What is "Stay-Put"?
Stay-put is the right to keep your child in his or her current special education placement and/or receive your child's current special education services, even if the school proposes to change the placement or remove the services.
When Does "Stay-Put" Apply?
Stay-put only applies when the school has offered and the parent has accepted the previous placement and services. Therefore, there is no right to "stay-put" if the child has not been found eligible for special education, if the school is proposing an initial IEP, or if parents have always rejected the IEP proposal outright. In these situations, there is no "previously agreed-to" placement or services, so there are no stay-put rights. Stay-put is part of the Parents’ IEP response.
Expert Tip: If the IEP removes services you believe your child still needs, you need to mention stay-put in the IEP response. You do this by rejecting the omission of the services and writing that you are invoking your child’s right to continue to receive them. Try to be as specific as possible about what services you want to continue!
Massachusetts vs. Federal Law
Under Federal law, stay-put rights apply only when parents have filed a due process hearing request. Massachusetts law provides more rights for parents and students. In Massachusetts, once parents reject the IEP, they can invoke stay-put.
Expert Tip: Stay-put doesn’t just apply when a service is eliminated. You can invoke stay-put when you don’t agree with an important change to the special education service. This can be a change in service time (e.g. decrease from daily to twice per week), location (e.g. from in-class support to pull-out), or provider (e.g. from a special education teacher to a teaching assistant).
Asserting your child’s stay-put rights can be confusing. If you have questions about stay-put and need help navigating the special education process, contact the Boston area Law Offices of Wong & Boscarine LLC today.