Agenda / Content Covered

1. IDEA or Section 504? Determining Eligibility Under Both Laws
   9:00 - 10:00, Paul J. Margiotta
   
   1. Section 504
      1. What is a Disability Under Section 504?
      2. Major Life Activities: What do They Encompass?
      3. Substantial Limitations: What is the Bar?
      4. Impairment Determinations: What Can and Can't be Considered?
   2. The IDEA
      1. Eligibility Categories
      2. ADHD and Other Difficult-to-Place Disabilities
      3. Required Need for Specially Designed Instruction
      4. Best Practices for Determining Eligibility
      5. IDEA-Eligible Students with Additional Medical Needs
   3. Handling Disputes with Parents over Eligibility
2. Developing and Implementing 504 Plans: Ensuring a Level Playing Field
   10:15 - 11:15, Lauren Schnitzer
   
   1. Eligibility: What Should be Considered
   2. What Accommodations Should and Should not do
   3. 504 Accommodations vs. Specially Designed Instruction (and Why it Matters)
   4. Distribution of 504 Plans
   5. Avoiding Modifications
   6. Reviews and Re-Evaluations
   7. 504 Plan Red Flags to Avoid
3. The IEP Development Process: Handling Difficult Issues
   11:15 - 12:15, Marion M. Walsh
   
   1. IDEA Evaluation Report Essentials
   2. The IEP Meeting: What if Parents Refuse to Come?
   3. Third-Party Participation at IEP Meetings: Outside Agencies, Invited Guests, etc.
   4. Avoiding Predetermination on IEPs
   5. Parent Recording of IEP Meetings: Can Schools Prohibit it?
   6. Ensuring the IEP Team has all Necessary Members
   7. Creating Measureable IEP Goals and Progress Requirements
   8. Creating a Prudent Paper Trail
4. Key Considerations for Implementing IEPs
   1:15 - 2:15, Jacob S. Feldman
   
   1. Who Should Receive a Copy? What Form Should it be?
   2. Teacher Training: Necessary Requirements to Ensure Successful Implementation
   3. Progress Monitoring, Documentation and Reporting
   4. What to do When IEPs Aren't Working
   5. Mid-Year Revisions
      1. Who Can Make Them?
      2. When Should They be Made?
5. Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBAs) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs): Ensuring Best Practices
   2:15 - 3:15, Timothy Mahoney
   
   1. What IDEA Says About FBAs and BIPs
   2. Who Should be Involved in the Process?
   3. Meeting Key Evaluation Requirements
   4. How to Use the Information
   5. BIPs and Their Relation to IEPs
   6. Creating BIPs That are Useful for Staff
   7. Crisis Components and BIPs
   8. Behavior Plans and Section 504
   9. Handling Disagreements with Parents
6. Discipline and Expulsion Essentials Under IDEA and Section 504
   3:30 - 4:30, Mara N. Harvey
   
   1. Providing Services During Disciplinary Removal
      
   2. How Manifestation Determination Reviews Apply
   3. Protections for Children not yet Eligible for Special Education and Related Services
   4. Changes in Placement
      1. Suspensions and the Ten-Day Rule
      2. Legal Rules Governing Removal or Expulsion
      3. Interim Alternative Educational Settings
   5. Other Available Remedies
   6. Multiple Suspensions and Denial of Free Appropriate Public Education

Accreditation Details:

JACOB S. FELDMAN is a founding partner in the Garden City law firm of Frazer & Feldman. He received his J.D. degree from Brooklyn Law School and his B.A. degree (cum laude) from Brooklyn College. He is admitted to practice law in the state courts of New York, the United States Supreme Court, the Second Circuit and the Federal Circuit courts of Appeals, and the Southern and Eastern District courts of New York. Since 1987, he has served public school districts as general counsel. He has handled the defense of public school districts in major federal and state litigation involving civil rights; age, race, disability and sexual discrimination matters; sexual harassment complaints; special education matters; and appeals to the Appellate Division, First and Second departments, the New York State Court of Appeals, and to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He has handled the successful defense of dozens of impartial hearings and appeals to the SRO and federal courts on behalf of school districts. Mr. Feldman is a frequent speaker in various special education law programs, speaking on topics including "Developing a Bulletproof IEP," student discipline, preparation for and defense of impartial hearings and Section 504 in N.Y., conducted by the Nassau-Suffolk Academies of Law, NYSSBA, LIASEA, the Council of New York Special Education Administrators, St. John's University, and many of their school district clients. He is the author of "Read All About It," a monthly compilation of special education cases appearing in the "Attorney’s Corner" of Frontline's Directors' Website. He has been recognized annually by Pulse magazine as one of Long Island's Top Legal Eagles in the field of education law since 2010, and by New York Magazine as a Legal Leader - New York Area's Top Rated Lawyers annually since 2013.

MARA N. HARVEY is a partner at Lamb & Barnosky, LLP, and works in the firm’s Trusts and Estates and Education, Labor and Municipal departments. Ms. Harvey has lectured on education law issues at conferences sponsored by the Nassau and Suffolk Academies of Law, as well as the New York State School Attorneys Association and the Long Island Attendance Professionals and Teachers Association. She has been listed in Long Island Business News "Who’s Who in Women in Professional Services." She received her undergraduate degree in accounting from Binghamton University and her law degree, magna cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law, where she was notes and comments editor of the Law Review and a member of Phi Alpha Delta and the Order of the Coif. Ms. Harvey was a summer associate at Lamb & Barnosky, LLP, in 2002. She is admitted to the New York State Bar Association, and is a member of the Education Law Committee of the Suffolk County Bar Association and is a past co-chair of the committee.

TIMOTHY MAHONEY is a partner in the law firm of Frazer & Feldman, where he practices in the areas of special education matters, including impartial hearings and appeals, and attends Section 504 and CSE meetings, student discipline, and manifestation determination hearings. Mr. Mahoney is admitted to practice in the state courts of New York, as well as the Federal Court in the Eastern and Southern districts of New York. He received his J.D. degree from City University School of Law and his B.A. degree from Virginia Commonwealth University.

PAUL J. MARGIOTTA is the founder of the Margiotta Law Firm (2003). Mr. Margiotta concentrates his practice on state and federal civil litigation, in areas such as personal injury, civil rights, education, employment and municipal law. Mr. Margiotta was the president of the Nassau Court Officer’s Benevolent Association, the union representing all court employees in Nassau County state courts during 2000, 2001 and 2002. He also served as special prosecutor, chief deputy town attorney, and then the town attorney for the town of Babylon from 2003 until 2011. In 2012, he was appointed by the county executive to the position of chief deputy Suffolk County attorney and director of labor relations for Suffolk County. In 2013, Mr. Margiotta was appointed by the county executive to the position of executive director of the Suffolk County Traffic and Parking Violations Agency, which he continues in to date. Mr. Margiotta attended Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center and Dowling College simultaneously, receiving a Master of Business Administration (magna cum laude) and Juris Doctor (cum laude) upon completion. He is admitted to practice in New York state courts, the United States District Court for the Eastern District, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and is a member of the Suffolk County Bar Association.

LAUREN SCHNITZER is an attorney at Lamb & Barnosky, LLP, where she concentrates her practice on education, labor and municipal law, and civil litigation. She serves as general and labor counsel to the firm’s school district, BOCES and other municipal clients, and as special education counsel to school districts. She also represents management in public and private sector labor and employment matters, including workplace investigations, discipline, contract negotiations and grievance arbitrations. Ms. Schnitzer represents public and private sector clients in all phases of civil litigation in state and federal court and in administrative matters, including before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the New York State Division of Human Rights, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, the New York State Education Department, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. She has lectured at programs sponsored by the Nassau and Queens County bar associations and has been the author of articles for the Nassau Lawyer, the Suffolk Lawyer and On Board, a publication of the New York State School Boards Association. She was an assistant chapter editor for the second edition of the American Bar Association’s treatise, Discipline and Discharge in Arbitration. Ms. Schnitzer received her undergraduate degrees from Binghamton University and her law degree from St. John’s University School of Law. While in law school, she was an editor of the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review and served as a judicial intern for Justice Kenneth A. Davis of the Nassau County Supreme Court. Ms. Schnitzer is admitted to the New York and New Jersey bars and the U.S. District Court, Eastern and Southern districts of New York.

MARION M. WALSH is a partner with Littman Krooks LLP, where she focuses her practice on special and general education advocacy. Ms. Walsh has worked in education law for more than 15 years and has been an advocate for children in many capacities. She has worked to improve public school districts for all students. She is a past president of the Hendrick Hudson Board of Education (2009-2012) and served on the board as a trustee for nine years. Prior to joining Littman Krooks LLP, Ms. Walsh recently worked as an attorney for a law firm specializing in education law, where her practice focused on special education compliance and defense. She is a certified impartial hearing officer for children with disabilities by the New York State Education Department. Ms. Walsh has written three books: What Do I Do When? The Answer Book on the No Child Left Behind Act, The Superintendent’s Guide to Special Education Policies and Procedures, and Student Discipline & School Safety: Administrator’s Guide to Best Practices, Policies & Procedures. She received her J.D. degree from New York University School of Law and her B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Long Island University C.W. Post Campus. Ms. Walsh is admitted to practice in New York, the U.S. District courts for the Southern and Eastern districts of New York, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She is also on the Board of Directors of NAMI Westchester.