Least Restrictive Environment
Implementation of IDEA
Least Restrictive Environment
The placement of students in appropriate settings within the least restrictive environment is an integral part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The Wayne Township School District provides a continuum of alternative placement options available to all students with disabilities. When determining placement, the Child Study Team employs a decision making process which has three components:
- To the maximum extent appropriate, students with disabilities are educated with students who are non-disabled;
- Special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the general education classroom occurs only when the nature or severity of the educational disability is such that education in the general education class cannot be achieved satisfactorily with the use of supplementary aides and services; and
- To the maximum extent appropriate, each child with a disability participates with non-disabled children in non-academic and extracurricular services and activities.
In addition, every effort is made to educate each student with disabilities as close to home as possible, and in the same school he or she would attend if not disabled, unless the Individualized Education Program (IEP) specifies some other arrangement.
When making decisions regarding placement in general education, consideration is given to the following factors:
- When the student can be educated satisfactorily in a general education classroom with supplementary aides and services;
- A comparison of the benefits provided in a general education classroom and the benefits provided in a special education class; and
- The potentially beneficial or harmful effects which a placement may have on the student with educational disabilities or the other students in the class.
The Wayne Township Public Schools ensure that to the maximum extent appropriate, students with disabilities, ages 3 through 21, are educated with non-disabled students, and participate in non-academic and extracurricular activities with non-disabled students.
