[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 53 (Friday, March 17, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14545-14547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-6648]


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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 April 1, 1999 through June 30, 
1999.

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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 8:00 am and 
8:00 pm, 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 April 1, 1999 and June 30, 1999.
    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 602--Definitions

Topic Addressed: Emotional Disturbance
     Letter dated June 11, 1999 to individual, (personally 
identifiable information redacted), regarding use of the term 
``emotional disturbance'' in lieu of ``serious emotional disturbance'' 
and the right of each child with a disability to receive special 
education and related services that address that child's unique needs.

Section 607--Requirements for Prescribing Regulations

Topic Addressed: Applicable Regulations
     OSEP memorandum 99-11 dated April 27, 1999 to State 
Directors of Special Education, regarding final regulations published 
on March 12, 1999 and dates by which compliance with these regulations 
became mandatory for States receiving funds 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 April 2, 1999 to Paul T. Halverson, Wisconsin 
Department of Public Instruction, regarding the absence of any 
requirements in Part B of IDEA that a free appropriate public education 
be made available to children with disabilities through age 22, and 
clarifying a State's discretionary authority to enact a law requiring 
that a free appropriate public education be made available to children 
with disabilities through the end of the school year during which they 
turn 21 years of age.
     Letter dated April 9, 1999 to Attorney Sonja D. Kerr, 
regarding the obligation of public agencies to finance the costs of 
residential placements in situations where the public agency 
responsible for the child's education determines that the placement is 
necessary for the provision of special education and related services 
to the child.
     Letters dated April 29, 1999 to U.S. Congressman Dennis J. 
Kucinich and to U.S. Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, regarding 
medical interventions for children with attention deficit hyperactivity 
disorder, and explaining that it is the responsibility of medical, not 
educational professionals to prescribe medication to a child with a 
disability, and clarifying that a school

[[Page 14546]]

district's failure to deliver required services to an eligible child 
with a disability, due to a parent's refusal to give his or her child 
medication, may be a violation of the free appropriate public education 
requirements of Part B of IDEA and section 504 of the Rehabilitation 
Act of 1973 (section 504).
     Letter dated May 14, 1999 to Iowa Governor Thomas J. 
Vilsack, regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Cedar Rapids 
Community School District v. Garret F., and provisions in the IDEA that 
assist States and school districts in paying for the cost of special 
education and related services, including the types of services at 
issue in the Garret F. decision.
Topic Addressed: Least Restrictive Environment
     Letter dated June 4, 1999 to New York State Education 
Department Commissioner Richard P. Mills, informing New York that if 
its funding formula that distributes States funds on the basis of the 
type of setting in which a child is served is not revised in a manner 
that ensures compliance with the least restrictive environment 
requirements of the IDEA Amendments of 1997, New York will become a 
high risk grantee and its Part B grant award for Federal Fiscal Year 
1999 will include special conditions requiring the State to revise this 
funding formula.
Topic Addressed: State Educational Agency General Supervisory 
Responsibility
     Letter dated April 30, 1999 to U.S. Congressman Roy Blunt, 
regarding concerns about IDEA paperwork requirements and student 
discipline provisions and identifying ways in which the IDEA Amendments 
of 1997 actually reduce unnecessary paperwork and provide for expanded 
authority to address disciplining students with disabilities.
Topic Addressed: Information Required for Receipt of Grant Awards
     OSEP memorandum 99-13 dated June 28, 1999, to Chief State 
School Officers regarding Procedures for States to Follow in order to 
Receive a Grant Award under sections 611 and 619 of Part B of IDEA for 
Federal Fiscal Year 2000, which includes, among other matters, 
requirements for: (1) Submission of documentation of the State's 
eligibility by April 14, 2000, (2) a description of how amounts 
retained for State level activities will be used, and (3) a description 
of the steps the State proposes to take to ensure equitable access to, 
and participation in, activities conducted under Part B of IDEA by 
overcoming barriers to equitable participation, in accordance with 
section 427 of the General Education Provisions Act.

Section 613--Local Educational Agency Eligibility

Topic Addressed: Distribution of Subgrants to Eligible Charter Schools
     OSEP memorandum 99-12 dated June 25, 1999 to State 
Directors of Special Education, regarding a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking implementing the Charter School Expansion Act of 1998, 
clarifying that this Act is applicable to formula grant programs 
administrated by the Department, including programs funded under 
sections 611 and 619 of Part B of IDEA, and setting out permissible 
options for States and local educational agencies to consider using in 
implementing the Act's requirements that newly-created charter schools 
and charter schools that significantly expand their enrollment receive 
the Part B funds for which they are eligible.

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

Topic Addressed: Evaluations
     Letter dated June 29, 1999 to Madison Elementary School 
Faculty Senate President Rosemary Anderson, regarding a school 
district's obligations to students with disabilities who initially 
register to attend school, and (1) clarifying that it would be a 
violation of Part B and section 504 for a school district to have a 
blanket policy that requires students with disabilities to delay 
attendance at a school after registration pending the evaluation, and 
(2) explaining that a child can be temporarily placed and provided 
accommodations agreed to by the parents and the school to ensure the 
child's safety.

Section 615--Procedural Safeguards

Topic Addressed: Attorney's Fees
     Letter dated June 24, 1999 to Attorney Robert Hornstein, 
and letter dated June 24, 1999 to Florida Bureau for Education of 
Exceptional Students Chief Shan Goff, regarding a State court's 
authority to grant attorneys' fees to the parents of a child with a 
disability who is the prevailing party in any action or proceeding 
brought under section 615 of IDEA.
Topic Addressed: Mediation
     Letter dated May 12, 1999 to Vice President of Florida 
Statewide Advocacy Network on Disability Nikole Whitehead, regarding 
the absence of a requirement under Part B of IDEA that a child must 
remain in his or her current educational placement based solely on a 
request for a mediation that occurs prior to a parent's request for a 
due process hearing.
Topic Addressed: Student Discipline
     Letter dated April 21, 1999 to individual, (personally 
identifiable information redacted), regarding options available to 
school authorities in disciplining students with disabilities.

Section 619--Preschool Grants

Topic Addressed: Procedures for Allocating Subgrants to Eligible 
Entities
     Letter dated June 28, 1999 to New York State Education 
Department Deputy Commissioner Lawrence Gloeckler, regarding procedures 
for State educational agencies to use in allocating subgrants of funds 
awarded under section 619 of IDEA to eligible entities, procedures for 
calculating base payments, and procedures for calculating population 
and poverty payments.

Part C: Infants and Toddlers With Disabilities

Sections 631-641

Topic Addressed: Natural Environments
     Letter dated May 26, 1999 to Missouri Department of 
Elementary and Secondary Education Assistant Commissioner John B. 
Heskett, regarding States' obligations to ensure that early 
intervention services are provided to infants and toddlers with 
disabilities in natural environments, including the home or community 
settings in which typically developing children participate, and that 
individualized determinations must be made by the individualized family 
service plan team (which includes the parent or parents) as to whether 
the setting in which the services are being offered would be the 
natural environment for the particular child.
     Letter dated June 11, 1999 to U.S. Congressman Martin 
Meehan, regarding serving infants and toddlers with disabilities in 
natural environments appropriate for the individual child and his or 
her family.
Topic Addressed: Provision of a Free Appropriate Public Education to 
Children With Disabilities Below Age 3
     Letter dated April 30, 1999 to Iowa Department of 
Education Part C Technical Assistant Julie Curry, confirming that when 
a child below age three receives a free appropriate public education, 
states must comply with the requirements of: (1) both Parts B and C

[[Page 14547]]

of IDEA when Part B funds are used, and (2) with Part C even if no IDEA 
Part B or C funds are used for that child as long as the State receives 
any Part C funds.

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 682--Parent Training and Information Centers

Topic Addressed: Definition of Parent Organization
     Letter dated April 15, 1999 to National Association of 
Protection and Advocacy Systems Executive Director Curtis L. Decker, 
regarding the statutory definition of ``parent organization'' and 
explaining that a protection and advocacy entity that otherwise meets 
section 682 statutory criteria would be eligible to compete for funding 
as a parent training and information center (PTI).

Other Letters Relevant to the Administration of IDEA Programs

Topic Addressed: Freedom of Information Act
     Letter dated May 20, 1999 to individual, (personally 
identifiable information redacted), regarding an appeal of a partial 
denial of a request for agency records under the Freedom of Information 
Act (FOIA) and stating that FOIA exemption (b)(6), which protects from 
public disclosure information that would constitute a clear invasion of 
personal privacy, authorizes the Department not to release to the 
public personal information, such as home addresses and telephone 
numbers, of attendees contained in a register maintained by the Office 
of Special Education Programs (OSEP) of public meetings conducted in 
connection with OSEP's State educational agency monitoring.

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(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.027, Assistance to 
States for Education of Children with Disabilities)

    Dated: March 14, 2000.
Judith E. Heumann,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 00-6648 Filed 3-16-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-M