Agenda / Content Covered

1. Essential Special Education Legal Updates You Need to Know
   9:00 - 9:45, John V. Robinson
2. Developing Legally Compliant IEPs That Benefit Students: With Examples
   9:45 - 10:45, John V. Robinson
   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
3. Manifestation Determination Reviews (MDRs): Did the Disability Cause the Behavior?
   11:00 - 11:45, John V. Robinson
   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
4. 504 Plan Eligibility and Accommodation Best Practices
   12:45 - 1:45, Joan H. Proper
   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. Bullying and Harassment: Ensuring Special Needs Students Receive Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
   1:45 - 2:30, Joan H. Proper
   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
6. Avoiding Disability Discrimination Complaints: Lessons From Recent Court Cases and Enforcement Actions
   2:45 - 3:45, Grace E. Kim
   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
7. English Language Learners (ELLs) and Special Education: Ensuring Legal Best Practices
   3:45 - 4:30, Grace E. Kim
   1. Knowing When Referral is Appropriate
   2. How ELLs Should be Evaluated
   3. IEPs for ELLs
      1. IEP Meeting Essentials for ELLs
      2. Ensuring Language Instruction Meshes with IEP Objectives
   4. Legally Compliant School Policies for English Language and Special Education Co-Services

GRACE E. KIM is the principal attorney with The Law Office of Grace E. Kim, P.C. She focuses her practice on special education and education law, to include issues involving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), restraint and seclusion, school discipline, and higher education issues. Ms. Kim has been working on behalf of children with special needs since 2002 as a mother of a special needs child; a paralegal and law clerk who focused on special education, school law and juvenile justice; and an attorney dedicating her practice to representing families of special needs children with legal and education-related issues. She earned her B.A. degree from Nyack College, her M.A. degree from Alliance Theological Seminary, and her J.D. degree from the George Mason School of Law. Ms. Kim is a member of the George Mason Inn of Court.

JOAN H. PROPER is the owner of The Law Office of Joan H. Proper, PC, where she represents clients in education, family, and juvenile law matters through legal advocacy, dispute resolution mechanisms, and litigation. Ms. Proper is certified as a guardian ad litem for incapacitated adults and serves as counsel for those seeking guardianship and/or conservatorship of an incapacitated adult. She is admitted to the Virginia Bar and is licensed to practice in the Virginia state courts and the Eastern District of Virginia. Ms. Proper is a member of the Virginia State Bar, the Fairfax Bar Association, the Prince William County Bar Association, and the Virginia Women Attorneys Association. Prior to law school, she was a teacher for the Diocese of Arlington and then in Fairfax County Public Schools. During law school, Ms. Proper was a law clerk with William B. Reichhardt and Associates and subsequently an associate with the firm. She earned her B.A. degree from Virginia Tech, her M.Ed. degree from the University of Virginia, and her J.D. degree, cum laude, from George Mason University School of Law.

JOHN V. ROBINSON is an attorney with John V. Robinson PC. He has served for almost 20 years as a hearing officer on appointment by the Supreme Court of Virginia, concerning numerous administrative due process proceedings, including special education, Section 504, FERPA, and other matters. Mr. Robinson teaches as an adjunct faculty at the University of Richmond. He earned his law degrees from Rhodes University in South Africa, Oxford University in England, and from the University of Richmond.