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U.S. Department of Education Releases “Dear Colleague” Letter on Bullying of Students with Disabilities

August 21, 2013
Source: U.S. Department of Education

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE), Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) released a “Dear Colleague” letter on the issue of bullying students with disabilities. The letter notes that any type of bullying could deny a student with a disability their right to a free, appropriate public education (FAPE), which could thus affect the student’s individualized education plan (IEP). The letter also says that schools cannot unilaterally decide to try to fix a bullying problem by moving a student with disabilities to a more-restrictive "protective" environment, or by changing a student's special education services.

View the letter from OSERS at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/bullyingdcl-8-20-13.pdf (PDF 4 pages).

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http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/bullyingdcl-8-20-13.pdf