School Aids
Before I get into my answer to the question I am not an attorney, I don't play one online (not even a little bit) and the information that I am going to provide is not legal advice nor a replacement for legal advice if you need it.
Q: Our local school district does not have an aide for my daughter. She is 20 and its her last year. We previously had an aide through a local pediatric company, that position was terminated. I work for a home health care company and offered to be my daughters companion but the school thought it would be a conflict of interest. My question is what are my daughters rights as far as a school aide being appointed to her? At this time I am dropping her off one afternoon a week to attend school and the teacher is sending work to do at home. What are our options?
A: Dear Parent,
Thank you for this question, there is a huge staff shortfall currently due to the COVID-19 pandemic not just for support staff but in healthcare and providers. The district is actually responsible for providing staff that meet the needs of the student as is outlined in the IEP. I have attached the "BEC" Basic Education Circular from the PA Bureau of Special Education that outlines the responsibility of the district to provide the staff to ensure FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education) is being provided. One to one support is required when there is documented need for support to access the school environment. A companion is not required in a school setting, however, if your daughter requires someone to support her accessing the curriculum, functional activities and/or activities of daily living then the "LEA" (Local Educational Agency) is required to provide this as a related service. This is a determination of the IEP team and is documented in the IEP. Generally it wouldn't be appropriate and could be deemed a conflict to provide this service for your child in a school setting, however, the district is obligated to provide and if the district is unable to find staff at this time it could be a temporary solution that the district may just have to address.
The part that I find is very powerful in this document is "The LEA may meet its obligation to provide one-to-one support using services funded by medical assistance, such as TSS services, to the extent that the student qualifies for such services under the medical assistance system. However, eligibility for one to-one support through medical assistance and reliance on use of medical assistance cannot be a precursor or condition to the provision of one-to-one support services. Nor may the LEA require a parent to utilize or obtain medical assistance or other insurance or suggest that the parent must appeal any medical assistance denial of services as a condition to obtain one-to-one support.
In summary, an LEA is the agency primarily and ultimately responsible for meeting the needs of students with disabilities. As such, the responsible LEA must ensure that all necessary services and supports required by an IEP or Service Agreement are provided in a timely manner. An LEA cannot rely on the provision of a TSS service by the medical assistance system to meet its obligation of FAPE. Moreover, it is never appropriate to deny a student access to curriculum, school, school-sponsored activities, or transportation because of the unavailability of staff or funds to provide one-to-one services"
If the district denies the request or fails to provide the service per the IEP I suggest you engage the services of an educational advocate or file a state complaint with the Office for Dispute Resolution at https://odr-pa.org/parent-resources/state-complaint-process/
Hope this helps to resolve this issue for your daughter.