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Subject: Transfer Students Arriving with no
IEP Document/Provision of Comparable Services
Source: Margaret Strecker, Director, Compliance
Intended Audience: Administrators of Special Education
Date: September 19, 2006
Regulations implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) require that, when a child with a disability (who had an IEP that was
in effect in a previous public agency in the same state) transfers to a new
public agency and enrolls in a new school within the same school year, the
new public agency (in consultation with the parents) must provide FAPE to
the child (including services comparable to those described in the child's
IEP from the previous public agency), until the responsible public agency
either adopts the child's IEP from the previous public agency or develops
and implements a new IEP. The regulations are the same for out-of-state
transfer students, with the exception that they specify that the comparable
services must be provided until the new public agency either conducts an
evaluation (if determined necessary) or develops and implements a new IEP
(if appropriate).
This message is intended to clarify that this requirement applies whether or
not the new public agency has received a copy of the child's IEP that was in
effect at the previous public agency. As long as interviews can establish
that the student was receiving services under an IEP and what those services
were, the new public agency is required to follow these regulations
regarding the provision of comparable services.
Document F of the current Special Education Compliance Standards and
Indicators and the Missouri Sample Documentation Form for IDEA Transfer
Students will be revised in the near future to more clearly reflect this
requirement. The Sample Documentation Form for IDEA Transfer Students has
been removed from the DESE website until it can be revised.
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