The #1 question GDPC is being asked during this crisis:
"Are school districts required to continue to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities?"
YES . 

The USDOE and NYSED has made it clear:
  • "School districts must ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, each student with a disability can be provided the special education and related services identified in the student's individualized education program (IEP)." 
  • "In planning for continuity of learning, school districts must consider ways of ensuring that the planned activities are ACCESSIBLE to students with disabilities . . . ."  
  • "Consideration should be given to including strategies to ensure that students with disabilities have EQUAL ACCESS to the continuity of learning and receive educational BENEFITS THAT ARE COMPARABLE to those received by others in the program and modified, or separate, AIDES and SERVICES necessary to provide access . . . ."
  • "[USDOE] encouraged the use of teletherapy and tele-intervention as a means to continue to meet the needs of students with disabilities, including English Language Learners with disabilities."
  • "Care should be taken to ensure that school websites are free of barriers that make accessing content and materials difficult for some students with disabilities . . ."
A Message from Gina:
The take-away is simple :

Even when major changes to the way education is delivered are made due to public health emergencies, students with disabilities should be included and not left out. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act's core objectives, inclusion and equality of opportunity, are abundantly clear in the law's legislative intent, and as fundamental principles they have a certain sticking-power and flexibility that the law's more technical provisions do not. While we may see some of the law's more technical requirements waived in an emergency, it looks like the USDOE and NYSED will nonetheless expect school districts to go to great lengths to integrate students with disabilities into provisional, emergency educational services.
If YOUR district is falling short, call us TODAY for help: 914-615-9177.
Also, click HERE for details from the Provision of Services to Students with Disabilities During Statewide School Closures Due to Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak in New York State.