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(1.99) What happens to my child’s special education program if we move from one school district to another?

(1.99) What happens to my child’s special education program if we move from one school district to another?

When a student transfers during a school year to a new district that is not part of the same Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA), the new district must provide the student with a FAPE, including services which are comparable to those in her previous district’s IEP for the first 30 days of attendance in the new district. (A SELPA is a California administrative unit composed of a single large school district, or a collection of smaller districts, which pools special education resources.) During the first 30 days, the new district must either adopt the IEP from the previous school district or develop and implement a new IEP that is consistent with federal and state special education law. [Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56325(a)(1).]

If a student moves to a new school district that is within the same SELPA, the new district must continue, without delay, to provide services comparable to those contained in the previous IEP, unless the parents and district develop and implement a new IEP. [Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56325(a)(2).]

If a student transfers into California with an IEP from another state, her new district must provide her with FAPE, including services comparable to those in her previous IEP, in consultation with her parents, until the new district conducts any new assessments and then develops a new IEP. [Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56325(a)(3).] The student’s new district must take reasonable steps to promptly obtain her school records. [20 U.S.C. Sec. 1414(d)(2)(C)(ii); 34 C.F.R. Secs. 300.323(e) & (f); Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56325(b)(1).]