If you have a question or concern about special education law, school administration, federal standards, or the overall rights of a student, please feel free to call the expert education law attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport today at (203) 221-3100 .

A recent opinion by the state attorney general says local school boards must pay for required residential costs for special education students, even if the children receive state aid.

Facing severe budget cuts, the Department of Developmental Services posed the question seeking clarification of who should foot the bill - the state or the local school system - when residential services are part of a student's Individualized Education Plan, or IEP.

Education officials around the state agree that school systems have always borne the costs for residential placements for special needs students.

"What seems to be new is the requirement that they pay when the students are served by DDS," Patrice McCarthy, deputy director and lawyer for the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, says. CABE hasn't heard from any individual school systems on the issue, "but any transfer of fiscal responsibility to the local level will be difficult, given the budget environment," she says.

Joseph J. Cirasuolo, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, agreed, adding that while the situation is not usual, it can be catastrophic for a small town, as costs can be exorbitant.

"It could be brutal," Cirasuolo says, adding that for many rural towns, one child needing that type of intensive service could consume a huge chunk of a school budget, especially if the family moved into town mid year.

Christine Pollio Cooney, DDS director of legislative and executive affairs, says the agency is "still in the process of analyzing the opinion, discussing its implications with our stakeholders, and as always, analyzing the needs of individuals supported by DDS on a case-by-case basis."

She would not say how many students DDS now supports in residential services as a result of their education plan, or what the cost is for the agency.

Cirasuolo notes the state does provide grants to school boards when a child's special education costs are four times the system's per-pupil expenditure.

While the state says it picks up the difference, the grant is never enough to cover the total added expense and has continued to be under-funded every year, he says.

"It's just one more unfunded mandate that local districts have to deal with," Cirasuolo says.

According to Attorney General George Jepsen's fivepage opinion released Jan. 25, while some special education students may receive state aid for particular programs, Connecticut law holds local school systems obligated to provide the least restrictive free and appropriate public education that enables the child to make progress.

Planning and placement teams are required to make individualized, fact-based determinations as to whether particular students need special education and related services.

Should parents feel their child is under served, they can seek review by an independent hearing officer, redress through the state or federal courts, or mediation that decides which specific education needs are required, Jepsen notes.

In Connecticut there are limited circumstances in which the state is responsible for providing necessary special education and related services to students, Jepsen writes in his decision.

These include students in the custody of the Department of Correction or Department of Children and Families, or children served by DDS under that agency's Birth-to-Three program.

Local school systems are required by law to provide public education for all school-age children living in their towns up to the end of the school year until they turn 21 or graduate, whichever occurs first.

Jepsen notes there are instances in which DDS provides ancillary services. However, the question is whether those services are considered "necessary" under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, and thus the responsibility of the municipality or the state.

If you have a child with a disability and have questions about special education law, please contact Joseph C. Maya, Esq., at 203-221-3100, or at JMaya@mayalaw.com, to schedule a free consultation.

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Source- Kym Soper, AG: Schools must take care of special ed residential costs, Record-Journal (Meriden, Connecticut)