Agenda / Content Covered

1. Essential Special Education Legal Updates You Need to Know
   9:00 - 10:00, Kevin B. Gordon
2. Bullying and Harassment: Ensuring Special Needs Students Receive Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
   10:15 - 11:15, Kevin B. Gordon
   1. Understanding FAPE in Different Forms: IDEA and Section 504
   2. Recognizing Harassment and Interference with Special Education Services
   3. Special Needs Students as Perpetrators: How to Handle it
   4. Documenting Responses to Bullying and Harassment
3. Developing Legally Compliant IEPs That Benefit Students: With Examples
   11:15 - 12:15, Jennifer M. Deutch and Aimee LeBlanc
   1. Evaluation Best Practices
   2. Mitigating the Chance for Legal Liabilities in the Meeting
   3. Ensuring Legally Defensible Documentation for Every Decision
   4. IEP Progress Monitoring
   5. Changing the IEP: Essential Guidelines
   6. IEP Do's and Don'ts - With Examples
4. 504 Plan Eligibility and Accommodation Best Practices
   1:15 - 2:15, Jennifer M. Deutch and Aimee LeBlanc
   1. 504 Plans vs. IEPs
   2. Eligibility Procedure Best Practices
      1. Should IDEA Procedures be Used?
      2. The ADAAA and 504 Plan Eligibility
      3. The Use of Parent-Submitted Information
   3. Determining Educationally - and Legally - Appropriate Accommodations
   4. Legal Best Practices for Students Who Do Not Need Classroom Accommodations
5. Manifestation Determination Reviews (MDRs): Did the Disability Cause the Behavior?
   2:15 - 3:15, Joseph P. Selbka
   1. Necessary Procedures Under the IDEA
   2. Discipline Documentation: What to Include
   3. Determining if Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs), Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) and Discipline Documentation Align
   4. What to Do if MDR Results are Disputed
6. Avoiding Disability Discrimination Complaints: Lessons From Recent Court Cases and Enforcement Actions
   3:30 - 4:30, Joseph P. Selbka
   1. Ensuring Equal Access to All Programs: Sports, Gifted and Talented, Etc.
   2. Technology and Accessibility, Including Websites
   3. Ensuring Modifications and Changes in Placement are Necessary
   4. Discriminatory Suspension and Discipline Practices
   5. Inappropriate Use of Restraint and Seclusion
   6. Recognizing Racial Disparity in Special Education Programs

Accreditation Details:

JENNIFER M. DEUTCH is a partner with Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick & Kohn LLP. She advises school districts and public bodies in all areas of the law, with a special emphasis on student, special education and charter school matters. Ms. Deutch is a certified federal mediator and serves on the Subpoena Committee of the Illinois Council of School Attorneys. Prior to entering law school, she was a special education teacher. Ms. Deutch graduated, with highest honors, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received her J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University. She is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Missouri.

KEVIN B. GORDON is a partner at Kriha Boucek, LLC, where his practice includes work in the areas of student rights, special education, school finance, construction, real estate, litigation and general school law. Mr. Gordon is a frequent speaker on student discipline, residency, privacy, and business issues. He is admitted to the State Bar of Texas where he practiced school law before joining the firm. Mr. Gordon is admitted to practice in Illinois. He earned his B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. degree from Southern Methodist University. Mr. Gordon is a past member of the Executive Committee of the Illinois Council of School Attorneys, serving as its chairman. He is a frequent speaker for the Illinois Association of School Business Officials and the Illinois Association of Administrators of Special Education, and at the annual IASB/IASA/IASBO Joint Conference. He is a recognized leader and trusted partner in the areas of special education, student discipline, rights and residency, school finance, collective bargaining, business transactions, and general school law issues. He is a frequent speaker on school law issues.

KEVIN B. GORDON is a partner at Kriha Boucek, LLC, where his practice includes work in the areas of student rights, special education, school finance, construction, real estate, litigation and general school law. Mr. Gordon is a frequent speaker on student discipline, residency, privacy, and business issues. He was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1996, where he practiced school law before joining the firm. Mr. Gordon was admitted to practice in Illinois in 1999. He is a frequent speaker for the Illinois Association of School Business Officials, Illinois Association of Administrators of Special Education, and at the annual IASB/IASA/IASBO Joint Conference. Mr. Gordon is a recognized leader and trusted partner in the areas of special education, student discipline, rights and residency, school finance, collective bargaining, business transactions, and general school law issues. He earned his B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. degree from Southern Methodist University.

AIMEE LEBLANC is an attorney with Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick & Kohn LLP, where she counsels school districts in a variety of school law matters. She is a member of the National and Illinois Council of School Attorneys. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. LeBlanc spent more than 20 years working in public elementary education districts in Illinois, including nine years of experience working as an administrator in the area of student services, serving as a coordinator, a state-approved director of special education, and most recently as an assistant superintendent for student services for Arlington Heights School District 25. Ms. LeBlanc received her B.S. degree from Marquette University and her Master of Arts from Northwestern University. She graduated summa cum laude from the John Marshall Law School where she was a member of the Phi Delta Phi Legal Honors Fraternity and the John Marshall Law Review.

JOSEPH P. SELBKA is an attorney with Pluymert, MacDonald, Hargrove & Lee, Ltd. Mr. Selbka focuses his practice in the areas of business law, church and not-for-profit law, commercial real estate, employment law, estate planning, litigation and mediation, as well as probate and trust administration. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Northwest Suburban Bar Association, and serves on the Arlington Heights Board of Zoning Appeals. Mr. Selbka earned his B.A. degree from the University of Illinois; his J.D. degree, cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School; and his M.P.A. degree from the University of Illinois.