POLICY LETTER: August 5, 2010 to Little Cypress-Mauriceville Director of Special Programs Dr. Robert H. Finch

August 5, 2010Robert H. Finch, Ed.D.Director of Special ProgramsLittle Cypress-Mauriceville Special Programs 6579 FM 1130Orange, Texas 77632Dear Dr. Finch:This is in response to your February 22, 2010 letter to me, written on behalf of the Little Cypress Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District (District). In your letter, you ask that the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) comment On a monitoring finding by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), made in the Fall of 2009, that your District was not in compliance with 34 CFR 300.320(a)(2)(i) and 300.323(e) of the regulations for Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Part B). Specifically, you indicate that TEA found:A review of student eligibility folders and interviews with LEA staff indicated that some transfer students, upon enrollment, were initially provided interim programs that included special education and related services, but the interim programs did not include temporary goals or objectives.Your letter also indicates that you sought reconsideration of this finding from TEA, and TEA explained that it is implicit in the requirement to provide a FAPE [free appropriate public education] (including services comparable to those described in the child's IEP from the previous district) that the FAPE include goals that are aligned with the goals in the previous IEP."While it is not generally OSEP's practice to comment on a State educational agency's (SEA'S) monitoring findings, we believe that the TEA finding described above is consistent with applicable Part B requirements.Under 34 CFR 300.101(a), each State and its public agencies must ensure that a FAPE is made available to all children with disabilities residing in the State in mandatory age ranges. FAPE means special education and related services that: (1) are provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge; (b) meet the standards of the SEA, including the requirements of 34 CFR Part 300; (3) include an appropriate preschool, elementary school, or secondary school education in the State involved; and (4) are provided in conformity with an IEP that meets the requirements of 34 CFR 300.320 through 300.324. 34 CFR 300.17.Thus, FAPE, by definition, includes the provision of special education and related services in conformity with an IEP that includes measurable annual goals. 34 CFR 300.320(a)(2)(i). ThePage 2 - Robert II. Finch, Ed.D.IDEA was amended in 2004 to include explicit provisions to ensure that students with disabilities who transfer school districts in the Alexa Posny, Ph.D.Acting DirectorOffice of Special Education Programscc: Kathy Clayton