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My child has been suspended–now what?

If you have children, hopefully this newsletter never applies to you. But recently, there has been a uptick in the number of vaping-related offenses occurring in schools, oftentimes requiring legal representation. If your child is suspended, it is helpful to know the law as to what the school can and cannot do and what rights you have as a parent. And you have additional rights if your child has a disability.

Short-term suspensions are those up to 10 days in length and are typically decided by the school principal or other building administrator. If the suspension exceeds 10 days, however, or if the school district decides to extend the short-term suspension into a long-term suspension, the family must receive 1) oral and written notice of the offense, charges, and evidence to support the consequence; 2) an opportunity for a hearing; and 3) the right to participate in the hearing with representation. These hearing decisions must be conveyed in writing to the family and include a right to appeal.

If your child has a disability and the school is recommending a long-term suspension, within 10 days, the school must first hold a manifestation determination review (MDR) to determine if the conduct causing the offense is a result of the student’s disability. If it is, then the student cannot be suspended, although in certain serious infractions, the school can require the student to attend an alternative school for up to 45 days.

I recently represented a student whose school district imposed a long-term suspension, without affording her any due process rights. By the time the family contacted me, the student had already missed 22 days of school. While we were able to overturn the suspension, the damage to that point had been done. Had the parents known of their right to a hearing before the 11th day, their daughter would not have missed so much school and fallen behind in her classes.

What are your rights if your child is struggling in school?

If you suspect that your child may have a learning disability, you have the right to ask the school to evaluate your child. Under federal law, the school must complete all requested evaluations within 60 days of the parents providing consent to evaluate. (In Massachusetts, that number is 45 days.) Assessments shall include all areas related to the suspected disability. In addition to the general intelligence and academic assessments, these areas can include (but are not limited to) social emotional status, motor abilities, health, vision, hearing, and assistive technology.

Once the assessments are complete, the school must hold a “Team Meeting” to review the data. This team consists of the parents, at least one regular education teacher, at least one special education teacher, a representative of the school district who is qualified to provide or supervise the provision of specially designed instruction to meet the child’s needs, someone who can properly interpret the evaluation data, other individuals as requested by the parents or district who have special knowledge of the child, and, if appropriate, the child. If the team determines that the child requires special education services, it will propose an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Another option for parents is to have a private evaluation done, paid for by the parents. An especially useful assessment is the neuropsychological evaluation. This is a comprehensive evaluation measuring the student’s learning profile, processing speed, working memory, IQ, attention, problem solving, spatial awareness, and language, among other areas. (Some insurance companies will pay for this evaluation.) If the parents choose this option, they can choose whether they wish to share the results with the school. If they choose to share the results, the school must hold a Team Meeting within 10 days of receiving the results.

You are your child’s best advocate. If you suspect he or she may have an academic or social/emotional deficit affecting his or her ability to make effective progress, then you have the right to an evaluation each year.

Mom Was Right

Don’t Put Off Until Tomorrow What You Can Do Today
Was your mother like mine, always using phrases like that to emphasize her points? Well, in this case, she is right. I’d like to share a true story that just happened regarding a client of mine.

As an estate planner, I frequently receive calls when a person is terminally ill and needs to get an estate plan done quickly. I have notarized wills and powers of attorney in hospital rooms, rehabilitation centers, and in hospice settings. Those are the lucky ones because we were able to execute them. Last month, however, I met with someone who had health problems, but she still thought she had ample time to do a will and power of attorney. After I completed the drafts, but before she signed them, she passed away, unfortunately–much more quickly than she or her spouse had anticipated. The legal effect of the unsigned drafts? None–it is as if she had done nothing at all, and her wishes for her estate are just that, unfortunately.

Make Mom proud and don’t put off making yours.

To See or Not to See

In March, I attended the national conference for special education attorneys and advocates and was overwhelmed with the amount of information presented there. For an attorney practicing special education law, it was like Christmas morning as I attended each workshop, eager to unwrap new practice tips and little known laws. And for the more well-known laws, it was great to take a deeper dive into them and learn creative ways to make them work for the client.

One of the workshops I attended dealt with classroom observations. This can be such a helpful tool for parents who are unsure if their child’s placement is appropriate. While there is no federal right to observe (sorry my New Hampshire friends, but keep reading, as you are not totally out of luck!), in Massachusetts, schools must allow parents or their designees to observe the child in his her current or proposed program. This right extends to both academic and non-academic components. The visit should be of sufficient duration and extent to allow the parents to evaluate whether the child can make effective progress.

Although there is no federal right to an observation, the Supreme Court ruled that collaboration is an important part of the federal law on disabilities. Thus, in order for parents to have meaningful participation (as required by law), they need to be able to observe. The school cannot deny an observation request on privacy concerns as the law relating to protection of educational records does not apply to observations. Parents can–and should–request an observation as part of an independent evaluation. 

It is a good idea to have an educational consultant or other expert conduct the observation. He or she will know exactly what to look for and what to ask (always interview the staff!). And should you end up in a legal dispute at some point, the expert’s observation will hold more weight than a parent’s.

But for now, it’s too early to think about school–enjoy your summer!

Advice from former student-athletes

Last month, I was honored to be invited back to my alma mater (Boston University) to speak with current student-athletes about the characteristics and skills that helped me as a former student-athlete in my professional life. While I enjoyed sharing what I could with the athletes sitting at my table, I enjoyed even more hearing from the other alumni in the room their “one piece of advice” they had for the college juniors embarking on job searches.

Some of the suggestions were typical: network as much as possible, be careful with social media, take advantage of LinkedIn. But quite a bit of the advice could apply to all of us, in any area of our lives, so I thought I would share some of the best tips here. 

  1. Be open to new possibilities, including those you never thought about. 
  2. Treat your colleagues like teammates.
  3. Be flexible: sometimes opportunities exist where you never thought you’d find them.
  4. Volunteer doing something you enjoy.
  5. Love what you do or do something else.

I can find truth in all of these. I graduated college at 21, full of hope that I would be the next Hannah Storm. Four years and dozens of audition videos later, I accepted the fact that it was not to be and thought about other career choices, including coaching college softball. It was only through answering an ad to be an adjunct writing professor that I fell into law and subsequently fell in love with the study and practice of it. And now–during the spring–I feel like I spend more time in my volunteer capacity as girls softball commissioner and coach than I do in my full-time practice!

Oh, and I should tell you what I said: Look for opportunities to send thank you notes. And on that “note,” thank YOU for being a current or former client, referring someone to me, recommending my services, giving me advice, or just being a good teammate and friendly voice. 

“Oops” and “Trust” should never be together

Recently, I gave a presentation to parents about special needs trusts. These trusts, if carefully drafted, allow beneficiaries to have their cake and ice cream: an inheritance from their parents and their public assistance. If not drafted properly, however, the recipient’s government benefits could be reduced or even eliminated. One participant shared the story of her uncle’s trust, referred to by the family as “The Oops Trust” because her disabled uncle wound up as the beneficiary of a trust that did just that: it disqualified him from continuing to receive his public assistance. The well-meaning relative believed she was doing something good by creating a trust for her son, but in fact, she made it more difficult for him, and as a result, he ends up with less than he would have had if the trust had been drafted properly.

The day after that presentation, I received a call from a man wishing to create a special needs trust for his stepson, who was receiving government benefits and had just come into a sizable inheritance. The man was doing the right thing: calling right away to find out the best way to protect his stepson’s benefits. Unfortunately, once again, a well-meaning relative left an inheritance to the disabled beneficiary outright, rather than into a special needs trust. Because the money rightfully belonged to the beneficiary once the relative died, it was now in his name, precluding his stepfather from creating a third-party trust that could allow the stepson to receive all of his state benefits and distributions from the trust. The man was very dismayed to find out that any trust created at this point would have to include a payback provision to the state.

If you have a child with a disability who may one day receive public benefits, make sure your relatives do not leave inheritances to him or her outright. It may seem like an awkward conversation to have, but if you know they plan to leave your child money, it is safe to assume that they would not want their gift to adversely affect your child!