Abstract:

Rural schools do not receive special compliance exemptions under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This paper examines the responsibilities of schools to students with disabilities, as outlined in IDEA regulations and court decisions, as well as implications for rural schools with limited funding and resources. Issues discussed include the proportion of federal funds intended for local schools, oversight of state agency compliance with federal regulations concerning funding distribution, the IDEA definition of a child with a disability, age requirements for identification and provision of special education and related services, court decisions about when a school's responsibility to a student ends, statutory categories of disability, the unconditional nature of the IDEA requirement of a free appropriate education for all students with disabilities, development of state-level child identification systems, development of state standards for special education, the state's responsibility to ensure appropriate use of federal and state special education funding, funding changes in the 1997 amendments to IDEA, presumption that children with and without disabilities will be educated together wherever possible, availability of a continuum of alternative placement options, qualitative standards, provision of special services unavailable in the school district, provision of extensive accommodations, and exclusion of medical services.