STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
MOLLY M. SPEARMAN
STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION

October 4, 2022

Stephanie Crow

Dear Ms. Crow,

On August 5, 2022, the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE), Office of Special
Education Services, received a state complaint you filed on behalf of Laura Crow against the
Kershaw County School District (District). Attached is the Letter of Resolution (LOR) relative to the
complaint referenced herein. The LOR may not be reconsidered or appealed. This concludes the sixty
day investigation process. All parties involved in this matter retain any and all rights provided under
federal and state law, including the right to mediation and/or a due process hearing, to further pursue
this matter. If there were findings of non-compliance, the LOR will include the corrective action
steps the District must take to remedy the non-compliance.

Sincerely,

Martha Jill Christmus, Ph.D.

Interim Director
Office of Special Education Services

cc: Mr. Tarrence McGovern (tarrence.mcgovern@kcsdschools.net)

Kershaw County School District
Director of Special Services

Dr. J. Harrison Goodwin, Ph.D. (harrison.goodwin@kcsdschools.net)

Kershaw County School District
Superintendent

RUTLEDGE BUILDING · 1429 SENATE STREET · COLUMBIA, SC 29201

PHONE: 803-734-8500 · FAX 803-734-3389 · ED.SC.GOV
 LETTER OF RESOLUTION

On August 5, 2022, the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE), Office of Special
Education Services (OSES) received a complaint filed against Kershaw County School District
(District) by Stefanie Crow (Complainant), on behalf of Laura Crow (Student). The District received
a copy of the complaint via electronic mail on August 5, 2022.

The Complainant alleged the District violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
and the applicable federal and State Board of Education (SBE) regulations. The SCDE proceeded to
investigate whether the District violated a special education requirement by failing to provide
appropriate Individualized Education Program (IEP) services to the Student during the last week of
school of the 2021–22 school year and on August 4, 2022, when it dismissed the Student prior to the
scheduled dismissal time.

On August 9, 2022 the SCDE forwarded correspondence to the Director of Special Services in the
District and requested a written response to the complaint no later than August 23, 2022.

On August 19, 2022, the District provided the Complainant with a copy of the procedural safeguards
in accordance with 34 C.F.R. § 300.504.

The District submitted its written response to the complaint to the SCDE on August 23, 2022. A copy
of the response was provided to the Complainant on August 25, 2022.

After carefully reviewing the information submitted by the Complainant and the District, and
applying the IDEA and appropriate federal and SBE regulations, the SCDE issues the following
findings of fact and conclusion. 1

ISSUE

Issue: Whether the District provided IEP services to the Student during the last week of school of the
2021–22 school year and on August 4, 2022 when it dismissed the Student prior to the scheduled
dismissal time.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The Student is a seven-year-old female who attends Lugoff Elementary School in the District. The
Student is eligible to receive special education (SPED) and related services under the category of
Multiple Disabilities (primary) and Speech/Language Impairment (secondary).

The Student’s IEP in effect at the end of the 2021–22 school year provided:

1
See attached Appendix for applicable regulations.
2
 • 210 quarterly minutes of physical therapy (PT) services as a direct related service in the
school environment (SE)
• 210 quarterly minutes of occupational therapy (OT) services as a direct related service in the
SE
• 400 weekly minutes of direct specially designed instruction (SDI) in daily living skills in the
SE
• 400 weekly minutes of direct SDI in pre-academic readiness skills in the SPED classroom
• 300 weekly minutes of direct SDI in social emotional in the SPED classroom
• 270 quarterly minutes of direct SDI in speech/language (SL) in the SE
• 2,100 weekly minutes of additional educational assistance in the SPED classroom

Indirect services included vision, assistive technology, and transportation. The Student’s least
restrictive environment was inside regular class and activities less than 40 percent of the day. The
IEP allowed removals from the English-language arts, language, reading, study skills, science, social
studies, foreign language, and health classrooms for OT services, SL therapy, and PT. The Student
was also removed from the general education setting for specialized instruction in the area of
readiness, daily living and social emotional. [The Student] was to participate in age appropriate
activities (related arts) with her nondisabled peers for 100 minutes per week. The least restrictive
environment (LRE) section reads, “[The Student] needs to be removed from general education
classes because she has severe academic deficits. She needs adapted and modified curriculum,
specialized instruction, extended practice and multiple chances for review for mastery of new
learning. Therefore, [the Student] is in a self-contained program that is tailored to best fit her learning
styles and needs. This program provides instruction that includes her needs within daily living
skills.” The Student’s IEP provided a modified curriculum to emphasize foundational skills to
address significant delays in communication, motor, cognition, and adaptive skills. The Student
received additional assistance throughout the school day and in the school environment to support
engagement in the curriculum and to ensure safety.

The Student attended Wateree Elementary during the 2021–22 school year. The District’s last week
of school for the 2021–22 school year was May 23–27, 2022. On May 23, 24, and 25, the District
dismissed students at 2:30 p.m. On May 26 and Friday May 2, students were dismissed at 11:30 a.m.

The Student is currently enrolled at Lugoff Elementary School. The District’s 2022–23 school year
began August 1, 2022.

On August 3, 2022, the school nurse emailed the Complainant, “Good morning. After you left us
yesterday, the staff informed me that [the Student] is picked up at 1:50 every afternoon on the
H 3 SPED bus. I've instructed the staff to flush her at 1:30 daily so there is time to complete the flush
prior to her departure.”

On August 5, 2022, the Director of Special Services sent a District-wide email which read:
3
“Principals, as we begin the school year, I would like to remind everyone that students that receive
special needs transportation are to be dismissed at the same time as all other students in our
buildings. We must ensure that all students are taught bell to bell."

In its response to the SCDE, the District asserted “on May 23, 24, and 25, [the Student] was assisted
to the bus between 2:20 and 2:25 with the school day officially ending at 2:30 pm. The Student
requires additional educational assistance with her being transferred to and onto the special education
bus via wheelchair in order to ensure her safety.” The District also explained that exiting preparations
were announced during afternoon announcements.

In the matter of May 26 and 27, the District asserted, “with dismissal for all students at 11:30 [the
Student] began boarding the bus for exit between 11:15 am and 11:20 am. Again [the Student]
requires additional assistance where safety is ensured via preparation for exiting the building to begin
during afternoon announcements that can be heard throughout the school.”

The District acknowledged the Student’s school day was shortened on August 4, 2022. In its
response, the District asserted, “[the Student] was transported to, and assisted on the school bus at
approximately 1:50 or [forty] minutes prior to the 2:30 p.m. dismissal.”

CONCLUSION

Issue: Whether the District provided IEP services to the Student during the last week of school
of the 2021–22 school year and on August 4, 2022, when it dismissed the Student prior to the
scheduled dismissal time.

Under the IDEA regulation 34 C.F.R. § 300.34, related services means transportation and such
developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a
disability to benefit from special education, and includes speech-language pathology and audiology
services, interpreting services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation,
including therapeutic recreation, early identification and assessment of disabilities in children,
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.

Under the IDEA regulation 34 C.F.R. § 300.39 (a) (1), special education means specially designed
instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of the child with a disability. This
includes instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in
other settings and instruction in physical education. Under section (b) (3), specially designed
instruction means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible child under this part, the
content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs of the child that result
from the child’s disability; and to ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the

4
child can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency that apply to all
children.

Under the IDEA regulation 34 C.F.R. §300.323 (d), each public agency must ensure that each teacher
and provider (regular education teacher, special education teacher, related services provider, and any
other service provider) is informed of his or her responsibilities related to implementing the child’s
IEP and the specific accommodations, modifications, and supports that must be provided for the
child in accordance with the IEP.

The Complainant alleges that during the last week of school for the 2021–22 school year and on
August 4, 2022 of the current school year, the District picked the student up from school at 1:30 p.m.,
although school ended at 2:30 p.m. The Complainant alleged the Student did not receive all of her
educational time due to being placed on the bus an hour before dismissal.

There are two issues to be addressed in this matter.

The first issue is whether the District shortened the Student’s school day on May 23–27, 2022 and on
August 4, 2022.

The District’s last week of school was May 23–27, 2022. On May 23, 24, 25, school ended at 2:30
pm. In its response, the District asserted the Student was walked to the bus no more than fifteen
minutes prior to dismissal to ensure safety as the Student required a wheelchair. However, the
District did not provide specific documentation as to what time the Student’s bus actually departed
on these specific dates. In its correspondence to the District, the SCDE requested documentation
regarding transportation, such as transportation and/or rider logs. The District did not provide any
documentation to assist the SCDE in determining what times the Student’s bus departed on May 23,
24, and 25. The District advised the SCDE that its transportation department does not keep a log of
arrival and dismissal of buses. Regardless of the fact, the school day ended at 2:30 p.m. and the
Student had a right to remain in class until dismissal.

On May 26 and 27, school ended early at 11:30 a.m. The District acknowledged the Student left class
ten to fifteen minutes early on these days. The District asserts the early dismissal was due to the
safety reasons. While the IEP provides additional educational assistance to ensure the Student’s
safety, the IEP did not provide for early dismissal from class. The school day ended at 11:30 a.m.,
and as previously explained, the Student had the right to remain in class until dismissal.

The District’s current school year began on August 1, 2022. In the matter of August 4, 2022, the
District acknowledged the Student’s school day was in fact shortened by forty minutes. Furthermore,
according to an email from the school nurse to the Complainant, also appears the Student was also
dismissed early on August 1, 2, and 3, 2022. Based on the information to the Complainant from the
school nurse, the Student was picked up every afternoon at 1:50 p.m., which was forty minutes prior
to dismissal.

5
Thus, based on the evidence presented, the SCDE finds the District shortened the Student’s
school days on May 23–27, 2022 and on August 4, 2022 and is violation of 34 C.F.R. § 300.323.

The second issue to be addressed is whether a shortened school day resulted in a loss of special
education and/or related services.

The Student’s LRE consisted of a self-contained classroom environment (less than 40 percent of the
day inside the regular classroom). Related services in OT, PT, SL, and daily living skills were to be
provided in the school environment. The IEP provided removals from the classroom for those
services. All SDI was to be provided in the special education classroom. Upon request from the
SCDE, the District was unable to provide a copy of the Student’s class schedule that was in effect the
last week of the 2021–22 school year. Therefore, the SCDE is unable to determine the Student’s
schedule of IEP services at the end of the school day or which IEP services may have been affected
by the shortened school day. As previously discussed, the District did not provide neither bus or rider
logs documenting the times the Student’s bus departed on May 23–25. Therefore, the SCDE is
unable to dispute the Complainant’s allegation the bus left at 1:30 p.m. on these three days, which
would have resulted in a loss of 180 minutes of services. The SCDE also finds the Student was
dismissed early on May 26 and 27, resulting in a loss of no more than thirty minutes of IEP services.
In the matter of the shortened school days on August 1–4, 2022, the SCDE finds there was a loss of
at least 120 minutes of IEP services.

Thus, based on the evidence represented, the SCDE finds the shortened school day resulted in a
loss of special education and/or related services in violation of 34 U.S.C. § 300.34 and §
300.39.

CORRECTIVE ACTIONS

The SCDE is required to notify local educational agencies (LEAs) when there is evidence that an
LEA has violated, or is not in compliance with, a particular legal regulation or requirement. The
SCDE is also responsible for ensuring correction of any noncompliance per the Office of Special
Education Programs Memorandum 09–02, dated October 17, 2008. All findings of noncompliance
identified in this letter of resolution must be corrected as soon as possible, but in no case later than
one year of the date of this LOR.

A. In the matter of the issue of noncompliance with respect to the requirements of 34 C.F.R. §
300.323 (d) , § 300.34 and § 300.39 the District is directed to complete the following
corrective actions:

1. To address its failure to ensure the Student received all special education and related
services outline in the IEP due to its shortening of the Student’s school days on May 23 –
27, 2022 and August 1–4, 2022:

6
a. The District must reconvene the IEP team meeting to determine the impact of its
specific noncompliance.

b. The IEP team must determine which special education and/or related services the
Student may have missed on the dates identified in this matter.

c. The IEP team must make an individualized determination concerning what the IEP
team believes it will take to put the Student in the place where she was expected to be
if the violation identified in this matter did not occur.

d. The IEP team should use a data-based process in making this determination and must
be able to explain what data the team considered in the decision-making process and
the findings from the consideration of this data. The team should be able to explain
how it determined the educational harm that the student experienced.

e. During the meeting, the District must also discuss updated levels of academic
achievement and functional performance. The process should include considering the
results of any achievement tests or other assessments administered to the Student to
determine her current levels of academic and functional skills, and input from persons
such as the Student’s teachers and parents.

f. The District must then determine the loss of education opportunity that resulted from
its failure to provide instruction until dismissal on dates identified in this matter.

g. The IEP team must determine the extent of the loss, if any, and what services and
supports would be necessary in order to close the gap created by its failure to provide
the direct SDI required by the Student’s IEP.

h. If the District determines compensatory services are warranted, the District shall
make arrangements with the parent to provide the compensatory services by a
qualified professional.

i. The compensatory services shall be made available in a location convenient to the

parent and Student. Further, if agreed upon by the parent and the District, the services
may be delivered remotely.

j. The District must also provide documentation related to the amount of compensatory
services agreed upon, if applicable, and a plan for the provision of these services,
including the timeline for completion, using the Compensatory Services Planning
document provided by the OSES.

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 k. The District must provide a copy of the prior written notice from the meeting as
documentation of the IEP team’s decisions and all data used to make the
determinations regarding educational loss and compensatory services, to the OSES,
within ten days of the conclusion of the IEP team meeting.

l. District staff may utilize the OSES Learning Management System (LMS) Course:
Determining Compensatory Education Services. The information about the LMS
course will be provided by the SCDE.

2. To ensure appropriate future provision of services for all children with disabilities with
respect to the requirements set forth in§ 300.323 (d), § 300.34 and § 300.39:

a. The District shall identify all other students assigned to the Student’s bus route at
Lugoff Elementary. This bus was identified as the “H 3 SPED bus” by the school
nurse on August 3, 2022.

b. The District must provide the OSES with the list of students names.

c. If the District determines there were students who did not receive appropriate services
due to the shortened school days on August 1–4, 2022, the District must provide to
the OSES, a description as to its plans to reconvene the IEP team for these students.
For each of those students identified in (a), the District must determine if the
shortened school days on August 1–4, 2022, resulted in loss of special education
and/or related services by following the steps for each student outlined in A (1) (a-k).

d. If the District determines there were no other students, as described in (2) (a) that
were assigned to the homebound instructor, the District must provide the OSES with
a letter of assurance verifying as such.

e. The District must review and revise, if necessary, its policies and procedures related
to how it ensures all teachers and related services are informed of his or her
responsibilities related to implementing the child’s IEP and the specific
accommodations, modifications, and supports that must be provided for the child in
accordance with the IEP.

f. The District must also provide to the OSES, a letter of assurance verifying its review,
and if applicable, its revision, of its policy and/or procedures related to the provision
of special education services. The District must include a description of how the
District will address its transportation procedures with respect to the early departure
of its buses for reasons other than state-wide emergency orders.

8
All documentation is to be submitted via email to
https://scoses.formstack.com/forms/state level complaint corrections form

Dated this 4th day of October 2022

Martha Jill Christmus, Ph.D.

Interim Director
Office of Special Education Services
South Carolina Department of Education
1919 Blanding Street
Columbia, SC 29201

THIS WRITTEN DECISION CONCLUDES THE SCDE’S INVESTIGATION OF

THIS COMPLAINT

This letter of resolution concludes the complaint investigation process relative to the complaint
referenced herein and may not be reconsidered or appealed. All parties involved in this matter retain
any and all rights provided under federal and state law, including the right to mediation and/or a due
process hearing, to further pursue this matter.

9
 APPENDIX

34 U.S.C. § 300.34 Related Services.

(a) General. Related services means transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other
supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special
education, and includes speech-language pathology and audiology services, interpreting services,
psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic
recreation, early identification and assessment of disabilities in children, 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.
(b) Exception; services that apply to children with surgically implanted devices, including
cochlear implants.
(1) Related services do not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, the
optimization of that device’s functioning (e.g., mapping), maintenance of that device, or the
replacement of that device.
(2) Nothing in paragraph (b)(1) of this section—
(i) Limits the right of a child with a surgically implanted device (e.g., cochlear implant) to
receive related services (as listed in paragraph (a) of this section) that are determined by the IEP
Team to be necessary for the child to receive FAPE.
(ii) Limits the responsibility of a public agency to appropriately monitor and maintain medical
devices that are needed to maintain the health and safety of the child, including breathing,
nutrition, or operation of other bodily functions, while the child is transported to and from school
or is at school; or
(iii) Prevents the routine checking of an external component of a surgically implanted device to
make sure it is functioning properly, as required in §300.113(b).
(c) Individual related services terms defined. The terms used in this definition are defined as
follows:
(1) Audiology includes—
(i) Identification of children with hearing loss;
(ii) Determination of the range, nature, and degree of hearing loss, including referral for medical
or other professional attention for the habilitation of hearing;
(iii) Provision of habilitative activities, such as language habilitation, auditory training, speech
reading (lip-reading), hearing evaluation, and speech conservation;
(iv) Creation and administration of programs for prevention of hearing loss;
(v) Counseling and guidance of children, parents, and teachers regarding hearing loss; and
(vi) Determination of children’s needs for group and individual amplification, selecting and
fitting an appropriate aid, and evaluating the effectiveness of amplification.
(2) Counseling services means services provided by qualified social workers, psychologists,
guidance counselors, or other qualified personnel.
(3) Early identification and assessment of disabilities in children means the implementation of a
formal plan for identifying a disability as early as possible in a child’s life.
(4) Interpreting services includes—
(i) The following, when used with respect to children who are deaf or hard of hearing: Oral
transliteration services, cued language transliteration services, sign language transliteration and
10
interpreting services, and transcription services, such as communication access real-time
translation (CART), C-Print, and TypeWell; and
(ii) Special interpreting services for children who are deaf-blind.
(5) Medical services means services provided by a licensed physician to determine a child’s
medically related disability that results in the child’s need for special education and related
services.
(6) Occupational therapy—
(i) Means services provided by a qualified occupational therapist; and
(ii) Includes—
(A) Improving, developing, or restoring functions impaired or lost through illness, injury, or
deprivation;
(B) Improving ability to perform tasks for independent functioning if functions are impaired or
lost; and
(C) Preventing, through early intervention, initial or further impairment or loss of function.
(7) Orientation and mobility services—
(i) Means services provided to blind or visually impaired children by qualified personnel to
enable those students to attain systematic orientation to and safe movement within their
environments in school, home, and community; and
(ii) Includes teaching children the following, as appropriate:
(A) Spatial and environmental concepts and use of information received by the senses (such as
sound, temperature and vibrations) to establish, maintain, or regain orientation and line of travel
(e.g., using sound at a traffic light to cross the street);
(B) To use the long cane or a service animal to supplement visual travel skills or as a tool for
safely negotiating the environment for children with no available travel vision;
(C) To understand and use remaining vision and distance low vision aids; and
(D) Other concepts, techniques, and tools.
(8)
(i) Parent counseling and training means assisting parents in understanding the special needs of
their child;
(ii) Providing parents with information about child development; and
(iii) Helping parents to acquire the necessary skills that will allow them to support the
implementation of their child’s IEP or IFSP.
(9) Physical therapy means services provided by a qualified physical therapist.
(10) Psychological services includes—
(i) Administering psychological and educational tests, and other assessment procedures;
(ii) Interpreting assessment results;
(iii) Obtaining, integrating, and interpreting information about child behavior and conditions
relating to learning;
(iv) Consulting with other staff members in planning school programs to meet the special
educational needs of children as indicated by psychological tests, interviews, direct observation,
and behavioral evaluations;
(v) Planning and managing a program of psychological services, including psychological
counseling for children and parents; and
(vi) Assisting in developing positive behavioral intervention strategies.
(11) Recreation includes—
(i) Assessment of leisure function;

11
(ii) Therapeutic recreation services;
(iii) Recreation programs in schools and community agencies; and
(iv) Leisure education.
(12) Rehabilitation counseling services means services provided by qualified personnel in
individual or group sessions that focus specifically on career development, employment
preparation, achieving independence, and integration in the workplace and community of a
student with a disability. The term also includes vocational rehabilitation services provided to a
student with a disability by vocational rehabilitation programs funded under the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.
(13) School health services and school nurse services means health services that are designed to
enable a child with a disability to receive FAPE as described in the child’s IEP. School nurse
services are services provided by a qualified school nurse. School health services are services
that may be provided by either a qualified school nurse or other qualified person.
(14) Social work services in schools includes—
(i) Preparing a social or developmental history on a child with a disability;
(ii) Group and individual counseling with the child and family;
(iii) Working in partnership with parents and others on those problems in a child’s living
situation (home, school, and community) that affect the child’s adjustment in school;
(iv) Mobilizing school and community resources to enable the child to learn as effectively as
possible in his or her educational program; and
(v) Assisting in developing positive behavioral intervention strategies.
(15) Speech-language pathology services includes—
(i) Identification of children with speech or language impairments;
(ii) Diagnosis and appraisal of specific speech or language impairments;
(iii) Referral for medical or other professional attention necessary for the habilitation of speech
or language impairments;
(iv) Provision of speech and language services for the habilitation or prevention of
communicative impairments; and
(v) Counseling and guidance of parents, children, and teachers regarding speech and language
impairments.
(16) Transportation includes—
(i) Travel to and from school and between schools;
(ii) Travel in and around school buildings; and
(iii) Specialized equipment (such as special or adapted buses, lifts, and ramps), if required to
provide special transportation for a child with a disability.

34 U.S.C. § 300.39 Special education.

(a) General.
(1) Special education means specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the
unique needs of a child with a disability, including—
(i) Instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other
settings; and
(ii) Instruction in physical education.
(2) Special education includes each of the following, if the services otherwise meet the
requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section—

12
(i) Speech-language pathology services, or any other related service, if the service is considered
special education rather than a related service under State standards;
(ii) Travel training; and
(iii) Vocational education.
(b) Individual special education terms defined. The terms in this definition are defined as
follows:
(1) At no cost means that all specially-designed instruction is provided without charge, but does
not preclude incidental fees that are normally charged to nondisabled students or their parents as
a part of the regular education program.
(2) Physical education means—
(i) The development of—
(A) Physical and motor fitness;
(B) Fundamental motor skills and patterns; and
(C) Skills in aquatics, dance, and individual and group games and sports (including intramural
and lifetime sports); and
(ii) Includes special physical education, adapted physical education, movement education, and
motor development.
(3) Specially designed instruction means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible child
under this part, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction—
(i) To address the unique needs of the child that result from the child’s disability; and
(ii) To ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the child can meet the
educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency that apply to all children.
(4) Travel training means providing instruction, as appropriate, to children with significant
cognitive disabilities, and any other children with disabilities who require this instruction, to
enable them to—
(i) Develop an awareness of the environment in which they live; and
(ii) Learn the skills necessary to move effectively and safely from place to place within that
environment (e.g., in school, in the home, at work, and in the community).
(5) Vocational education means organized educational programs that are directly related to the
preparation of individuals for paid or unpaid employment, or for additional preparation for a
career not requiring a baccalaureate or advanced degree.

34 U.S.C. § 300.323 When IEPs must be in effect.

(a) General. At the beginning of each school year, each public agency must have in effect, for each
child with a disability within its jurisdiction, an IEP, as defined in §300.320.
(b) IEP or IFSP for children aged three through five.
(1) In the case of a child with a disability aged three through five (or, at the discretion of the SEA, a
two-year-old child with a disability who will turn age three during the school year), the IEP Team
must consider an IFSP that contains the IFSP content (including the natural environments statement)
described in section 636(d) of the Act and its implementing regulations (including an educational
component that promotes school readiness and incorporates pre-literacy, language, and numeracy
skills for children with IFSPs under this section who are at least three years of age), and that is
developed in accordance with the IEP procedures under this part. The IFSP may serve as the IEP of
the child, if using the IFSP as the IEP is—
(i) Consistent with State policy; and
(ii) Agreed to by the agency and the child’s parents.
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(2) In implementing the requirements of paragraph (b)(1) of this section, the public agency must—
(i) Provide to the child’s parents a detailed explanation of the differences between an IFSP and an
IEP; and
(ii) If the parents choose an IFSP, obtain written informed consent from the parents.
(c) Initial IEPs; provision of services. Each public agency must ensure that—
(1) A meeting to develop an IEP for a child is conducted within 30 days of a determination that the
child needs special education and related services; and
(2) As soon as possible following development of the IEP, special education and related services are
made available to the child in accordance with the child’s IEP.
(d) Accessibility of child’s IEP to teachers and others. Each public agency must ensure that—
(1) The child’s IEP is accessible to each regular education teacher, special education teacher, related
services provider, and any other service provider who is responsible for its implementation; and
(2) Each teacher and provider described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section is informed of—
(i) His or her specific responsibilities related to implementing the child’s IEP; and
(ii) The specific accommodations, modifications, and supports that must be provided for the child in
accordance with the IEP.

14