Border Wars
Do you have students placed in out-of-state residential (boarding) schools by parents? If so, this OSEP guidance letter may be of interest to you, particularly if some of those students are in Massachusetts and the state or the school has previously sent the parents back to you for evaluation if there was a potential special education issue. In a letter directed to the State Director of Special Education, Letter to Mittnacht, 48 IDELR 194 (OSEP 2007), OSEP Director Alexa Posny indicated that the plan submitted by Massachusetts for compliance with IDEA 2004 may not be in compliance with the federal law. Specifically, it appears that parents of students placed in Massachusetts residential and boarding schools who have attempted to refer those students for initial special education evaluations may have been told that the local school district will not conduct the evaluation if the student was an out-of-state resident. Ms. Posny politely pointed out that this may conflict with 34 C.F.R. 300.131(f), which requires the local school district to take responsibility for child find, even if the student is a resident of another state, like Connecticut.
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