Related Services and Supplementary Aids and Services

A free appropriate public education (FAPE) is comprised of special education and related services tailored to meet a child's unique needs and supportive services to permit the child to benefit from the school’s instruction, extracurricular programs, and nonacademic settings. See 20 U.S.C. §§ 1401 (9), (26), (33).

“Related Services” refers to services that are connected to a child’s development. They include transportation, speech-language pathology and audiology services; interpreter services; psychological services; physical and occupational therapy; recreation, including therapeutic recreation; counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling; orientation and mobility services; and medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes. Related services also include “school health services and school nurse services, social work services in schools, and parent counseling and training. See 281 I.A.C. 41.34,

“Supplementary Aids and Services” means aids, services, and other supports that are provided in classes,  other education-related settings, and in extracurricular and nonacademic settings, to enable children with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate.  refers to the additional supportive services that a child needs in order to benefit from the school’s programs in education, extracurricular, and nonacademic settings, and to enable the child to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate. See 34 C.F.R. § 300.320(a)(4); 281 I.A.C. 41.42. Examples of supplementary aids and services include adaptive technology, direct services and supports to the child, instruction modifications, instructional delivery, testing accommodations, and support and training for staff who work with the child.

Iowa’s Compulsory Education Law, Enforcement, and Truancy

    I strongly recommend that all parents of school-age children become familiar with Iowa’s compulsory education laws and the school district's policies concerning school attendance. Iowa’s compulsory education statute, Iowa Code chapter 299, is available online at https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/ico/chapter/299.pdf  School attendance policies are generally available on school district websites in the sections on board policies and student handbooks.

The following blog article covers some of the information contained in Iowa Code chapter 299. 

The basic responsibility of parents, guardians, and custodians for school attendance

The parent, guardian, or custodian (referred to below as “parent”) of a child covered by Iowa’s compulsory education law is responsible for ensuring the child attends school. See Iowa Code § 299.1A. It is the duty of the child’s parent to ensure that the child is enrolled in public school (or private school or is receiving competent private instruction or independent instruction) unless the parent has filed a doctor’s certificate with the secretary of the school district demonstrating that the child is physically or mentally unable to attend school, or the child’s presence at school would be injurious to the health of other pupils. See Iowa Code §§ 256B.6 and 299.5. Parents are responsible for following the school district’s policy concerning the reporting of absences.

Which children are covered?

1. Generally, compulsory education children are between the ages of 6 and 16; more specifically:

2.    A child who reaches age 16 on or after September 15, remains of compulsory age until the end of the regular school calendar.

3. A child who reaches age 5 by September 15 and who is enrolled in a school district shall be considered to be of compulsory attendance age unless the child’s parent (or guardian or custodian) notifies the school district in writing that they intend to remove the child from enrollment in the school district.

4. A child who reaches the age of 4 by September 15 and who is enrolled in the statewide public preschool program is considered to be of compulsory attendance age unless the child’s parent (or guardian or custodian) submits written notice to the school. See Iowa Code § 299.1A.

Responsibilities of school boards of public and nonpublic accredited schools

Iowa’s compulsory education law requires the school board of each public and accredited nonpublic school to:

• establish the number of days that students must attend school during the school year (see Iowa Code § 299.1(2);

• adopt a policy concerning acceptable reasons for excused absences (see Iowa Code § 299.1(2)) and the number of unexcused absences (or the number of combined excused and unexcused absences) that will subject the student to consequences for truancy;

• determine reasonable rules for the punishment of students who are truant (see Iowa Code §  299.9;

• maintain the attendance records of students enrolled in their public schools, provided to them by private accredited schools, and by the parents (or guardians or custodians) of compulsory education-age children receiving competent private instruction [within the area covered by the public school district]; 

• attempt to find the reason why a student is truant and use every means available to the school to assure that the child attends school; (see Iowa Code 299.5A). 

• to refer to the county attorney any parent who refuses to accept the school’s attempt to ensure the child’s attendance or any case in which the school’s efforts to assure the child’s attendance have been otherwise unsuccessful (see Iowa Code 299.5A). 

Consequences of Truancy

A child is truant if the child fails to attend school as required by the school board’s attendance policy. See Iowa Code § 299.8. In addition to not receiving an education and the consequences imposed by the child’s school district, a child of compulsory attendance age who does not attend a public school or an accredited nonpublic school, is not receiving competent private instruction or independent private instruction, and does not attend an alternative school or adult education classes, shall not receive an intermediate or full driver’s license until age eighteen. See Iowa Code § 299.1B.

Under Iowa law, truancy charges may be initiated against any parent who fails to ensure that a student attends school. A first offense is punishable by up to a $100.00 fine or ten days in the county jail. Subsequent offenses are punishable by up to a $500.00 fine or twenty days in the county jail. 

Is it too late to file a due process complaint against our son’s former school district?

 Question:   Over a year ago, our son was struggling with reading and his pediatrician referred him for testing at the Hawkeye University Hospitals and Clinics (HUHC). After he was diagnosed with dyslexia, we gave the testing report to the Bean City School District and AEA evaluation team. The team told us they didn’t suspect that our son had a disability in reading because his reading scores weren’t much different from those of his classmates.  

    Last spring I changed jobs and we moved to Corn City. We gave our son’s HUHC report to the Corn City School District and Corn AEA evaluation team. The Corn City team said his reading scores were far below those of students in the Corn City School District. The Corn AEA performed a full evaluation and the school began providing our son with special education services in reading. 

    We told a Corn City school board member about this and asked why there was such a big difference between the two school districts. She got back to us and said that an Iowa Department of Education report showed that almost 90 percent of the 7th-graders in the Corn City district were proficient in reading, but only about half the Bean City 7th-graders were proficient in reading.

    Our son is working hard on reading, but he will need more reading help over the summer to be ready for the amount of reading next fall in his first year of high school. We think the Bean City School District should pay for this because he wouldn’t have been so far behind if it had provided him with special education services in reading. May we file a due process complaint against the Bean City School District?

Response:  No. Although the IDEA doesn’t prohibit parents from filing a due process complaint against a former school district, the Court of Federal Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has held that parents forfeit the right to file a due process action against a former school district unless they file it before their child leaves the former school district. See Thompson by & Through Buckhanon v. Board of the Special Sch. Dist. No. 1, 144 F.3d 574, 579 (8th Cir. 1998); see also C.N. v. Willmar Pub. Sch., Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 347, 591 F.3d 624, 631, n.6 (8th Cir. 2010).

    More needs to be said concerning the different eligibility determinations by the two Iowa school districts and AEAs, but I’ll save that for another blog.

When a Child’s IEP Team Proposes an Out-of-District Placement

 [Note: This post does not address cases in which a parent initiates an out-of-district placement or another public agency initiates such a placement.]

Unless a child’s IEP requires another arrangement, the child enrolled in public school must be educated in the school the child would attend if the child did not have a disability. A child with an IEP may not be removed from the resident school district solely because of modifications needed in the general education curriculum. See 281 I.A.C. 41.116(1). 

“Placement” refers to the child's services on the continuum of placements as determined by the IEP team. “Location” refers to the physical place the child receives those services. A local school district cannot override an IEP team’s placement determination. However, only the resident school district may determine the specific out-of-district “location” (classroom, building, or facility). The choice of the location of the services is a school district decision as long as the location selected is consistent with the IEP team’s placement determination. See Letter to Trigg, 50 IDELR 48 (OSEP 2007).

When an IEP team considers placing a child in an out-of-district school, it must address issues including the least restrictive environment and any potential harmful effects on the child or on the quality of services the child needs. An out-of-district placement must have an “educationally relevant purpose” based on the child’s IEP, be located as close as possible to the child’s home, and be determined at least annually. See 281 I.A.C. 41.116. An “educationally relevant purpose" is one required by the IEP to address the child’s unique disability-related needs that interfere with the child’s ability to benefit from the child’s education in the resident school district. For example, if a child with deafness requires a sign language interpreter and one cannot be obtained by the resident school district, placement in an out-of-school district that can provide the interpreter is an “educationally relevant purpose.” In the case of a child whose emotional-behavioral issues impeded the child from benefitting from education in the child's school district of residence and the child requires education in a residential treatment school, that placement would be an “educationally relevant purpose,” rather than placement for treatment. See, e.g., Iowa Admin. Code r 281—41.116; see also C.B. v. Special Sch. Dist., 636 F.3d 981 (8th Cir. 2011).

Out-of-district placement must be at no cost to the child’s parents. When the child lives at home, “at no cost” means the costs of education and transportation. In the case of a residential placement, it means the costs of education, room, board, and transportation (but does not include medical services). See 281 I.A.C. 41.104. The resident district is obligated to pay the actual cost of the special education instructional program. See 281 I.A.C. 41.907(2). If the child’s IEP team recommends a residential placement, the child’s school district and area education agency of residence may not seek the costs of room and board from the child’s parents. See Letter to Hornbeck, 211 IDELR 65 (OSEP 1978). However, with parental consent, they may seek reimbursement from the parent’s public or private insurance. However, a parent’s refusal to provide consent cannot be used to delay or deny a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”). See  281 I.A.C. 41.154. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(5)(B). Federal law prohibits a public school district and AEA from refusing, based on actual or perceived financial inability to pay, placement of a child with an IEP who requires an out-of-district placement to receive a FAPE.

Out-of-district placements are subject to the terms of a written tuition contract that: 

• must ensure that all the requirements of the child’s IEP will be met, 

• require periodic reports to ensure the adequacy and appropriateness of the child’s special education and related services provided, and

• conditions payments on delivery of the child’s special education and related services as required by the child’s IEP in compliance with special education law.  See 281 I.A.C. 41.903(2).

Before the IEP team establishes a child’s out-of-district placement, it must answer the following questions:

• What accommodations, modifications, and adaptations does the child require to be successful in a general education environment?

• Why is it not possible for these accommodations, modifications, and adaptations to be provided within the general education environment?

• What supports are needed to assist the teacher and other personnel in providing these

• accommodations, modifications, and adaptations?

• How will receipt of special education services and activities in the general education environment impact the child?

• How will the provision of special education services and activities in the general education environment impact other students?   See 281 I.A.C. 41.116(4)(a). 

If all or some of the child’s special education would be provided in a special school, the child’s IEP must also address the following additional questions concerning that placement:

• What are the reasons the eligible individual cannot be provided an education program in an integrated school setting?

• What supplementary aids and supports are needed to support the eligible individual in the special education program?

• Why is it not possible for these aids and supports to be provided in an integrated setting?

• What is the continuum of placements and services available for the eligible individual?

See 281 I.A.C. 41.116(4)(b).

Child Find

 The IDEA and the Iowa Rules of Special Education require public schools to find and evaluate children who need special education. This requirement is called Child Find and it covers children from birth through age 21. It applies to all children, including those who are home-schooled, homeless, migratory, and in private schools. See 281 I.A.C. 41.111.

The Child Find process begins when a child's parent or a staff member of the school district or Area Education Agency expresses concern about a child’s progress or development in one or more of eight domains: 

1. Academic (reading, math, writing)

2. Health

3. Adaptive behavior (life skills, safety, rule-following, organization, etc.)

4. Social Emotional Behavior

5. Hearing

6. Vision

7. Physical skills (handwriting, walking, etc.)

8. Communication

When a parent has concerns that differences in their child’s progress or development in one or more of the following areas are interfering with their child’s participation at school, I encourage the parent to send an email (to the principal of the child’s school) describing the concern and asking that the child be evaluated regarding the child’s need for special education. If the child has been diagnosed with a disability by a private healthcare provider, the parent should also attach a copy of the diagnostic report to that email. See 281 I.A.C 41.300 (stating that either a parent of a child or a school district/AEA staff member may initiate a request for an initial evaluation to determine if the child is a child with a disability).

When a concern has been expressed or an evaluation requested, an evaluation team comprised of the child’s parents, teacher, and AEA staff gather information for use in determining if they suspect the child has a disability. They will gather data from sources such as:

○ Classroom assessments

○ Screening results

○ District-wide assessments

○ General education intervention results

○ Attendance records

○ Office referrals or other behavior data

○ Medical or other professional reports from outside providers

○ Observations inside or outside of the classroom

If the team decides that it suspects the child may need special education and related services to access the general school curriculum, the school will ask the parent to sign a consent form authorizing the school/AEA to perform a full evaluation to determine whether the child is eligible for special education. See 281 I.A.C. 41.111(5).  

After the parent has signed the consent form, federal and state law require the school district and AEA to complete the full initial evaluation within 60 calendar days of receiving parental consent for the evaluation. See 281 I.A.C. 41.301(3).