceedings, unless the parent(s)/guardian(s) and the Member District agree on another placement.

F. Change of Placement if Maintenance of Current Placement Is Likely to Result in Injury
     1. In the event that maintenance of a student’s current placement is substantially likely to result in injury to the student or to others, the Member District may seek an order from a court of competent jurisdiction or a State of Illinois impartial due process hearing officer to change the student’s placement to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting for one or more 45-day periods after convening an IEP meeting to:

         a. Conduct a manifestation determination review following procedures described under sub-heading “Special Education Expulsion Procedures,” above, and
         b. Determine a proposed interim alternative educational setting that meets the requirements under sub-heading “Weapon and Drug Offenses” above.

     2. The length of time a student with a disability is placed in an alternative educational setting must be the same amount of time that a student without a disability would be subject to discipline.

G. Disciplining Students Not Yet Eligible Under IDEA
     1. A student who has not been determined to be eligible for special education and related services who engages in behavior that violates the Member Districts code of conduct shall be disciplined in accordance with the Member Districts discipline policy for nondisabled students, unless the Member District had knowledge that the student was a student with a disability. 
     2. The Member District will be deemed as having knowledge that the student may be eligible for special education and related services prior to the disciplinary incident, if any one of the following conditions exists: 

         a. The parent(s)/guardian(s) has expressed concern in writing (unless the parent is illiterate or has a disability that would prevent his/her ability to provide such written notice) to school district personnel that the student is in need of special education and related services;
         b. The behavior or performance of the student demonstrated the need for such services;
         c. The parent(s)/guardian(s) of the student has requested a full and individual evaluation of the student; or
         d. The teacher of the student or other school personnel expressed concern about the behavior or performance of the student to the director of special education or in accordance with the Member District’s child find activities or referral procedures.

     3. The Member District will not be deemed to have knowledge if documentation maintained in the school student records affirm that an evaluation to determine the presence of a disability was either conducted and the student not found eligible for special educational and related services or the parent(s)/guardian(s) was provided with written notice that the Member District had considered the need to conduct an evaluation and had
determined that an evaluation was not warranted.
     4. If, following the Member District’s decision to discipline a student who has not been determined to be eligible for special education and related services the parent(s)/guardian(s), request a full and individual evaluation, the evaluation shall be conducted on an expedited manner. Until the evaluation is completed, the student shall remain in the educational placement determined by the Member Districts, which may include suspension or expulsion without educational services.

H. Referral to and Action by Law Enforcement and Judicial Authorities
     MVSEA and its Member District’s are not be prohibited from reporting a crime committed by a student with a disability to appropriate authorities. MVSEA and its Member District’s shall ensure that copies of special education and disciplinary records are also transmitted to the authorities in such instances, subject to the requirements of federal and state law.

LEGAL REF.:

U.S.C. 1412 (State eligibility), 1413 (local educational agency eligibility), 
1415 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).
34 C.F.R. 300.121, 300.346, 300.520, 300.519, 300.521, 300.522, 
300.523, 300.524, 300.520. 
105 ILCS 5/10-22.6, 5/14-8.05.
23 Ill. Admin. Code 226.50 (requirements for FAPE), 226.75 (definitions), 
226.220 (factors in development of the IEP), 226.400 (disciplinary actions), 226.410 (manifestation determination review), 226.520
(notification of district’s proposal), 226.655 (expedited due process hearing).

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