1. What is it?
IDEA Placement: IDEA “educational placement” is a holistic term that refers to an educational program and the accompanying educational environment. Johnson v. District of Columbia, 839 F.Supp.2d 173, 178 (D.D.C.2012). Educational placement does not refer to a specific location, classroom, school, or program. 71 Fed.Reg. 46540, 46687 (Aug. 14, 2006). However, location, or “physical placement,” can be a component of a student’s IDEA placement. Eley v. D.C., 47 F. Supp. 3d 1, 17 (D.D.C. 2014).
IDEA Location: “Location” refers to the actual physical brick-and-mortar location at which educational services are provided to a student. AW ex rel. Wilson v. Fairfax Cty. Sch. Bd., 372 F.3d 674, 683 (4th Cir. 2004).
“Physical placement,” or location, is not synonymous with IDEA’s definition of “educational placement.” Johnson v. District of Columbia, 839 F.Supp.2d at 178.
2. When does it change?
IDEA Placement: the key inquiry is whether a certain change is likely to affect a child’s overall learning experience. DeLeon v. Susquehanna Cmty. Sch. Dist., 747 F.2d 149, 153 (3d Cir.1984). Placement changes when there has been a fundamental change in the child’s educational program or an elimination of some basic element that otherwise changes the child’s educational experience. Lunceford v. Dist. of Columbia Bd. of Educ., 745 F.2d 1577, 1582 (D.C.Cir.1984).
With significant changes to the educational program, placement can change even if the student remains in the same school setting. N.D. v. Haw. Dep’t of Educ., 600 F.3d 1104, 1116 (9th Cir.2010).
Placement does not change when a student’s IEP and classes remain substantially similar. Weil v. Bd. of Elem. & Secondary Educ., 931 F.2d 1069, 1072 (5th Cir.1991). Changing the location of services does not change the student’s placement where the “new setting replicates the educational program contemplated by the student’s original assignment.” A.W. v. Fairfax Cnty. Sch. Bd., 372 F.3d 674, 682 (4th Cir. 2004).
IDEA Location: location changes when the actual physical location of educational services changes. AW ex rel. Wilson v. Fairfax Cty. Sch. Bd., 372 F.3d at 683.
3. Why is it important?
IDEA Placement: the IDEA requires a student’s parents to be part of the team that creates the child’s individualized education plan (IEP) and determines the child’s educational placement. 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(1)(B).
The IDEA does not require parental participation in location selection only. White ex rel. White v. Ascension Par. Sch. Bd., 343 F.3d 373, 379 (5th Cir. 2003). Although an IEP may include a specific location, a school can change a student’s location without parental participation so long as educational placement remains the same. Id.
IDEA Location: under the IDEA, an appropriate location is one that can accommodate a student’s individualized education plan (IEP) and meet the student’s special educational and behavioral needs. 20 U.S.C. § 1401(9); N.G. v. District of Columbia, 556 F.Supp.2d at 37.
4. How have courts defined it?
IDEA Placement: change in the method of transporting a student to an educational facility does not constitute a change in educational placement. DeLeon v. Susquehanna Cmty. Sch. Dist., 747 F.2d at 154.
Changing one class between one-to-one instruction and small group instruction does not constitute a fundamental change or elimination of some element of the child’s education plan so as to constitute a change in educational placement. W.R. v. Union Beach Bd. of Educ., No. CIV A 09-2268 MLC, 2009 WL 4042715, at *5 (D.N.J. Nov. 19, 2009).
Change from residential to outpatient care for a disabled patient, if the residential services are closely intertwined with the patient’s educational needs, can constitute a change in educational placement.
Lunceford v. D.C. Bd. of Educ., 745 F.2d at 1581. However, a patient who receives the same educational services from the same teachers, and only changes the residential part of his care, has not gone through a change in educational placement. Id.
When two educational programs differ only differ by the exclusion or inclusion of one class, switching between these programs does not constitute a change in educational placement. Id. at 1582. However, moving between a mainstream program and a program that only includes handicapped children does constitute a change in educational placement. Id. Changing between mainstream classroom education and home instruction also constitutes a change in educational placement. N.D. v. Haw. Dep’t of Educ., 600 F.3d at 1116.
Disenrollment amounts to a “complete cessation of the delivery of special education services” and constitutes a change in educational placement. R.B. ex rel. Parent v. Mastery Charter Sch., 762 F. Supp. 2d 745, 757 (E.D. Pa. 2010), aff’d sub nom. R.B. v. Mastery Charter Sch., 532 F. App’x 136 (3d Cir. 2013).
IDEA Location: a change in schools, and other such changes in physical location of services provided, constitute a change in location (and not necessarily a change in educational placement).
Z.B. by & through Sanchez v. D.C., 382 F. Supp. 3d 32, 42 (D.D.C. 2019), aff’d sub nom. Sanchez v. D.C., No. 19-7048, 2020 WL 2610903 (D.C. Cir. May 15, 2020).
