U.S. Department of Education Issues Revised Final IDEA Regulations

On December 1, 2008, the U.S. Department of Education issued revised final regulations for Part B, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 34 CFR Part 300, effective December 31, 2008. The revisions include several changes affecting parental consent, hearing rights, state use of targets and reporting, and state monitoring and enforcement issues.

The Department added two provisions regarding parental revocation of consent for special education and related services:

• § 300.9(c)(3) provides that when a parent revokes consent for IDEA services after the parent's child has been receiving such services, the parent must communicate the revocation in writing, and the school district is not required to amend the child’s education records to remove any reference to the child's receipt of such services.
• In addition, § 300.300(b)(4) provides that when a parent revokes consent for continued IDEA services provided to the parent's child, 1) within 10 calendar days after receipt of the written revocation, the school district must provide the parent with prior written notice under § 300.503 at which time all IDEA services shall cease; 2) the school district may not utilize mediation or due process procedures to obtain agreement or a ruling that services may be provided to the child; 3) the district will not be deemed in violation of the IDEA requirement to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to the otherwise eligible child; and 4) the district is not required to convene an IEP Team meeting or develop an individualized education program (IEP) for the child for further provision of special education and related services.

The Department amended § 300.512(a)(1) to provide that state law will determine whether a party (parent or school district) can be represented by a non-attorney at due process hearings.

The Department also added provisions regarding state monitoring and enforcement, and state use of targets and reporting:

• § 300.600(e) establishes a one-year time frame within which a state must ensure that a local educational agency's (LEA's) noncompliance, identified through the monitoring process, is corrected.
• § 300.602(b)(1)(i)(A) was amended to double the current allowable time frame for a state to provide a report to the public on the performance of each LEA, i.e., no later than 120 days after submitting its annual performance report (APR) to the Secretary of Education.