The Least Restrictive Enviroment and Placement.
The words “least restrictive environment” (LRE) are pretty confusing to most parents. The word “restrictive” alone makes some of think of boa constrictors or panty hose after a long day. However, the wording comes from IDEA and is found at 20 USC 1412(a)(5) of IDEA. The LRE provides for a continuum of placements across a spectrum to ensure that placements are available for children regardless of their needs.
The LRE provision of the IDEA provides that “To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.” 20 USC § 1412(a)(5)(A).
The most important aspect of LRE for you to remember here is “to the maximum extent appropriate.” Special classes, a separate school, or the removal of the child from the general mainstreamed classroom should only occur “when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”
THE LRE SPECTRUM FROM LEAST RESTRICTIVE TO MOST RESTRICTIVE
General Education Classroom with No Additional Services
This is the least restrictive of all placements because it is what any student within the public education system should have access to—the general classroom environment. There are times when a special education student can be placed in the general education classroom and not receive any additional aides or services. They could still be qualified for special education, depending on the situation, although this would be a situation where it would be likely they would still need accommodations. For most, if not all, students with 504 plans, this is the appropriate placement as they are simply receiving the accommodations necessary to access their educational services.
General Education with Supplementary Aides and Services
A general education placement with supplementary aides and services is the preferred placement for many students in special education. This is where the student is placed in the general education classroom for the entire day but has the necessary supplementary aides and services to make it work. This can include a one-to-one aide, having copies of teacher notes, having a scribe available to take notes, preferential seating, and pullouts for specialized instruction during electives.
Partial General Education Placement
This placement is a mixed placement, where your child spends part of the day in a general education classroom and part of the day in a special education or resource room. This type of placement can vary based on what is appropriate for your child’s needs, but generally at least 60 percent of the day is spent in a general education classroom with pullouts for specialized instruction, reading programs, related services, reteaching, or remediation.
Special Education Classrooms
Special education classrooms can range from a life skills-based classroom to classrooms focused on emotional disabilities. This type of placement is utilized when a child cannot be maintained or get appropriate services within a general education environment even with the assistance of a one-to-one aide or necessary pullouts. A life skills classroom is often used for moderately to severely impaired students who need to be focused on learning communication and basic skills to gain independence.
An Emotional Disabilities (ED) classroom is often focused on students with emotional challenges that cannot be managed in a regular classroom or with behaviors that so significantly impair the student’s learning that without these supports they are not going to make progress. It often provides counseling, behavioral observation and data collection, and frequent breaks and should have the goal of transitioning the student back into the general population if possible.
Therapeutic Day Placement
A therapeutic day placement is a placement for a child who cannot be appropriately educated in a public school. For instance, a child with autism with a lot of aggressive or dangerous behaviors may require a very intense Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) type of program. A child with severe mental illness may need to be in a setting where there are trained counselors and psychiatrists available. These types of programs are required to be made available by the public school system if it is necessary for your child to be placed in one.
Residential Placement
A residential placement is a 24-7 facility for children who have cognitive or behavioral issues that are so severe they need to be in a comprehensive setting with appropriate care. For instance, a child who has had a number of short-term psychiatric hospitalizations who is aggressive at home and at school may be a candidate for this type of placement.
IDEA provides that, pursuant to 34 CFR§ 300.104, if placement in a public or private residential program is necessary to provide special education and related services to a child with a disability, the program, including nonmedical care and room and board, must be at no cost to the parents of the child. This means your school must cover these costs if your child needs this service in order to access their education.
If you are in a situation where your child needs a residential placement, begin gathering data. Ask your child’s psychiatrist or providers to draft letters recommending a residential placement. The question is really whether the behavior threatens the welfare of the child or other individuals (including your family members) and cannot be effectively controlled anywhere other than a twenty-four hour environment with specially trained staff. Staff at the residential facility can monitor a student twenty-four hours a day, across all settings, so that they can intervene when the student engages in violent, destructive, or self-injurious behavior—all of which directly impacts the student’s ability to be educated in other environments.
Your child’s physicians should be able to clearly describe the reasons that your child needs this programming in their letters. If the school ignores these requests and you worry your family is in danger, it is time to seek an experienced education attorney or advocate.
Homebound or Hospital-Based Placement
A homebound program is considered the most restrictive placement for a student. Homebound placements are often utilized for students with chronic health conditions or students who are immunocompromised or undergoing chemotherapy. It can also be utilized for children with severe anxiety disorders or situations in which the parents and the school agree it is the most appropriate placement for a child. It should not be used because the school cannot handle your child, doesn’t have appropriately trained staff available, or because it cannot provide the services your child needs. In cases where a homebound program is selected, the school must ensure that your child has an appropriate IEP and services. This can mean sending a teacher to your home, using virtual instruction, and providing virtual or in-person related services. Homebound placements should not be utilized for behavioral issues, as a school needs to address these issues through appropriate interventions, not simply by placing the child at home.
Virtual Programming
Virtual programming historically would have fallen under home/hospital but now, in the age of COVID-19, as well as the increasing rise of virtual charter and public schools, it is becoming more commonplace. All of the above placements (with the exception of a therapeutic day placement or a residential) can occur in virtual programming as well, provided a student has the ability to access the computer. If the virtual school your child attends is a charter school or online public school, it would still be responsible for all of the above placements and FAPE must still be provided. This is discussed in more detail in the chapter on virtual education and pandemics.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Does LRE mean that my child should be educated at our neighborhood school?
Yes. Unless the IEP requires some other arrangement, the child is educated in the school that they would attend if nondisabled. 34 CFR §300.116(c).
Based on LRE, can the school the remove my child from general education just because they need some modifications to the curriculum?
No. A child with a disability may not be removed from education in age-appropriate regular classrooms just because they need modifications to the general curriculum. 34 CFR §300.116(e).
How should I address discussions about placement at my child’s IEP meeting?
Be clear with your school if they offer you only one placement that a school cannot use a one-size-fits-all approach to educating children with challenges.
They cannot base your child’s placement on the following:
Your child’s disability or condition (ex. placement in a special education room simply because the child has intellectual challenges).
The school’s location of staff or lack of funding
Out of convenience
Classroom space
Previous year’s placement
What factors can be considered in determining what placement is appropriate for my child?
It must be based on your child’s individual needs. There needs to be a detailed discussion in the IEP meeting of your child’s needs and whether these needs can be supplemented and accommodated in a general educational environment with the appropriate aids and services. If your child needs specialized reading instruction, this does not need to occur in the classroom. If your child’s behavior is so overwhelming that it cannot be managed in a general education classroom, this is another factor that may need to be considered.
When the school says it needs to discuss potential “harmful effects” of my child’s placement, what does this mean?
IDEA requires that there be discussion and consideration of potential harmful effects on the student or quality of services that they need when placement is determined outside of the general education environment. 34 CFR §300.116. For instance, if your child is placed in a life skills room, a private therapeutic day placement, or even pulled out for reading assistance, there need to be discussions as to how this may impact your child and why the decision is being made to do so.
Consideration should be given to any potential harmful effects on the student with disabilities if the student is removed from general education classes or their home school.
Does my student have to fail before the school decides that the general education placement is not the appropriate one?
Absolutely not. This question is posed to me frequently by parents who have children with specific learning disabilities who are falling further and further behind in general education classrooms. They know that their child needs specialized instruction and pullout for one-to-one instruction. If your child fails to make the expected progress in the general education, the case conference committee will need to meet and decide whether your child needs more specialized attention and whether it is necessary to revise the IEP. 34 CFR §300.324(b)(1)(ii)(A). However, your child doesn’t need to fail first. If your child is really struggling and you are having to supplement the school’s services, convene the IEP conference and let them know what you need and ask for placement options.
Can my child be removed from general education solely because it is difficult for the school to provide the modifications?
The general answer is no. But it absolutely depends on what your child needs and where their needs are going to be met. For instance, a child with dyslexia may be able to get reading assistance in the general education room, but it may not be at the level necessary to ensure that they are progressing. The question is whether your child’s disability requires supplementary aids and services that cannot be satisfactorily achieved within that general education placement. The focus is ensuring your child’s program as a whole is appropriate.