What financial responsibility does the school district have for children who need private schools?

Dear Debbie,

Your questions raises a concern about your districts obligation to pay for private school outside of the school districts boundaries and to provide an assistive technology device that your child needs while attending that private school. Your question is ambiguous as to the circumstances that led to your child being placed in the school outside of your districts boundaries and the nature of the consideration by the school district as to whether this placement was necessary.

If the school district determines that the child requires placement in another public school or a private school due to the districts inability to provide that child with a free appropriate public education themselves, it is the school district’s obligation to provide funding for that non-private or non-district program, regardless of whether it is in the school district’s boundaries. On the other hand, if you made the placement to that private school because you believed that the private school was appropriate in comparison to your own public school, you may seek funding from the public school for that placement, but they are not automatically obligated to provide such funding just because you feel that the program is more appropriate.

In addition, where a parent unilaterally places a child in a private school, whether or not it is in the districts boundaries, the parent is required to provide the school district prior notice, either in writing 10 business days prior to the enrollment or at the IEP meeting prior to the enrollment identifying the intention to enroll the child in the private school, explaining that the enrollment because the public school has not provided a free appropriate public education, and explicitly requesting that the school district assume financial responsibility for the private school placement. Provision of this notice does not automatically require the public school to provide funding for the private school. Failure to provide the notice gives the public school a defense to the potential obligation they might otherwise have to pay for the private school.

If you voluntarily placed your child in the private school, and your child seeks additional services, whether special education, related services, or assistive technology, the public school is not automatically obligated to provide services to your child. In fact, under the rules relating to children voluntarily placed in private schools, any obligations for services would fall on the district in which the private school is located. The public school district in which the private school is located is obligated to develop a plan to provide a proportionate share of its federal special education reimbursement dollars for services voluntarily enrolled in private schools. The amount of money that is available for these proportionate services is very limited.

In addition, the services that are to be provided are not based on any individual child’s needs or entitlement to services but are based on the districts plan for distributing those proportionate share dollars to children in private schools generally, based upon consultation with the private schools and families with children who attend those private schools. There is no individual entitlement to special education and related services for children who are voluntarily enrolled in private schools.