Special Education Spotlight Series for Administrators

An increasingly vexing problem for school administrators is managing students with mental health issues who struggle to attend school regularly, directly compromising their academic progress.

This session, presented by Jose Martín, Esq., will offer data on how attendance impacts ultimate educational outcomes, dispels some common misconceptions with respect to child-find and IDEA eligibility. Martín will also present various practical measures an IEP team can take to address the problem, including: behavioral intervention planning, counseling (and dealing with students who resist counseling services), targeted IEP accommodations, adjusting course schedules, considering parent training and coordination, identifying relevant IEP goal areas and framing measurable goals, the role of homebound services, and helpful ideas for attendance support services. Recent cases will serve to illustrate how this problem presents itself in real-life situations.

By attending this session, you’ll gain:

• Clear identification of key misconceptions surrounding student attendance issues that create serious legal liability in child-find and IDEA eligibility determinations.
• An expanded toolkit of actionable IEP supports and services designed to address significant attendance difficulties, school refusal, and student resistance to counseling.
• Practical frameworks for framing measurable goals, leveraging behavioral intervention planning, and determining the appropriate role of homebound services.
• Critical insights from recent case law illustrating how courts evaluate district compliance and defensibility in attendance-related disputes.

Discipline decisions involving students with disabilities require balancing safety, compliance, and educational needs under pressure. Navigating the intersection of the IDEA, Section 504, and district policy can create major legal vulnerabilities without precise procedural safeguards and appropriate documentation.

In this session, Brandon K. Wright, Esq., will provide a practical framework for managing discipline from incident to resolution. Learn how to help your team avoid legal pitfalls, maintain services, and make defensible decisions. You will leave with actionable, immediate strategies to support safe, compliant learning environments.

By attending this session, you’ll gain:

• A step-by-step framework for your teams to analyze discipline situations involving students with disabilities.
• Clear guidance on when discipline protections are triggered and the critical questions to ask first.
• Key insights into common documentation mistakes that create legal risk and how to build a defensible record.
• Tactics to confidently navigate manifestation determinations (MDRs), interim alternative settings (IAES), and removals.
• Turnkey strategies to promote district consistency, reduce disputes, and support compliant schools.

It’s well known that the IDEA requires students to be educated with nondisabled peers, to the “maximum extent appropriate.” But how exactly should your IEP teams determine the “maximum extent appropriate?” Join school attorney Alefia Mithaiwala, Esq. in this insightful session, where she’ll demystify the LRE requirements, uncover common challenges that arise when moving students to more restrictive settings, and share strategies for avoiding legal pitfalls. You’ll gain key insights through real-world case studies, including a case successfully litigated by Attorney Mithaiwala, to strengthen your team’s ability to make informed, defensible placement decisions. During this session, you’ll:

• Gain clarity on the IDEA’s LRE requirements and how your team should apply them to create legally sound IEPs
• Learn key insights from case studies that highlight successful navigation of the LRE continuum
• Walk away with practical strategies for defending your district’s FAPE offers when challenged

IEP meetings often become compliance-driven events rather than collaborative, student-centered experiences. Special education administrators face the ongoing challenge of moving beyond basic compliance to foster authentic, inclusive partnerships with families. Redesigning meeting structures to address cultural and linguistic differences builds trust and directly improves student outcomes.

In this session, Andratesha Fritzgerald, Ed.S., will demonstrate how districts can center student voice, honor family expertise, and build equitable decision-making processes. Through real-world examples and actionable tools, leaders will gain a strategic framework to transform IEP meetings into collaborative spaces where all stakeholders feel valued and empowered.

By attending this session, you’ll gain:

• Methods to identify common barriers that prevent families and students from fully participating in IEP meetings.
• Practical insights for implementing culturally responsive practices that strengthen family engagement and trust.
• Turnkey meeting structures your teams can use to elevate student voice and self-determination.
• Actionable approaches to apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to improve meeting accessibility.
• Proven protocols to shift IEP meetings from compliance-driven events to collaborative planning experiences.