Ten Days, Seven Earlier Days, and a Signature Requested Early
Marcus, age 15, has an IEP under other health impairment for ADHD. This year he has already been removed from school for 7 school days in three separate incidents. On Tuesday he is found in a restroom with a THC vape pen and is removed for 10 school days. The principal recommends a 45-day interim alternative educational setting. On Wednesday morning she brings a manifestation determination form to the school psychologist and says, 'Just sign it now, we all know what he did.' Marcus's IEP contains no behavior intervention plan, though the earlier removals were for similar off-task and rule-breaking behavior, and his case manager confirms the accommodation for broken-down assignments has not been provided since September.
1. Walk through the district's obligations: day counting, the manifestation determination, and the basis for the 45-day placement.
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Day counting. The current removal of 10 school days plus 7 earlier days totals 17 school days this year, well past 10. Once removals exceed 10 school days in a school year, the student must continue to receive educational services that enable progress in the general curriculum and toward IEP goals, and a pattern of short removals can itself constitute a change of placement. A change of placement requires a manifestation determination -- and the earlier pattern should have triggered this analysis already.
Manifestation determination. It must be conducted within 10 school days of the decision to change placement, by the IEP team plus the parents, reviewing evaluation and diagnostic results, observations, the IEP and any BIP, and relevant information from the parents. Two questions: was the conduct caused by or substantially and directly related to the disability, and was it the direct result of the district's failure to implement the IEP. On these facts there is a credible argument for the second prong: the broken-down-assignment accommodation was not provided and there is no BIP despite a pattern. That finding would require the district to remedy the deficiencies.
The 45-day setting. IDEA permits removal to an interim alternative educational setting for up to 45 school days regardless of manifestation for weapons, drugs (controlled substances, which THC is), or serious bodily injury. So the IAES is legally available here -- but it is imposed after the manifestation determination, not instead of it, and the MDR still must occur.
2. How do you respond to the principal, and what do you do if the team finds the behavior was a manifestation?
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To the principal, and in writing where appropriate: I will not sign in advance. Signing before the meeting would predetermine the outcome, deny the parents meaningful participation, and misrepresent a team decision as an administrative formality. It is also an ethics problem -- school psychologists are obligated to make decisions based on data and to protect the rights of students and parents, not to certify conclusions they have not reached with the team.
I would offer the practical alternative: convene the required meeting, with the parents notified and invited in their language, and reach a documented decision within the 10-school-day window. If the schedule is tight, that is an argument for scheduling the meeting now, not for skipping it.
If the team finds the conduct was a manifestation:
- The district must remedy any failure to implement the IEP -- here, restore the accommodation, complete an FBA, and develop a BIP.
- Return the student to the prior placement, unless the drug exception for the IAES applies and the team imposes it (which it may, for up to 45 school days, and the MDR does not prevent that for drugs).
- If the IAES is used, the team must still determine the services that let Marcus progress and address the behavior; the MDR finding does not end the conversation about function and support.
- Document the reasoning and dissenting views; the parents can request an expedited due process hearing if they disagree.
3. What services and supports must be planned for Marcus during and after the 45-day placement?
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During the IAES:
- Services that allow him to continue in the general curriculum and to progress toward his IEP goals, even though he is not in the regular building. That is not a reduced program or a study carrel with packets; the IEP team determines what it looks like (e.g., content-area instruction, related services such as counseling, credit-bearing work).
- A functional behavioral assessment if one has not been completed, leading to a BIP built on function rather than on the offense.
- Restore the missing accommodation so that the failure-to-implement finding is actually remedied.
- Continued progress monitoring and a documented check-in point; the setting lasts no longer than 45 school days unless other lawful action is taken.
Before return:
- A reintegration plan with the home school, including staff training, a check-in/check-out structure, and predictable responses to escalation.
- A plan for the substance use issue that is separate from discipline: screening, referral to community or school-based services, and family involvement. Punishment alone does not change substance use.
- Review of accommodation fidelity with a named person responsible for verifying it weekly.
Family: notices in plain language, an explanation of the 45-day clock and what happens at the end, and a named contact -- parents cannot meaningfully participate in a plan they learn about after the fact.