Ch. 9: Students in Private School: Understanding Your Child's Special Education

Private Special Education - Special Education Schools

Who is this for?

This chapter is for parents who have a child attending private elementary, middle or high school or who are considering moving their child from public school to private school.

[New] Why is this important?

IDEA 2004 includes new provisions to ensure that students in private elementary and secondary schools have access to special education services. It also includes strict requirements to follow when moving an IDEA-eligible student from a public to a private school.

What can parents do?

Parents considering moving a child who is receiving special education services from a public to a private school need to understand the legal requirements involved in making such a move if they intend to ask the school district to pay for the private school.

IDEA Words and Terms to Know

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
Special education and related services that are provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge to the parent, and that meet the standards of the state education department. Special education and related services must be provided in conformity with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) as required by IDEA.

The obligations and responsibilities of a local public school district to students with disabilities in private schools vary depending on how the students were placed in the private school. Students with disabilities who are in private schools will fall into one of the following three categories:

Students with disabilities placed in private school by their parents prior to being found IDEA eligible (called "Parentally-placed private school children with disabilities" in IDEA)
Students with disabilities placed in private school by their parents after being found IDEA eligible (called "Unilateral private placement" in IDEA).
Students with disabilities placed in private school by the public school district

1. Students with disabilities placed in private school by their parents prior to being found IDEA eligible (Parentally-placed private school children with disabilities)

This term refers to students whose parents have enrolled them in a private school, including private religious schools. Students in this category have not been previously found eligible for special education services.

[New] When either the student's parent or the private school requests an evaluation, the school district where the private school is located is responsible for conducting the evaluation (as discussed in Chapter 5) and for determining if the student is eligible for special education services (as discussed in Chapter 6). The school district where the private school is located is also responsible for conducting reevaluations of eligible students.

For those students found eligible, the public school district where the private school is located may provide special education and related services. However, unlike students enrolled in public schools and public charter schools, eligible students in private schools are not entitled to a free appropriate public education. In other words, students enrolled in private schools by their parents do not have the same right to special education and related services as students enrolled in public schools.

Students in private schools who are found eligible for services under IDEA also have the option of enrolling in a public elementary or secondary school in order to receive full access to special education and related services. In such cases, the school district where the student resides is responsible for developing an initial Individualized Education Programs (IEP) through the process described in Chapter 7. If the parents have made it clear that they do not intend to enroll their child in the public school, the school district is not required to develop an IEP.

For every eligible student in private school who has been designated by the school district to receive special education services, the school district is required to formulate a “services plan" describing the specific special education or related services being offered. The school district must develop the services plan with a representative of the private school. However, the school district is responsible for determining the number of private school students who will be served each year based on the funding requirements of IDEA and for making the final decisions about all aspects of the services being offered.

The amount of funds the school district must spend on providing services to private school students is controlled by a funding formula specified in IDEA. IDEA outlines a process for determining the amount of funds the district must spend on special education or related services for eligible students in private schools.

Special education and related services may be provided to private school students on the premises of private schools, including religious schools, or at a public school. Services can be provided by school district personnel or through contracts by the school district with other individuals or agencies.

[New] Public school districts are now required to actively engage in consultations with private schools and parents of private school students regarding several topics, including:

Child find (activities related to identifying children who may need special education)
Funding (how the district will determine the amount of its funds that it will spend on services for students in private schools, how the services will be portioned out to eligible students and, if there are insufficient funds to serve all eligible students, how and when these decisions will be made)
Provision of services (how, where and by whom special education and related services will be provided).

In addition to these new consultative activities required under IDEA 2004, private school officials now have the right to file a complaint with state education officials if they feel that the local school district did not engage in these consultations in a meaningful and timely way.

2. Students with disabilities placed in private school by their parents after being found IDEA eligible (Unilateral private placement)

Sometimes the parents of a child who is receiving special education at a public school decide to withdraw their child from the public school and enroll him or her in a private school. In such cases, the student is eligible for the provision of special education services at the private school as described in the first category above.

However, if the parents have moved their child for the purpose of obtaining what they consider to be more appropriate special education services and plan to request the public school to pay for the private school tuition, IDEA provides a rigid set of requirements that parents must follow.

If parents choose to place their child in a private school without the school district's agreement, any opportunity to be reimbursed by the school district for the cost of the private school will be severely limited unless the parents provide written notice to the school before removing their child from the public school. Parents who might consider seeking reimbursement for private school tuition should seek additional information from a special education expert to be certain they provide adequate notice to the public school. Contact your state's Parent Training and Information Center for additional information.

Qualifications of Teachers in Private Schools

Both IDEA 2004 and the No Child Left Behind Act have strict requirements for the qualifications of teachers. However, these requirements do not apply to teachers in private schools, regardless of whether the student was placed in the private school by the parent or the school district.

3. Students with disabilities placed in private school by the public school district

From time to time, school districts, along with parents, may determine that a student’s need for special education programs and services can only be met by placing the student in a private school. This decision is part of the IEP process and is arrived at after the IEP team has identified the student's present levels of educational performance and developed annual goals, as described in Chapter 7: IEPs.

Private school programs that the school district and parents may determine to be necessary can either be day programs or residential programs. The school district pays all costs involved with such a placement, including tuition and transportation. Students placed in private schools by the school district have the same rights, including the right to a free appropriate public education, as their counterparts attending public schools.

Parent Perspective: A Success Story

Julie from Indiana explains the steps she took to help her son succeed. Listen to the podcast or read the transcript.

Table of Contents

Note: The IDEA Parent Guide was created to provide a basic understanding of the key requirements of the federal law under IDEA. The information presented here is not legal advice and should not be used as a legal resource.

About the Author: Candace Cortiella is Director of The Advocacy Institute, a nonprofit focused on improving the lives of people with disabilities through public policy and other initiatives. The mother of a young adult with learning disabilities, she lives in the Washington, D.C., area

Chapter 9: Students in Private School: Understanding Your Child's Special Education Options