POLICY LETTER: May 16, 2006 to Massachusetts State Director of Special Education Marcia Mittnacht

Dated May 16, 2006Marcia MittnachtState Director of Special EducationMassachusetts Department of EducationSpecial Education Planning and Policy Development Office 350 Main StreetMalden, Massachusetts 02148-5023Dear Ms. Mittnacht:I am writing in response to your letter to the Office of Special Education- and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), regarding Massachusetts' plans for compliance with the parentally-placed private school provisions in section 612(a)(10)(A) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (Act). You request that the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) provide the Massachusetts Department of Education (MASSDE) specific guidance on the obligation of Massachusetts' school districts to provide and pay for special education and related services for parentally-placed private school children with disabilities who reside outside of Massachusetts and attend private elementary schools and secondary schools in the State. You also request that we review and provide recommendations on a September 13, 2005 memorandum (Administrative Advisory SPED 2006-3: IDEA-2004 and Private School Students) from your office to Massachusetts' special education administrators, educational collaborative directors, and other interested parties informing them about State and federal special education requirements and describing the procedures that MASSDE requires school districts to follow in order to demonstrate compliance.By way of background, you state that Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 71B requires school districts in Massachusetts to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to all eligible students with disabilities who reside in the State, regardless of where students attend school (including private schools). We conclude from your letter that parentally-placed private school students with disabilities who reside in the State are provided special education and related services pursuant to individualized education programs (IEPs) developed in accordance with section 614(d) of the Act, and these students and their parents are guaranteed all the procedural safeguards under section 615 of the Act. You further state that Massachusetts' regulations specify that school districts are not required to provide special education and related services to parentally-placed private school students with disabilities who reside outside of Massachusetts and are attending private schools in Massachusetts.We are responding to your request for specific guidance regarding the obligation of MassachusettSincerely,/s/John H. HagerPage PAGE 3 Marcia Mittnacht