Have you ever taken the position that you have the authority, expertise and experience necessary to make decisions concerning transporting students with disabilities in your school district? If so, you may want to take the following five-question quiz.

The answers to the following questions may reshape your thinking or serve as confirmation that you are right on the mark in your decision-making when it comes to transporting students with disabilities.

True or false?

1. The final decision to determine which students with disabilities receive transportation services rests entirely with the transportation department.

2. The authority to deny transportation services to students with disabilities is based upon walking distance guidelines for all students.

3. If there are no funds for transporting secondary students to school, secondary students with disabilities will not have to be transported.

4. Financial limitations permit the termination of all bus attendants previously assigned to school buses serving students with disabilities.

5. Students with a disability can be removed from the bus indefinitely for behaviors that are a danger to the student, other students and the driver.

The answer to all of these questions is false. Below is a discussion supporting the position that the individualized education program (IEP) team is the correct means for decision-making. Your may want to assess when it is important for you to join the IEP team for decision-making purposes.

1. The responsibility to provide the related service transportation is directly related to a student's entitlement to receive a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). This determination is made at the student's IEP meeting by a team of qualified individuals. Guidance for determining whether to include transportation personnel at the IEP meeting is provided in the IDEA Regulations Notice of Interpretation, (Appendix A, Q. 33). This information is available on the web. It is advisable to consider including transportation personnel at IEP meetings for students who present specialized needs requiring expertise not available from other members of the IEP team. Participation by transportation personnel can be by attendance or written guidance. There is significant history of due process hearing officers and courts recognizing that transportation discussions should occur at IEP meetings.

2. Whether or not it is appropriate for a student with disabilities to walk to and from school is dependent upon a number of factors that must be considered by the IEP team. These factors include the distance the student lives from the school, the student's chronological age, cognitive level, appropriate judgment, physical ability, special needs and road hazards to and from school. All appropriate decision-makers must be included on the child's IEP team.

3. Lack of funding is never an acceptable reason for denying special education students the right to receive FAPE. A student's IEP must reflect the IEP team's determination that the student is eligible for the related service transportation. When approved by the IEP team, this service must be provided at no cost. If a school district establishes a policy not to transport secondary students, decisions related to transportation for students with disabilities must still be made on a case-by-case basis.

4. A school district may modify an existing policy that results in the elimination of attendants being assigned to all buses that transport students with disabilities. However, the district must then require IEP teams to determine when appropriate the need for a bus attendant for students with disabilities. This determination must be made on a case-by-case basis. Bus attendants may be essential to managing behavior, operating special equipment or supervising a student with a history of seizures during the bus ride. The number of presenting situations is endless.

5. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates a series of procedural safeguards when it comes to disciplinary removal from special education and related services such as transportation. These procedural safeguards are extremely complex. Removal of special education and related services for disciplinary reasons for a period up to ten days is not considered a procedural violation. Disciplinary removal decisions should not be a unilateral decision made by transportation personnel. A decision to remove special education and/or related services should only be made by school district personnel in accordance with federal, state and local policies and procedures.

A key lesson to be learned from this article is when not to make unilateral decisions. Nobody criticizes a leader who knows when to be an IEP team member.

Dr. Linda F. Bluth, Ed.D., is chief of community and interagency services with the Maryland State Department of Education.

Source: Reprinted from School Transportation News, February, 2005. All rights reserved.