Kirsch-Goodwin & Kirsch PLLC Education Attorney Lori Kirsch-Goodwin was interviewed by the AZ Capitol Times following her testimony before the AZ State Legislature about premature graduation of students with disabilities, an issue KGK has been increasingly dealing with.

 ‘Premature graduation’ of students with disabilities challenged by parents, educators | Arizona Capitol Times
Continue Reading Premature Graduation of Students with Disabilities

To watch the webinar, click on the link:https://zoom.us/rec/share/9zjuY4nWmkvzCSRGCuRU42PvXTXKFPIQsNXP33jvz5S4iUHCLG6CSDyXOoq7ozg9.PRJSmqHMvYTNJngePasscode: 0.y@!Gd!
Continue Reading Webinar: Disciplining Students with Disabilities

The IDEA protects students with disabilities
in disciplinary proceedings that may result in long term suspension or
expulsion. Suspension over 10 days in a school year requires a Manifestation
Determination Review (MDR) (see below). 
A student with a disability (with an IEP) may be suspended for up to 10
school days in a school year without FAPE being provided.  Suspension for more than 10 school days is considered
a long term suspension. 

If a student with a disability may be
suspended for more than 10 school days due to a code of conduct violation, the
public agency, parents, and relevant…
Continue Reading Navigating the Manifestation Determination Review (MDR)

A disciplinary
change of placement occurs for a student with a disability if: (1) The removal
is for more than 10 consecutive school days; or (2) he student has been
subjected to a series of removals that constitute a pattern because the series
of removals total more than 10 school days in a school year; because the
student’s behavior is substantially similar to the student’s behavior in
previous incidents that resulted in the series of removals; and because of
additional factors, such as the length of each removal, the total amount of
time the student has been removed, and…
Continue Reading Change in Placement: The 10-Day Rule, Interim Alternative Settings, etc.

 504 vs IEP   A 504 Plan provides accommodations, services and/or aids to
students with a disability (as that term is defined under the Americans with
Disabilities Act Amendments Act) to afford the student equal opportunities to
participate in school activities and receive the same instruction as
nondisabled peers, but they do not require special education. Accommodations
may include extra time for the same assignments as their peers, a separate
quiet room to take the same test as their peers, large type for reading the same
instructional material, or ramps to physically access the same classroom. An
IEP is…
Continue Reading Difference between a 504 and an IEP and how do they affect the student

Excerpted from an interview of attorney Hope Kirsch to LRP:Parent attorney isn’t coming to IEP meeting, but school attorney is? Watch your stepThe case manager has all the documents ready and is just a couple of hours away from beginning the IEP meeting. Then the parent attorney calls to say she can’t make it to the meeting.Can the IEP team and school attorney continue with the meeting, despite the parent attorney’s absence?The Office of Special Education Program’s position is to “strongly discourage” attorney attendance at IEP meetings in general. Notwithstanding any strict reading of the law, “an attorney’s…
Continue Reading Can a school attorney attend an IEP meeting if the parent attorney does not?

 The key federal laws that affect students with disabilities are the Individuals w/ Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Sec 504 of the Rehab Act of 1973 as amended (Section 504) and the Americans w/ Disabilities Act (ADA).

…
Continue Reading The Laws Impacting Students with Disabiities

The child who is gifted and requires special education and
related services is known as “2E,” meaning “twice exceptional.”  A child is gifted if the child’s IQ is at
least 130, the 97th percentile. 
The mere fact that a student is gifted does not disqualify him or her
from eligibility for special education and related services under the IDEA.  A student who needs special education because
of a qualifying disability retains his or her rights under the IDEA, even if
the student is intellectually gifted.   See Letter to Anonymous, (OSEP 2010) (stating that a
gifted student with Asperger…
Continue Reading What if my child is gifted?

(i)    Autism (A)

(ii)   Developmental
delay (DD) (until age 9 years)

(iii)  Emotional
disability (ED)

(iv)  Hearing
impairment (HI)

(v)   Other health
impairments (OHI)

(vi)   Specific
learning disability (SLD)

(vii)  Mild, moderate
or severe intellectual disability (MID, MOID, SID)

(viii) Multiple disabilities (MD)

(ix)    Multiple
disabilities w/ severe sensory  
impairment (MDSSI)

(x)     Orthopedic
impairment (OI)

(xi)    Preschool
severe delay (PSD)

(xii)  
Speech/language impairment (SLI)

(xiii)  Traumatic
brain injury (TBI)

(xiv)  Visual
impairment (VI)

 However, disability condition is only first step of two step
process.  The child must also need
special education, that is, specially designed instruction (SPECIALLY
Continue Reading Special Education eligibility categories in Arizona