As we look ahead to the start of the 2025-2026 school year, we want to remind our school district and cooperative clients that the ISBE special education regulations have been amended as follows:
• A request for an independent educational evaluation can be submitted to the school district superintendent or a special education administrator, whereas previously it could only be submitted to the superintendent
• An IEP must be provided to the parents immediately upon development or revision, unless a later date is agreed upon by the parents and documented in the IEP
• For students with intellectual or developmental disabilities, the IEP team must determine the student’s PUNS registration status at the annual IEP review, and refer the parents, as needed, to the designated employee who can provide information about PUNS registration
• An IEP team must take into account when developing an IEP, whether the student needs extra accommodations for emergencies, including natural disasters or an active shooter situation
• For students enrolled in a dual credit course, the student’s participation in the course must be documented within the student’s transition plan
• When a student is to receive home or hospital instruction, the IEP team must meet to determine the type and amount of home or hospital services. Additionally, instruction may be delivered in-person or via an online platform, as determined by the IEP team. The amended regulations removed the ability to provide 2-hours minimum per week for home or hospital instruction provided via telephone or other technological device, thereby requiring the 5-hours minimum per week of instruction to apply irrespective of whether the services are provided in-person or via online platform
• For students placed in a nonpublic special education facility, the facility must request to convene an IEP meeting before it can terminate a student’s placement
• The timeline for providing prior written notice to the parents before a school district’s proposal or refusal to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of, or the provision of FAPE to, a student is now 10 school days rather than 10 calendar days
• Stay-put will go into effect if parents request mediation within 10 school days of receiving notice of a proposed change in placement
Please do not hesitate to contact any of our ECB&S attorneys by phone (630-313-4750) or e-mail if you have questions about the amended special education regulations.
We have updated our Key Special Education Timelines resource document in alignment with the amended regulations. We encourage you to review this resource document by clicking on the link below.
