LRE IS THE PLACE TO BE

What does the Law say?

One of the core themes in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the requirement for all districts to ensure a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) is available to all eligible students with disabilities in their Least Restrictive Environment. FAPE is special education and related services provided at no cost to parents in conformity with an IEP that is written to describe the special education and related services to meet each student’s disability-related needs. The IEP must comply with the procedures outlined in the IDEA and be “reasonably calculated to enable the student to receive educational benefits.” It further requires districts to:

To educate a student with a disability with other children who are nondisabled (general ed) to the “maximum extent appropriate," and,
“Special classes, separate schools, or removal from general education should only happen when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

“What the IDEA implies, the case law makes explicit: a child need not master the general education curriculum for inclusion to remain viable. Rather the appropriate yardstick is whether the child, with appropriate supplemental aids and services, can progress toward the IEP goals in the regular education setting.”

K-12 LRE Discussion Guidance Document

A tool to be used by school teams to guide LRE team conversations. It is not a determinative of placement.

LISD LRE Documents

MDE LRE Resources

Don't forget about MDE's Guidance on: Determining the Need for Special Education Transportation

THE CONTINUUM OF EDUCATIONAL PLACEMENTS

What is Educational Placement?

Educational placement is the setting where the student receives their education and services. All children, with or without disabilities, have an educational placement. This is presumed to be general education.

What is the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)?

Districts must place students in the least restrictive environment (LRE). That means students must be placed as close to the general education setting to the greatest extent appropriate and receive support and services as determined by the individualized education program (IEP) team to make progress and receive meaningful educational benefit.

Placement IS ALWAYS

Reviewed and re-determined each year on an individualized basis,
IEP team driven, AND
Made with appropriate data for decision-making to increase/decrease time or change of placement.

Placement IS NEVER

To meet a need for a particular supplemental aid that may typically be part of a particular placement,
To support a need for modification to the general curriculum, OR
Based on a specific disability category