POLICY LETTER: August 31, 2010 to Kansas State Department of Education Attorney Mark Ward

August 31, 2010Mark WardAttorney Special Education ServicesKansas State Department of Education 120 SE 10th AvenueTopeka, KS 66612Dear Mr. Ward:This is in response to your March 23, 2010 letter to Patricia J. Guard, former Deputy Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the U.S. Department of Education (Department). In your letter, you ask that OSEP review the policy on parental revocation of consent in the letter to H. Douglas Cox of the Virginia Department of Education, dated August 21, 2009. The referenced OSEP letter interprets Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Part B) as requiring a local educational agency to accept either parent's revocation of consent for his or her child's continued receipt of special education and related services under 34 CFR 300.300(b)(4), provided that the parent has legal authority to make educational decisions on behalf of the child.As we understand the essence of your inquiry, your view is that only the parent who gave consent has the right to revoke that consent at any time, and that OSEP should not interpret the regulations to give the non-consenting parent the right to revoke that consent. We believe that OSEP lacks the authority to adopt such an interpretation. The Part B regulations require that the public agency obtain consent from the parent of a child for the initial provision of special education and related services, and that the parent of a child may revoke consent in writing for the child's continued receipt of special education and related services any time subsequent to the initial provision of special education and related services. Once the parent of a child revokes consent in writing for the child's continued receipt of special education and related services, the public agency may not continue providing special education and related services to the child, but must provide prior written notice to both parents, consistent with 34 CFR 300.503, before ceasing the provision of such services. 34 CFR 300.300(b)(4)(i).Under Part B, any person who meets the dcc: Dale Dennis