Reacting appropriately to discipline issues of students with special needs should be a priority for administrators. Disciplinary interventions must not interfere with a student's free appropriate public education (FAPE). Administrators must be very aware of students' disabilities and be able to determine if a student's misbehavior is a result of their disability. If their misbehavior is a result of their disability, then the student should not receive a consequence for the misbehavior. If it is determined that the misbehavior is not a result of the student's disability, then the student may receive consequences just like any other student. IDEA allows schools to move students from their current placement, on a short-term basis, to an alternative educational or to place that student on suspension if the behavior deems that this is necessary. This short-term removal must be ten days or less for the student. If a more serious disciplinary issue occures and a student needs to be removed from their placement for more than ten days, a change of placement needs to occur for the student. The first step for a change of placement to occur is for the Special Education team to complete a manifestation determination to determine if the behavior is related to the student's disabilitiy. If there is no relationship, the student can be removed from school for any length of time. During the time the student is removed from school, however, the school must still provide the student with a FAPE. If there is a relationship between the behavior and the disability, then the school cannot remove the student. The ten day rule is cumulative for the school year, so that schools can not suspend students for 9 days and then again later for 9 days in an effort to avoid conducting a manifestation determination (Smith, 2016).
Manifestation Determination must be completed by the Special Education team within ten days of determining that a student would be removed from their current placement for more than ten days within one year. The Special Education team would review the student's disability, services, and behaviors to determine if the behavior is a result of an inappropriate placement, if the IEP is not being implemented appropriately, if the behavior is part of the disability, or none of the above. If the team decides that an inappropriate placement is happening, the IEP is not being adhered to, or that the behavior is related to the disability, the student can not be discipline as students without disabilities would be. If the team decides that none of those options are accurate, then they may apply consequences to the student, just as they would for students without disabilities. If this occurs, and the student with disabilities is suspended, they are still responsible for providing the student with services to ensure a FAPE. In order to do this, schools may provide a homebound placement for the student or an alternative educational setting. If the team determines that the behavior is a result of the child's disability, the team can not remove the child from it's placement and must conduct a functional behavioral assessment and create a behavioral intervention plan for the student. There are special circumstances that allow schools to apply disciplinary measures without conducting a manifestation determination process for a student with a disability. Those circumstances include: possessing a weapon on school property; possessing, using or selling illegal drugs on school property; and/or inflicting serious bodily injury on another person while at school. If any disciplinary actions do take place, the school must notify the parent the day the disciplinary action is decided (Smith, 2016).
A functional behavior assessment is required if a student with special needs is removed from a placement for more than ten days and/or if it is determined that a student's misbehavior is a manifestation of the students' disability. This functional behavior assessment is meant to determine interventions that will help the student in regards to their behavior. These interventions are determined after a team analyzes the relationship between the antecedents, reinforcers, and and the behavior itself (Smith, 2016).
The results of a functional behavior assessment should be used to create a behavior intervention plan (BIP). IDEA requires schools to develop a BIP for students whose behavior interferes with learning. The process for creating a BIP includes multiple steps: collecting background information about situations related to the misbehavior, conducting a FBA, determining if the behavior is related to the student's disability, hypothesizing what is triggering and reinforcing the misbehavior, creating goals that would allow for positive replacement behaviors or the elimination of the negative behaviors, developing intervention strategies used to help the student eliminate the negative behaviors, implementing the plan, and evaluating it for effectiveness (Smith, 2016).
Students who have 504s should be treated similarly to students with IEPs when it comes to discipline. A manifestation determination must be made before suspending a student with a 504 for more than 10 days, just like students with IEPs. If the manifestation determination proves that the misbehavior is a result of the student's disability, then the school should prepare a BIP for the student and make appropriate interventions to ensure that the student is receiving the best possible support and education. Unlike students with IEPS, if a student with a 504 is expelled or suspended, the school is not required to provide the student with FAPE during the expulsion or suspension if the behavior is not related to the disability (Smith, 2016).
It is very important that school administrators understand the guidelines regarding disciplining students with IEPs and 504s. In addition, administrators must ensure that their teachers and staff are able to understand, establish, and support functional behavior assessments, manifestation determinations, and behavior intervention plans. Without proper education and administrative backing, staff will not be able provide the support necessary for students with special needs to be successful (Smith, 2016).