Date:       June 30, 2010

Subject:   Basic Education Circular Educational Programs for Students in “Non-Educational” Placements 

To:          School District Superintendents

Intermediate Unit Executive Directors

From:       Diane Castelbuono, Deputy Secretary

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Pennsylvania Department of Education

The Department of Education issued an updated Basic Education Circular (BEC), May 2010, entitled Educational Programs for Students in “Non-Educational” Placements.  This BEC sets out in detail the obligations of “host” school districts  (that is, school districts in which “children’s institutions” or residential placements are located) to meet the education and special education needs of the children placed in those facilities by mental health, child welfare or other agencies for reasons not related to the children’s education.  The BEC does not apply to children placed in the facility by their charter schools or resident school districts.

This BEC sets out important information relating to the education of children who reside in institutions/residential placements.  It is important that host and resident/home school districts understand their responsibility to children residing in children’s institutions.  Chief School Administrators should review the BEC carefully, and if you represent a host school district, make sure that your policies and practices align with these requirements.  Following is a summary of the key points addressed in the BEC.

·          Children’s institutions can include residential treatment facilities, drug and alcohol programs, licensed shelters, group homes, detention centers and other residential settings.  As noted above, this BEC does not apply to children placed for educational purposes by their charter schools or resident school districts.

·          The Department of Public Welfare (DPW) issued a companion Bulletin, OMHSAS -10-02 dated January 4, 2010, that sets out the obligations of the residential facilities.  PDE and DPW worked together on this BEC and support the principles outlined in the BEC.

·          Responsibilities of residential facilities include notifying host school districts when students are admitted and to facilitate discharge planning. The DPW Bulletin also reiterates their longstanding prohibition against “bundling” (that is requiring that children be educated on-site as a condition of admission to a facility). The PDE BEC and a link to the DPW Bulletin can be found on the Department’s website at the following location:  (http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/basic_education_circulars/7497)

·          The host school district is responsible for ensuring that children in children’s institutions located in the school district receive the education, special education and Section 504 protections they require, including when appropriate, the right to FAPE in the LRE. 

·          Children living in a children’s institution cannot be presumed to need or require on-site education programs.  To the contrary, these children should be educated in the host district’s regular public schools, in a special education program if appropriate, unless:  1) there is a court order that requires that the child be educated on-site; 2)  a current NOREP or IEP, or a service agreement under Chapter 15, requires a different placement; 3)  the child is currently expelled from school due to a weapons offense;  4)  the student is placed in an “interim alternative educational setting” through IDEA procedures or 5) the parent or other legally authorized person agrees that the child should be educated on-site. A student may not be presumptively assigned to an alternative school for disruptive youth.

·          Decisions as to whether a child should be educated in the public schools of the school district, and what education or special education the child requires, must be made on an individual basis in consultation with the parent or other legally authorized educational decision-maker who must be informed of the child's right to attend a regular public school in the host district (subject to the exceptions above). 

·          For a child eligible for special education, this decision should be made in an IEP meeting convened without delay after the child is admitted to the facility.  The IEP meeting must include the child’s parent or other legally authorized decision-maker (i.e., IDEA parent).  Until a new IEP is developed, the child must receive services comparable to those in the IEP from the prior school district.

·          A child must be attending a school program no more than five days after the child’s admission to the facility.

·          The host school district is responsible for Child Find under the IDEA and Chapter 15/Section 504 for students at the facility and for ensuring that students who are or may be eligible for special education have a parent or a surrogate parent to make necessary decisions for the child.

·          With notice from the facility, the host school district should work with the resident school district, or the new host district if appropriate, to prepare at least two weeks in advance of discharge.

·          Resident school districts must cooperate with transfer of records, and have a role in monitoring the student’s education and progress and in transition and discharge planning.

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