Disciplining Students with Disabilities: What the Law Requires
August 14,2025
December 31,2025
All Days
60 Minutes
Recorded Webinar
Education
Join us for an essential webinar led by a nationally recognized special education attorney, designed for school personnel, parents, and advocates. This informative session will provide a clear understanding of the legal framework surrounding the discipline of students with disabilities under IEPs and Section 504 plans. What you will learn:’
- The legal rights of students with disabilities facing disciplinary actions;
- The obligations schools must follow under federal law, including IDEA and Section 504;
- How these laws apply to public schools, including charter schools, and the limited protections available to students in private schools;
- The balance — and sometimes tension — between maintaining school discipline and ensuring a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
Whether you’re an educator, administrator, parent, or advocate, this seminar will empower you with the knowledge needed to navigate complex legal requirements and better support students with disabilities.
Learning Objectives:-
- The legal rights of students with disabilities facing disciplinary actions
- The obligations schools must follow under federal law, including IDEA, Section 504, and the ADA
- How these laws apply to public schools, including charter schools, and the limited protections available to students in private schools
- The balance — and sometimes tension — between maintaining school discipline and ensuring a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
Areas Covered in the Session:-
- Disciplinary Change of Placement and the 10-day Rule
- Navigating the Manifestation Determination Review (MDR)
- Differences in disciplining Students with an IEP and students with 504 Plans
- Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs)
- Threat Assessments – Best Practices
- How to provide services for students with IEPs who are long-term suspended or expelled.
Background:-
Understanding the laws governing the education of students with disabilities can be daunting for schools and parents alike. That is then made all the more difficult for students with disabilities who are facing discipline. Schools must balance discipline and a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for students with IEPs and 504s.
This webinar will walk you through an overview of the laws that schools must follow, and of which parents and advocates should be aware, when the need to discipline a student with a disability arises.
Why Should You Attend?
To gain a better understanding of the educational rights under federal laws of students with disabilities facing discipline, and the legally mandated rights of schools to educate eligible students with disabilities. Learn the differences in the various laws, and which apply to public schools, including charter schools, and the limited rights of students in private schools.
This presentation will better inform schools as well as parents and advocates of the sometimes and often competing rights of discipline and FAPE.
Who Will Benefit?
- School Administrators
- School District Superintendents
- Charter School Superintendents, Principals, and Headmasters
- School Governing Board Members
- School Counselors & Psychologists
- Teachers
- School Attorneys
- Parent Attorneys
- Education Advocates & Consultants
- Parents and Legal Guardians
- Community-Based Disability and Educational Organizations.
* Download the Order Form
* For 6+ attendees call us at + 1 (844) 449-0244 or mail us at cs@currentwebinar.com
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Hope N. Kirsch, M.A. (Ed.), Esq., is a licensed special education teacher and 25+ year litigation attorney. Her law practice is devoted to representing students throughout Arizona, from preschool through higher education, with a focus on special education and discipline.
She represents and advises clients regarding evaluations, IEPs, 504s, disciplinary hearings, IDEA Due Process hearings, OCR, appeals, and bullying. Ms. Kirsch was a special education teacher and special education coordinator in the New York City public schools for 18 years where she worked with the most challenging populations and supervised and trained teachers in teaching strategies, curriculum development, IEPs, and behavior management.
She has a Bachelor’s degree in special education from Boston University (cum laude), a Master’s degree in special education from NYU, 30+ post-graduate credits in educational supervision and administration, and her law degree from Brooklyn Law School. Ms. Kirsch is admitted to the state and federal district courts in New York, New Jersey, Arizona, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
She is a frequent speaker nationally and locally on education law, regularly trains mental health professionals, advocates, attorneys, and parents in educational advocacy, and consults with attorneys in other states. Ms. Kirsch also serves as a Judge Pro Tem for the Superior Court of Arizona.
