How many times or for how long can a special education student be given lunch detention?

Question

Are there any laws in texas that protect a disabled student (behavioral problems) from missing recess? Student often receives lunch detention for bad behavior due to disability so he doesn't get to go to recess after eating. How many times can they do this within a year? The behavior is a manifestation of his disability. Lunch detention i sin the IEP but they refuse to take it out. I have tried. Can they legally continue to this?

Answer 1

as many times as they want to if i were you i would be good.

Answer 2

Signing the IEP does not mean you agree with it. It only indicates that you were at the meeting. You are free to go to the next step, which is a due process hearing. Read your Procedural Safeguards booklet.

If you child continues to receive lunch detention time after time, it means that this punishment IS NOT working for your child. If it did work, then he wouldn't keep going in there. So now they are punishing for punishment's sake. Again I urge you to ask them about what positives and teaching methods are being used to help your son. Read my previous answer.

Call a meeting a request an FBA to get to the bottom of the problem.

Answer 3

They can NOT punish a child for their behaviors IF the behaviors are related to the childs disabilitiy.

The way to get lunch detention taken out of the IEP is to follow the specific process in federal special ed law called IDEA --

Write a letter to the district special ed director stating that you are requesting prior written notice for the districts refusal of taking 'lunch detention' out of the IEP plan.

That's it.  The school has to have LEGAL reasons for any decision they make. This lunch detention is NOT a legal reason because

1. like I said above they can't punish a child for behaviors caused by the disabilitiy and

2. A child has to have POSITIVE disclipline in school. And this is not positive.

So, when you write this letter, the school will 'magically' change their minds and take the lunch detention out of the IEP plan becasue they will NOT put ILLEGAL reasons in writing on the prior written notice.

If they refuse to give you this notice, the next legal step is to file a formal state complaint for refusal to give prior written notice.

Answer 4

See if you can not get his doctor to right an order that being able to go outside and play will help with his behavioral problems.  Fresh air and exercise are usually good for children with behavioral problems.  Or you can always tell the school if they don't knock it off you will sue them for discriminating against the disabled.  Unless he is a danger to those on the playground, he should be able to go outside.

Answer 5

I know there are laws on how many times a student can be suspended but not sure about detention.  My thinking is that it's kind of the same thing though.  Talk to the Director of Special Education for your school.  Sometimes they attend IEP's and if yours doesn't request that they do and go over this during your next meeting.  I'm unclear if this is your child or your student.  As a parent I wouldn't sign the IEP until it's removed and would add something to the paperwork expressing my problem with the way this is being handled, and explaining that this is why you are refusing to sign.  If you can't resolve this issue at this level, keep moving up through the administration until you get what you are advocating for.

Answer 6

Try the Texas Behavior Support Initiative:

http://www.txbsi.org/

Also:

http://www.504idea.org/IDEA_Basics.pdf

Answer 7

Rember anything they put in any document in any IEP is subject to your consent. So if they propose a BIP with lunch detention and you don't agree sign that you do no consent.. or you consent to everything except BIP consequences etc. They cannot implement something you do not consent to. I do not believe there are specific laws that dictate maximums for this consequence however. As you asked earlier if the behavior is determined to be a manifestation of thier disability they cannot be suspended or expelled for such behavior -- other consequences can be in place, but again need to be part of a BIP that you have the right to consent or not consent to. A BIP should include reactive strategies.. how adults react if the behavior of target occurs or is observed.. how to de-escalate the behavior.. it does not have to include consequences such as punishment. I often write consequences that involve an extra teaching session to review replacement behaviors or what the child should of done instead of the problem behavior, a debriefing process a trip to the office or psychologist, having the child fill out a thinking about my behavior form... things that are logically related to the problem.

www. pent.ca.gov gives a good scoring guide for reactive strategies under the SBP-QEII