What is the Least Restrictive Environment for my Child?

School districts must ensure that students with disabilities are educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE). There is a strong legal preference for educating special education students with their regular education peers when it can be done effectively with the use of supplemental services, aids, modifications and accommodations. It is thought that an education in the general education classroom will provide the best education and protect students from discrimination when it can be achieved.

What does Least Restrictive Environment Mean for My Child?

The least restrictive environment is the one in which your child spends as much time as possible with his or her non disabled peers while continuing to make satisfactory academic progress. Since every child's disability presents different academic challenges, what the least restrictive environment is for one child is not necessarily what it is for another child, even if the children have a common disability.

In order to determine what the least restrictive environment is for your child, the IEP Team must consider what services and supports could be put in place in the general education classroom to enable your child to achieve academically. If the Team decides that services and supports in the general education classroom are not enough to enable your child to be academically successful then alternative placements such as separate classrooms or different schools must be discussed and may be recommended.

How do Districts Comply with this Requirement?

The first, and perhaps the most important, step in complying with this requirement occurs at each individual IEP Team meeting when the Team discusses placement options, services and supports for the individual child. By placing each child in the least restrictive environment that is appropriate for that child, the district complies with the legal LRE requirements. Each special education student's placement must be reviewed annually based on the child's IEP and unless that IEP requires another arrangement, the child must be educated in the school that he or she would attend if non disabled.

The district also has a responsibility to make sure that a continuum of alternative placements is available to meet the needs of all special education students. This continuum should include supports and services in the general education classroom, in separate classrooms, in special schools, in the home and in hospitals or institutions.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is required to monitor the district's activities and must insist that the district implement any corrective action that is necessary to ensure students are being placed in the least restrictive environment.

What About Inclusion in Extracurricular Activities?

The requirement for inclusion applies not only to academic subjects but also to extracurricular activities and non structured learning time such as meals and recess. The district must ensure that each special education student participates in these types of activities with his or her non disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate to meet the needs of the special education student. The IEP Team must consider whether the child needs supplementary services and aids in order to participate in these activities.

This requirement also applies to students in public or private institutions. IEP Teams must consider whether it is appropriate to have these students participate in extracurricular activities at their home school.

When you are thinking about the least restrictive environment for you child it is important to remember that that while there is a presumption in favor of the general education classroom that is qualified by the fact that your child must be able to make satisfactory progress in that placement. In other words, the least restrictive environment is the one in which your child spends as much time with his or her non disabled peers and make satisfactory academic progress. If that cannot be achieved in the general education classroom then the least restrictive environment for your child will be an alternative placement.