Disciplinary Removals for Students with Disabilities (SPED/504)

1. Can a student with a disability (on an IEP or 504) be suspended from school?
   • YES
   • To help us with our thinking, we should view these suspensions as removals to align with the language in the Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR 581-015-2400 through 581-015-2445).
   • An In-School Suspension (ISS) should be viewed as a removal unless the student is able to access the general education curriculum and receive services specified within their IEP during the ISS
   • A student with a disability may be removed “for up to ten school days in a school year” for “code of student conduct” violations without the removals being “considered a change of placement.”
   • A change of placement for a student with a disability requires an IEP/504 team decision and the IEP/504 team to follow special education laws & processes
2. Can a student with a disability be suspended from school for more than ten school days in a school year?
   • YES, but not without heavy involvement & collaboration with the student’s IEP/504 team and district special education leadership
   • Additional Removals of up to “10 School Days Each (No Pattern)”
   • If “school personnel” determine an individual incident DOES NOT “constitute a pattern” in comparison to (1) “previous incidents” AND with regard to (2) “additional factors” taking into account the (3) “length” of prior removals, the (4) “amount of time” the student has been removed previously, and the (5) “proximity of removals to one another.”
   • Additional Removals of more than “10 School Days (Pattern or Consecutive)”
   • “A disciplinary removal is considered a change in educational placement and the school district must follow special education due process procedures if:”
     1. “The removal will be for more than 10 consecutive school days (e.g. expulsion); or”
     2. The removal will be “for more than 10 cumulative school days” AND the removals “constitute a pattern”
3. We have determined that the removal (suspension) is a pattern (or we are recommending an expulsion) - Can the student be suspended or expelled?
   • MAYBE
   • The student’s IEP/504 team and district special education leadership will need to “determine whether the child’s behavior is a manifestation of the student’s disability”
   • “Within 10 school days or any decision to change the placement of a child with a disability because of a violation of a code of student conduct, the school district must determine whether the child’s behavior is a manifestation of the student’s disability”
4. Our IEP/504 team met and we determined that the student’s behavior WAS a manifestation of their disability - Can the student be suspended or expelled?
   • NO (for the most part)
   • A change of placement can occur IF the parents AND school district agree to a change of placement or;
   • “The school district removes the child to an interim alternative educational setting for a weapons or drugs violation or for infliction of serious bodily injury”
5. Our IEP/504 team met and we determined that the student’s behavior WAS NOT a manifestation of their disability - Can the student be suspended or expelled?
   • YES