Public School Recommendations and IEP Meetings

Some parents going through the IEP process expect that the CSE will recommend an actual public school site by the conclusion of their IEP meeting. This point, and the issue of whether the CSE has an obligation to give a specific school site recommendation at that meeting, has been the source of litigation. Some courts have held that federal law requires that an IEP provide a description of the type of program that would be appropriate for the child but does not require a specific school site recommendation. See T.Y. v. New York City Department of Education, 584 F.3d 412 (2nd Circuit). Of course, the Department of Education does have an obligation to find a suitable school site for the child but this is typically left up to the Department's central placement office rather than the CSE. The thinking is that by mainstreaming the process in this manner the Department will be better able to identify appropriate school sites. But the frequency with which the Department recommends schools that are totally not appropriate suggests that the system is not running quite as it should be.