Placement Decisions and the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Placement decisions are made by your student’s IEP team after
the IEP has been developed. The term “placement” in special education
does not necessarily mean the precise physical location where your
student will be educated. Rather, your student’s “placement” refers to
the range or continuum of educational settings available in the district
to implement her/his IEP and the overall amount of time s/he will spend
in the general education setting.
One of the defining principles of special education law is that
students with disabilities should be included in the general education
program as much as possible and not excluded or educated separately. The
law requires districts to provide special education services in the
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). The LRE is the educational setting
that is closest to the general education classroom that still allows the
student to access an appropriate education from which they can benefit.
The LRE is unique to your student’s individual needs. Thus, the
selection of an appropriate placement for your student must take into
account the following four factors:
- The content of your student’s IEP;
- The LRE requirements;
- The likelihood that the placement option will provide a reasonably
high probability of assisting your student to attain her/his annual
goals; and
- The consideration of any potentially harmful effects that the
placement option might have on your student or on the quality of
services that your student needs