FR Doc E4-3798
[Federal Register: December 23, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 246)]
[Notices]
[Page 76928-76929]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23de04-46]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; List of
Correspondence
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: List of Correspondence from July 1, 2004 through September 30,
2004.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary is publishing the following list pursuant to
section 607(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as
amended (IDEA). Under section 607(d) of the IDEA, the Secretary is
required, on a quarterly basis, to publish in the Federal Register a
list of correspondence from the Department of Education received by
individuals during the previous quarter that describes the
interpretations of the Department of Education (Department) of the IDEA
or the regulations that implement the IDEA.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melisande Lee or JoLeta Reynolds.
Telephone: (202) 245-7459 (press 3).
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of this notice in
an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or
computer diskette) on request to the contact persons listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following list identifies correspondence
from the Department issued from July 1, 2004 through September 30,
2004.
Included on the list are those letters that contain interpretations
of the requirements of the IDEA and its implementing regulations, as
well as letters and other documents that the Department believes will
assist the public in understanding the requirements of the law and its
regulations. The date and topic addressed by a letter are identified,
and summary information is also provided, as appropriate. To protect
the privacy interests of the individual or individuals involved,
personally identifiable information has been deleted, as appropriate.
Part B--Assistance for Education of All Children With Disabilities
Section 611--Authorization; Allotment; Use of Funds; Authorization of
Appropriations
Topic Addressed: Use of funds.
Letter dated August 17, 2004 to Washington Office of
Public Instruction Director of Agency Financial Services Renoe Lewis,
regarding the treatment of program income, generated from registration
fees charged to participants at professional development conferences
Letter dated July 22, 2004 to individual (personally
identifiable information redacted), regarding whether a local
educational agency (LEA) can use funds under Part B of IDEA to pay the
salary of a reading specialist, who may or may not meet the State
qualification standards for employment, to provide direct instruction
to students with disabilities.
Topic Addressed: Subgrants to local educational agencies.
Letter dated September 13, 2004 to Ohio Department of
Education Associate Director of Federal and State Grants Management
Jeffrey M. Jordan, responding to a specific request for guidance,
pursuant to 34 CFR 81.33 of the Education Department General
Administrative Regulations, for clarification on how a State
educational agency (SEA) satisfies the requirement under Part B of IDEA
relating to the portion of its grant that must flow through to its
LEAs.
Section 612--State Eligibility
Topic Addressed: Procedural safeguards.
Letter dated July 13, 2004 to individual (personally
identifiable information redacted), clarifying that Part B of IDEA does
not provide for the Office of Special Education Programs' review of
individual State-level complaint decisions or due process hearings, and
that depending on State law, a complainant may be able to appeal a
State complaint decision to an appropriate State court.
Topic Addressed: Confidentiality.
Letter dated August 13, 2004 to individual (personally
identifiable information redacted), from Family Policy Compliance
Office Director LeRoy S. Rooker, regarding the applicability and scope
of hearing procedures under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA) and Part B of IDEA for parents seeking to challenge the
content of the education records of a student with a disability and
clarifying that a public agency may not bypass a parent's right to a
hearing under FERPA by requiring the parent to request an impartial due
process hearing under Part B of IDEA.
Section 613--Local Educational Agency Eligibility
Topic Addressed: Schoolwide programs.
Letter dated August 24, 2004 to Washington, DC Attorney
Leigh M. Manasevit, regarding the use of funds awarded under Part B of
IDEA for a schoolwide program under Title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, and clarifying the
requirements that apply if Part B of IDEA funds are not consolidated
with other funds in a schoolwide plan.
Section 614--Evaluations, Eligibility Determinations, Individualized
Education Programs, And Educational Placements
Topic Addressed: Evaluations and reevaluations.
Letter dated July 14, 2004 to Santa Monica, California
Attorney Howard J. Fulfrost, regarding a parent's refusal to consent to
the initial provision of special education and related services,
including the relationship of the requirements of Part B of IDEA to
California law, and clarifying (1) how a school district can meet its
obligation to make a free appropriate public education (FAPE) available
and protect itself against possible future claims of a denial of FAPE;
and (2) that a student with a disability whose parent has refused
consent is not provided the discipline protections under Part B of IDEA
and may be disciplined in the same manner as nondisabled students.
Letter dated July 19, 2004 to Washington, DC Attorney
Leigh M. Manasevit, written on behalf of the North Carolina Department
of Public Instruction, regarding a parent's refusal to consent to the
initial provision of special education and related services and
clarifying (1) how a school district can meet its obligation to make
FAPE available and protect itself against possible future claims of a
denial of FAPE; and (2) that a student with a disability whose parent
has refused consent does not have the right under Part B of IDEA to
compensatory services, is not provided the discipline protections under
Part B of IDEA, and may be disciplined in the same manner as
nondisabled students.
Section 615--Procedural Safeguards
Topic Addressed: Appeals.
Letter dated August 12, 2004 to individual (personally
identifiable information redacted), regarding the appeal rights that
Part B of IDEA affords to any party aggrieved by the findings and
decisions of a hearing in a one-tier system, and clarifying that
certain provisions in the Florida statute and regulations giving an
aggrieved party the right to appeal to a specific State court are
inconsistent with section 615(i)(1) and (2) of IDEA because that State
court
[[Page 76929]]
does not have authority to hear additional evidence at the request of a
party.
Letter dated July 22, 2004 to California Assembly
Legislative Director David Heckler, regarding proposed legislation that
would impose conditions other than those contained in Part B of IDEA
that would limit the ability of a court or a hearing officer to fashion
appropriate relief, including awarding full reimbursement for a
nonpublic placement where FAPE is not made available to a child with a
disability in a timely manner.
Part C--Infants And Toddlers With Disabilities
Section 635--Requirements For Statewide System
Topic Addressed: Child find.
Letter dated July 12, 2004 to California Department of
Developmental Services Part C Coordinator Rick Ingraham, clarifying
that Part C does not set forth any specific percentage of children that
each State must serve in its Part C program, but that States that
establish numerical goals must ensure that only eligible children are
identified and that eligible children and families are not denied
services under Part C of IDEA.
Part D--National Activities To Improve Education of Children With
Disabilities
Subpart 2--Coordinated Research, Personnel Preparation, Technical
Assistance, Support, and Dissemination of Information
Section 687--Technology Development, Demonstration, and Utilization;
and Media Services
Topic Addressed: Captioning.
Letter dated August 30, 2004 from U. S. Secretary of
Education Rod Paige to U.S. Congressman Maurice Hinchey and other
members of Congress, regarding the Department's decision to use IDEA
funds to support captioning and video description only for programming
that clearly fits within the ``educational, informational, and news''
categories.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site:
http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister/index.html.
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the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: The official version of this document is published in the
Federal Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of
the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations is
available on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html
.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.027, Assistance to
States for Education of Children with Disabilities)
Dated: December 20, 2004.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. E4-3798 Filed 12-22-04; 8:45 am]
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