The Child Find Mandate: What Does It Mean to You?

[misty]

On September 11, a federal judge issued a decision in Jamie S v. Milwaukee Public Schools, et. al. The judge found that Milwaukee Public Schools violated the Child Find provisions in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

This decision sends a strong message to all school districts and all state departments of education that "making an effort" is not enough. Compliance with the Child Find mandate is not optional - it's mandatory.

What is Child Find?

www.wrightslaw.com/info/child.find.mandate.htm

[lillian]

Hmm. This is an interesting court case, and it begs the question as to whether or not a school MUST test a child upon parental request. That is not Special Education law and causes serious debate, such as we have had on Schwab more than once. I think this debate is not going to be over until the law clearly states yes or no on this point. You will notice that one court basically said yes, by reimbursing the parent, while another court said no, by not reimbursing the parent, so whether or not a school must test a child based on parental request varies from court-to-court.

In addition, these court cases show the importance of private testing because both school districts lost, when the school districts KNEW the children had been tested privately and were found to have disabilities. It's like I always say: Private testing gives the "suspected disability" needed for testing under Child Find.

[jill]

?