In August, the U.S. Department of Education Office of
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) reached out again to
educators, school administrators, and parents, in an effort to address the
needs of students with disabilities subjected to bullying by other
students. In its Dear Colleague letter,
OSERS provided an overview of the related school district responsibilities
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
OSERs restated that bullying of a student with a disability
which results in the student not receiving meaningful educational benefit
constitutes a denial of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) under the
IDEA. It noted that even when bullying does
not rise to that level, it can interfere with a student’s academic development.
OSERS further noted that students with
disabilities are disproportionately affected by bullying, and that students who
are bullied are more likely to experience lower academic achievement and
aspirations, higher truancy rates, feelings of alienation from school, poor
relationships with peers, loneliness, or depression. It further indicated that the impact of bullying
in the school environment can “foster fear and disrespect and negatively affect
the school experience, norms, and relationships of all students, families, and
school personnel.”
OSERS stated that as part of an appropriate response to
reported bullying of a student with a disability, the school should convene the
IEP Team to examine whether changes are needed in the student’s IEP in order to
ensure that it is designed to provide the student with a meaningful educational
benefit. If the team finds that that additional or
different special education or related services are needed, it must revise the
IEP accordingly. The letter further
noted that parents have the right to request an IEP Team meeting at any time,
and public agencies generally must grant a parental request for an IEP Team
meeting where a student’s needs may have changed as a result of bullying. If a student with a disability engaged in bullying
behavior, OSERS states that the IEP Team should review the student’s IEP to
determine if additional supports and services are needed to address the
inappropriate behavior. In either case,
OSERS recommended that the IEP Team and other school personnel should consider
examining the environment in which the bullying occurred to determine if
changes to the environment are warranted.
In concluding the letter, OSERS encouraged the state
agencies and school districts to reevaluate their policies and practices in
regard to bullying, and provided them with an attached resource titled:
“Effective Evidence-based Practices for Preventing and Addressing Bullying,” The
entire document and attachment are available at: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/bullyingdcl-8-20-13.pdf
