POLICY LETTER: December 19, 2011 to Denise Koscielniak, New Mexico Director of Special Education

December 19, 2011Denise KoscielniakState Director of Special EducationNew Mexico Public Education Department300 Don GasparSanta Fe, New Mexico 87501-2786Dear Ms. Koscielniak:This is in response to your March 8, 2011 letter to me, requesting that the Office of Special Education Programs clarify criteria that school districts can use in determining that children with disabilities should no longer receive speech-language pathology services. Your specific questions are as follows:Is it appropriate under the IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] for an LEA [local educational agency] to unilaterally dismiss the child from SLP [speech-language pathology] services only because he/she has reached a plateau or is no longer making progress on the IEP [individualized education program] goals and/or objectives if there is still a documented need for the service? Is it appropriate for LEAs to universally apply guidelines from ASHA [the American Speech HearingSincerely,/s/Melody Musgrove, Ed.D.DirectorOffice of Special Education ProgramsPage PAGE * MERGEFORMAT 2 Denise Koscielniak