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Special Ed toughens rules for guns in campus
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Posted on May 21 1999
Under the amended version of the Individual’s with Disabilities Education Act, school principals are allowed to remove a special education student from their campuses if a child brought a gun to school.
The temporary removal will also cover students caught with dangerous weapons and illegal drugs, as well as those peddling controlled substance.
However, if there was no pattern of rules violation established by the student in question, principals are only allowed to keep them away from the school premises for 10 days.
In addition, if a violation was committed as a manifestation of disability, the student should not be subject to long-term suspension or expulsion.
According to Special Education Program Coordinator Franklin R. Perez, there were no incidents of such nature that have been reported in the Public School System, the regulation will help school officials deal with this type of situation in the future.
The new regulation takes effect in July.
During the 10-day suspension, schools are not required to provide special education services to the child. But any subsequent removal, schools will need to extend services to ensure that students make progress in the general curriculum.
Meanwhile, an amendment under the Free Appropriate Public Education and Eligibility will clarify the extent of special education services to eligible students.
Based on the amended rule, services should be based on the identified needs of a child and not by disability category.
Services will likewise commence during the child’s third birthday. But if the child turns three during summer, a team of educators will determine the date when the service will start.
Requests for assistive technology devices for the child’s use can be granted provided it was listed in his or her Individualized Education Program.
