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Policy IHBAG-R
Determinations regarding least restrictive programming may be made by the student’s Pupil Evaluation Team (PET) in the following manner:
The PET should first assess whether education in the regular classroom, with the use of supplementary aids and services, can be achieved satisfactorily. In making that determination, the PET should assess each of the following factors:
Supplementary aids and services that may assist the student in obtaining a satisfactory education in the regular classroom.
Supplementary aids and services may include, but are not limited to, resource services, assistive technology services, modifications of curriculum, use of educational technicians, and consultation services from special educators.
When assessing supplementary aids and services, the PET need not order placement in the regular classroom if it would require modification of the regular curriculum beyond recognition or would result in the student not having to learn any of the skills normally taught in that regular education curriculum.
A comparison of the benefits the student would receive in the regular education classroom with those that the student would receive in a more restrictive setting, such as a self-contained program.
The assessment of benefits should consider both academic and social benefits of participation in the placement being considered. The PET should also assess academic and social detriments for the student that may arise from that placement.
In some circumstances, the social benefits of regular education placement may outweigh the academic benefits, just as the academic benefits of a more restrictive setting may outweigh the social benefits of a regular education placement.
The effect that placement of the student in the regular classroom would have on other students in the classroom.
The PET need not place a student in the regular classroom when the student’s behavior, even with supplementary aids and services, would be so disruptive that the education of other students is significantly impaired. Nor would the PET need to place the student in the regular classroom when the student would require so much of the teacher or the educational technician’s time that the rest of the class suffers.
The financial cost would be of the supplementary aides and services accompanying an appropriate placement in the regular classroom.
Placement in the regular classroom may not be rejected under this factor simply because it would be incrementally more expensive than placement in a more restrictive setting. Yet the district need not educate a student in the regular classroom if the cost of such a placement would significantly impact the education of other students. The district need not place a student in the regular classroom if such placement requires that the student have his/her own full-time teacher.
If the PET determines after assessing the above factors that the student is unable to benefit from his or her educational program in the regular classroom with supplementary aids and services, the PET shall then determine the maximum extent of regular education participation that is appropriate.
In making this determination, the PET shall consider the full continuum of alternative placements—such as placing the student in regular education for some academic classes and in special education for others, regular education participation for nonacademic activities and classes only.
A student with a disability shall be placed in the school the student would normally attend unless the Individualized Education Program requires a different placement. In such a case, the placement shall be as close as possible to the student’s residence.
Legal Reference: 20 USC § 1412(a)(5)
34 CFR §§ 300.550-.552
Me. Dept. of Ed. Reg. ch. 101 §§ 11.1-11.3 (Nov. 1999)
Adopted: July 8, 2002
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