We sincerely hope your child never gets in trouble at school. However, lots of children do run into issues at school, particularly children with ADHD, social awareness issues, emotional issues, and impulse control issues. It’s not unusual, and in fact it may or may not be true that certain members of our firm spent a great deal of time while they were in school in the principal’s office, or detention, or…
But we won’t name names (Bill).
If your child does get in trouble, children in special education have rights other children don’t have.
Your child has the right to a free and appropriate education even if the school expels your child (so they usually don’t).
If your child is suspended for more than 10 days, the school must hold a “Manifestation Determination Review” or MDR. The MDR is to determine whether or a child’s actions were caused by or substantially related to the child’s disability or the school’s failure to implement the IEP. As examples, if your child has ADD and impulsively pulls a fire alarm—that is an example of his disability manifesting itself. If a child with social awareness issues stands too close to another child and upsets them, that could be a manifesting of their disability and a failure by the school team to deliver the child’s IEP if that IEP requires instruction on appropriate distancing and engagement with peers, and the school hasn’t been working on those things.
If the child’s actions are found to be causal, no further discipline can be done, and the IEP team must meet to determine how to revise the child’s IEP. In many cases, a functional behavioral analysis (FBA) should be done leading to a behavior intervention plan (BIP) to forestall further issues.
Schools often tell parents MDR’s are not big deals and are simple IEP meetings. They are in fact big deals, and not simple. Take them very seriously.
In today’s school environment, there is very little tolerance for behavior that doesn’t conform tightly to school rules. It’s important to understand your rights and your child’s rights and take them seriously. An MDR is the first chance to get your child OUT of serious trouble.