DETAILS
Position Paper on Safety & Discipline
The Washington State Special Education Coalition supports the use of interim alternative placements for ANY student who carries a weapon, or in well documented situations where a student can be determined to be a significant danger to themselves or others. The WSSEC believes that schools MUST BE SAFE FOR ALL CHILDREN. The SEC maintains that the IEP team must meet to decide the relationship to the disability and if a permanent change in placement is necessary to provide the student with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Additionally, if the IEP team, including experts on behavior management and the parents, in assessing the needs of the student, see the need to include special training for staff &/or parents, then these areas must be addressed and then monitored.
Special Education students must be afforded FAPE. but this does not mean that the student cannot be removed or disciplined. The student's needs and behavior must be considered in light of the disability. The student can be removed if the IEP team agrees that the educational placement is not appropriate, and that, even with supplementary aids and services the placement can not be made appropriate.
The WSSEC believes violence in our schools needs to be addressed thoroughly and completely. There are many issues at the root of violence, such as poverty, access to firearms, gangs, dysfunctional families, inadequate supports and abuse of all kinds. Possible solutions can be found in the state BD Task Force's report. The issue of discipline can not be allowed to be seen as targeting students with disabilities, separate from other students.
Finally, it is our position that ALL families and educators of students who are typical, as well as those with disabilities, need to work together to create healthy schools and communities. By establishing safe boundaries, valuing all school members and establishing strategies for conflict resolution together, we can nurture the safe learning environments that are necessary for the development and education of ALL children.