POLICY LETTER: January 5, 2011 to Texas West Independent School District Assistant Superintendent Jan Hungate

January 5, 2011Jan Hungate, Ed.D., Assistant SuperintendentCharles Mikeska, Business ManagerWest Independent School District801 North ReaganWest, Texas 76691Dear Dr. Hungate:This is in response to your letter, written on behalf of the West Independent School District (District) regarding the residential facility (RF) located in your district. In your letter, you explain that the District is currently under conservatorship with a district monitor as a result of a lawsuit against Texas Educational Agency (TEA). You state that the only remaining noncompliance issue is the least restrictive environment (LRE) indicator as it relates to the RF, and that TEA will continue to assign a monitor to the District until the attendance data system reflects that a special education student or students who reside at the RF are attending the community middle school or high school near the RF. Based on this scenario, you ask whether: TEA can impose guidance and even sanctions that do not correspond to federal law and even our own state policies? Are we following IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] byMelody Musgrove, Ed.D.ecial Education Programscc: Kathy Clayton Page PAGE * MERGEFORMAT 2 Jan Hungate, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent