A special education student may be removed from a school's enrollment for a variety of reasons, the most common of which include 15 day drops and moving/withdrawal. Unless the student has been dismissed from special education (see the relevant section on this page), they remain a special education student and whichever district they enroll in will be responsible for providing appropriate services.

For funding purposes, if a student has missed 15 consecutive school days during the regular school year or five consecutive school days during summer school without receiving instruction in the home or hospital setting, the school district must drop the student from its enrollment roll and classify the student as withdrawn (Minn. Stat. § 126C.05, Subd. 8). However, the student remains eligible for admission, and the district’s obligations for child find and provision of special education services are not negated.

Optional - If the Student Reaches 7 Consecutive Absences:

Prepare a copy of the 7 Day Warning Letter (see below) explaining that services will discontinue if the student reaches 15 consecutive days absent.

Required - If the Student Reaches 15 Consecutive Absences:

1. Prepare a copy of the 15 Day Drop Letter (see below) explaining that services will discontinue but that the district stands ready to serve.

2. Send the letter to the parent or age-of-majority student. It is best practice to also contact the parent/student to encourage them to re-enroll as soon as possible.

3. File the letter with the student's special education paperwork and upload a copy to SpEd Forms.

4. Within the student's setup on SpEd Forms, the students status end code should be changed (EXIT 14: Student withdrawn after 15 days consecutive days absent) and then save. Print off a copy of the students "Special Ed. data sheet" (blue button on top Right corner of student setup page) and submit data sheet to MARSS coordinator. 

5. If the student received special transportation, update their Emergency Health/Transportation Information Form on SpEd Forms, indicating that transportation should be cancelled.

Schools typically wait until they have received a request for records from another school district before dropping a student from enrollment. When the request is received, special education secretaries or office secretaries typically collect the student's most recent IEP (including a Behavior Support Plan, if applicable), Evaluation Summary Report, Progress Reports, and any other pertinent records and forward them to the student's new school. School districts do not need to obtain parental consent to release education data to school officials in another district where a student seeks to enroll as long as the release is for purposes related to the student's enrollment (34 CFR 99.31(a)(2)) (Minn. Stat. 13.32, Subd. 3(e)). School districts must send educational records to the student's new school within 10 business days of a request for records (Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, Subd. 7a).

Documentation Procedure:

1. Complete a SpEd Forms Data Change Request Form (use District form) for an existing student. Indicate that services will discontinue because the student either moved or withdrew from school.

2. If the student received special transportation, update their Emergency Health/Transportation Information Form on SpEd Forms, indicating that transportation should be cancelled.

3. As the student's former case manager, you may be contacted by their new case manager with questions and/or requests for additional documentation. Try your best to be helpful and to support the new case manager in the implementation of the student's IEP. Once the new case manager contacts you, you can also send the student's SpEd Forms files to the new case manager by using the "Sharing/Transfer" button on SpEd Forms.

Discontinuation of all special education services may only occur if:

1. The school completes a re-evaluation and determines that the student is no longer eligible and no longer demonstrates a need for services,

2. The parent revokes consent for services, or

3. The student graduates with a diploma or reaches the age limit for provision of services.

With the exception of graduation/aging out, parents maintain their right to request an evaluation to determine if the student is eligible to receive special education services.

If a student has met grade level expectations in all areas of educational need, the IEP team may consider evaluating the student to determine whether or not they continue to qualify for special education services. Per IDEA 2004, the school must conduct a comprehensive special education evaluation before determining that a student no longer qualifies for services (34 C.F.R. § 300.305(e)(1).

Use the Evaluation Planning Guide as you normally would to plan a comprehensive evaluation. Refer to the relevant Re-Evaluation Checklist for more information on the process of conducting a comprehensive evaluation, including documentation requirements.

If the Student Demonstrates a Continuing Need for Special Education Services:

Prepare and review an IEP and a Prior Written Notice (PWN) that proposes services as you normally would. Send the Evaluation Summary Report, IEP, and PWN to the parent and finalize all documents in SpEd Forms.

If the Student Does Not Demonstrate a Continuing Need for Special Education Services:

1. Prepare a PWN (including the Consent/Objection page) proposing that services will discontinue because the student is no longer eligible for special education.

2. Finalize the Evaluation Summary Report and PWN in SpEd Forms and file them with the student's special education paperwork.

3. After parent consent is obtained, complete a SpEd Forms Data Change Request Form (use district form). Indicate that services will discontinue using the Status End Code: 21 - Early Childhood Withdrawal; IFSP/IEP/IIIP objectives met. Inform the districts MARSS coordinator of the updated code.

4. If the student received special transportation, update their Emergency Health/Transportation Information Form on SpEd Forms, indicating that transportation should be cancelled.

IDEA 2004 indicates that at any point a parent may revoke their consent for the provision of special education services (§§300.9 and 300.300). If a parent communicates to you that they wish to revoke consent for all services, contact your Special Education administrator as soon as possible, but no later than the same day. The SpEd Admin will contact the parent to discuss their concerns and determine if the parent wishes to proceed with revocation of all services or if their concerns regarding a specific proposal can be addressed through the dispute resolution process. The district cannot delay discontinuation of services or mandate that the parent participate in an IEP meeting before discontinuing services. Maintain contact with your SpEd Admin, and only proceed with revocation after you have been authorized to do so.

Documentation Procedure:

1. If a parent is requesting to discontinue special education services, they need to make the request in writing.  This request can also be made in an email.

2. In SpEd Forms, prepare a Revocation of Consent form and send it to the parent.

3. After you have received a signed copy of the Revocation of Consent form from the parent, prepare a Prior Written Notice: Revocation of Consent form in SpEd Forms and send it to the parent.

4. After the parent has signed and returned the PWN, complete a SpEd Forms Data Change Request Form (district form). Indicate that services will discontinue because the parents revoked consent for special education services (Status End Code: Exit 26).

5. If the student received special transportation, update their Emergency Health/Transportation Information Form on SpEd Forms, indicating that transportation should be cancelled.

6. Make sure to notify the MARSS secretary indicating the student no longer is receiving services.

In the state of Minnesota, students "age out" after the student turns 22 years of age. At this point, the school is no longer obligated to provide FAPE. To illustrate: if a student with a disability turns 22 on December 15, 2023, they would have a right to FAPE until December 15, 2023. If the student is graduating before turning 22, the PWN must contain the consent/objection page. Remember graduation is a change in placement, at this time services are discontinued. 

Prepare Documentation:

1. Per MDE, the district must provide the student (if 18 and own legal guardian) or parents (if they have maintained guardianship) with "a summary of his or her academic achievement and functional performance, which must include recommendations on how to assist the student in meeting his or her post-secondary goals." This is documented through the Summary of Performance form. This form is located in SpEd Forms under the DISMISSAL heading. A Summary of Performance is needed for students upon graduation. 

2. The district must also provide the student or parent with Prior Written Notice. In the SpEd Forms PWN drop down menu, look for the "DISCONTINUE SERVICES" heading for examples of appropriate prompts for this situation.

   • If the student is graduating, the Consent/Objection page must be included with the PWN because the student/guardian may object to the proposal. Typically, the student/guardian would object if they feel the student has continuing needs in the area of secondary transition skills and should receive services through a transition program (i.e., Life Work Center, Pine County Transition Program).

   • If the student is aging out, the Consent/Objection page should not be included because the student/guardian cannot object to the legal timeline for aging out.

After Completing the Paperwork:

1. Review the Summary of Performance and PWN forms with the student (if 18 and own legal guardian) or parents (if they have maintained guardianship). This process can either be completed during an IEP meeting or during an informal meeting between student/guardian and case manager.

2. Finalize both of these documents in SpEd Forms and file them with the student's special education paperwork.

3. Complete a SpEd Forms Data Change Request Form (district form) for an existing student. Indicate that services will discontinue because the student graduated or aged out.

4. If the student received special transportation, update their Emergency Health/Transportation Information Form on SpEd Forms, indicating that transportation should be cancelled.

In most cases, if an IEP team is considering dismissal from a secondary disability category, it is because the student has qualified under two categories, one of them is Speech or Language Impairment (SLI), and the student has met grade level expectations in the area of speech/language.

If a student has met grade level expectations in the area of speech/language, the IEP team may consider dropping that disability category/discontinuing that service without evaluation as long as the student continues to have a primary disability in another category (i.e., EBD, SLD, etc.). An evaluation is required only if the IEP team is considering dismissing the student fully from special education, if the student’s needs have significantly changed, or if the student is due for a reevaluation.

If the IEP team decides there are no longer educational needs in the area of speech/language and another primary disability is maintained, the following process should be used:

If the decision was made during an annual IEP meeting:

• After the meeting, the IEP will be adjusted as discussed at the meeting to drop the secondary disability and discontinue services.

• The decision to drop the SLI category/services should be documented in the Prior Written Notice under the 'Actions Proposed' section.

If the decision was made between IEP meetings:

• The amendment process should be followed. If goals and services are being removed from the IEP, the full IEP team should be convened in a formal IEP meeting to review the proposed amendment.

• The decision to drop the SLI category/services should be documented in the Prior Written Notice under the 'Actions Proposed' section.