[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 202 (Wednesday, October 20, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56646-56647]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-27314]



[[Page 56645]]

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Part V





Department of Education





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List of Correspondence--Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 202 / Wednesday, October 20, 1999 / 
Notices  

[[Page 56646]]



DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


List of Correspondence--Office of Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: List of correspondence from October 1, 1998 through December 
31, 1998.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary is publishing the following list pursuant to 
section 607(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 
(IDEA). Under section 607(d) of 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 of IDEA or the regulations that implement IDEA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: JoLeta Reynolds or Rhonda Weiss. 
Telephone: (202) 205-5507. Individuals who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf (TDD) may call (202) 205-5465 or the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 
p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of this notice in 
an alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to Katie Mincey, Director of the Alternate Formats 
Center. Telephone: (202) 205-8113.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following list identifies correspondence 
from the Department issued between October 1, 1998 and December 31, 
1998.
    Included on the list are those letters that contain interpretations 
of the requirements of 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 A

General Provisions

Section 607--Requirements for Prescribing Regulations

Topic Addressed: Applicability of Regulations
    Letter dated November 13, 1998 to U.S. Congresswoman Jo Ann 
Emerson, regarding (1) States' and school districts' obligations, 
pending publication of final regulations, to comply with all applicable 
provisions of the IDEA Amendments of 1997 and provisions of the then 
current regulations that were not in conflict with the IDEA Amendments 
of 1997, and (2) the importance of a new requirement governing the 
development of individualized education programs for deaf and hard of 
hearing children under Part B of IDEA.

Part B

Assistance for Education of all Children With Disabilities

Section 612--State Eligibility

Topic Addressed: Free Appropriate Public Education
    Letter dated November 20, 1998 to Arizona Department of Education 
Superintendent Lisa Graham Keegan and Mr. Terry Stewart, Arizona 
Department of Corrections, regarding the responsibility of the Arizona 
Department of Education under Part B of IDEA, Section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans With 
Disabilities Act of 1990 to ensure the availability of a free 
appropriate public education to eligible youth with disabilities 
incarcerated in adult prisons and correctional facilities.
    Letter dated December 4, 1998 to Dr. Ellenmorris Tiegerman, School 
for Language and Communication Development, explaining that a public 
agency is not obligated to reimburse for tuition costs for nondisabled 
preschool aged children in order to provide integrated settings to 
implement the individualized education programs of preschool aged 
children with disabilities.
Topic Addressed: Least Restrictive Envrionment
    Letter dated October 7, 1998 to Daniel Kinley, New York State 
School Boards Association, regarding New York State's responsibility to 
ensure placements of disabled children that meet the least restrictive 
environment requirements of the IDEA in light of the State's funding 
formula that distributes State funds on the basis of the type of 
setting in which a child is served.
Topic Addressed: State Education Agency General Supervisory 
Responsibility
    Letter dated October 19, 1998 to U.S. Congressman William F. 
Goodling, regarding special conditions placed on Pennsylvania's Federal 
Fiscal Year 1998 Part B State grant concerning exercise of State 
Educational Agency's general supervisory responsibility, including 
effective monitoring of public agencies and securing correction of 
noncompliance.
Topic Addressed: Children Enrolled by Their Parents in Private Schools
    Letter dated October 20, 1998, to U.S. Congressman Robert T. 
Matsui, regarding the extent of public agencies' obligations to provide 
special education and related services under Part B of IDEA to children 
with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private schools.
    Letter dated November 13, 1998 to Helen Walter, Advocate for Hard 
of Hearing People, regarding limited scope of due process rights for 
parents who enroll their children in private schools.

Section 613--Local Educational Agency Eligibility

Topic Addressed: Treatment of Charter Schools and Their Students
    Letter dated October 8, 1998 to Wisconsin Department of Public 
Instruction State Superintendent John T. Benson, regarding (1) the 
Department's deference to, and agreement with, the State's 
interpretation that schools chartered by the City of Milwaukee, like 
all other charter schools in the State, are public schools, (2) the 
obligation of charter schools to ensure the provision of a free 
appropriate public education to children with disabilities and the 
obligation of the State to ensure compliance with the IDEA, and (3) 
consequences of noncompliance with related Federal civil rights laws.
    Letter dated November 4, 1999 to B. J. Stockton, Missouri 
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, regarding the 
Department's view that charter schools generally should be presumed to 
be public schools which are subject to requirements regarding a free 
appropriate public education in Part B of IDEA, and clarifying that in 
order to be eligible for funds under the Federal Public Charter Schools 
Program, the participating charter schools must be public schools that 
comply with Part B of IDEA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 
1973, and Title II

[[Page 56647]]

of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.
    Memorandum dated August 10, 1998, to Chief State School Officers 
from former Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and 
Secondary Education Gerald N. Tirozzi, regarding allocation of state-
administered federal education funds to public charter schools.

Section 614--Evaluations, Eligibility Determinations, Individualized 
Education Programs, and Educational Placements

    Topic Addressed: Evaluations and Reevaluations
    Letter dated November 18, 1998 to individual, (personally 
identifiable information redacted), regarding specific provisions in 
the IDEA Amendments of 1997 that reduce paperwork requirements, as well 
as the importance of ensuring local flexibility in the implementation 
of the IDEA Amendments of 1997.

Section 615--Procedural Safeguards

Topic Addressed: Timelines for Appeals
    Letter dated November 13, 1998 to individual, (personally 
identifiable information redacted), regarding absence of timelines in 
Part B of IDEA for appealing due process hearing decisions or bringing 
of civil actions.
Topic Addressed: Student Discipline
    Letter dated October 20, 1998 to U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, 
regarding options available to school authorities under the Individuals 
With Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 in disciplining 
students with disabilities.
    Letter dated November 18, 1998 to South Carolina State 
Representative J. Roland Smith, regarding circumstances under which 
students with disabilities can be subjected to more than one removal 
from school for ten consecutive school days or less in the same school 
year.
    Letter dated November 5, 1998, to Mr. Dick Buscher, Paradise Valley 
Unified School District, regarding options available to school 
authorities in disciplining students with disabilities and clarifying 
that students with disabilities are not automatically exempt from 
disciplinary sanctions because of their status as disabled students.
    Letter dated October 20, 1998 to individual, (personally 
identifiable information redacted), letter dated December 8, 1998 to 
individual, (personally identifiable information redacted), and letter 
dated December 8, 1998 to individual, (personally identifiable 
information redacted), regarding options available to school 
authorities in disciplining students with disabilities.
Topic Addressed: Transfer of Rights
    Letter dated December 21, 1998 to individual, (personally 
identifiable information redacted), regarding the special rule under 
which a State is required to appoint the parent or another appropriate 
individual to represent the educational interests of the student 
throughout his or her eligibility under the Act if the State has a 
mechanism to, and determines that, an individual with a disability who 
has reached the age of majority under State law and has not been 
declared incompetent, but cannot provide informed consent with respect 
to his or her educational program.

Part C

Infants and Toddlers With Disabilities (Previously Part H)

Sections 631-641

Topic Addressed: Implementation of a Statewide System
    Letter dated December 16, 1998, to Mary Miller, Illinois Bureau of 
Part C/Early Intervention, regarding the obligation to ensure that 
early intervention services are available to all eligible infants and 
toddlers and their families.
Topic Addressed: Evaluations
    Letter dated December 30, 1998, to Ms. Ginny Duncan, Parent 
Education Network, regarding the role of a service coordinator on the 
Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team and the exclusion of service 
providers from initial evaluations.
Topic Addressed: State Interagency Coordinating Council
    Letter dated October 5, 1998, to Ms. Mary Alice Leonard-Heath and 
Mr. Wayne Fox, Co-Chairs of the Vermont Interagency Coordinating 
Council, regarding ICC membership of a representative of a State lead 
agency.
Topic Addressed: Administration of Part C Funds
    OSEP Memorandum dated December 30, 1998, to Lead Agency Directors 
and Part C Coordinators, regarding Restricted Indirect Cost Rate for 
Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

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 World Wide Web at either of the 
following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.html
http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the PDF you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with 
Search, which is available free at either of the preceding sites. If 
you have questions about using the PDF, call the U.S. Government 
Printing Office) GPO) toll free at 1-800-293-6498; or in the 
Washington, D.C., area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
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.access.gpo/
nara/index.html
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.027, Assistance to 
States for Education of Children with Disabilities)

    Dated: October 13, 1999.

Judith E. Heumann,
Assistant Secretary for Special, Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 99-27314 Filed 10-19-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P