Even with the current easing of Nebraska’s statewide directed health measures in many counties, area health departments, the Governor’s office and Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt continue to warn against Nebraska school districts holding in-person graduation ceremonies. Nebraska school districts are showing off their diversity and creativity in planning how to honor their graduating seniors in light of the COVID-19 school closures across the state. Some schools are holding virtual graduation ceremonies, some are doing a form of a “drive through” commencement, and still others have scheduled ceremonies to occur later this summer. Regardless of the format of your graduation ceremony, educators should be mindful of the implications that these new plans could have for special education students. Public schools also need to be sure that all graduation events are accessible to students, parents and members of the public who may have a disability.
Graduation and Special Education
Regardless of the format of your graduation ceremony, the TIMING of the end of your school year will be significant as it relates to the services a special education student receives. Most IEP teams use their school district’s school calendar as the baseline for services that will be provided to special education students. The problem is that the COVID-19 outbreak has wreaked havoc on everyone’s planned spring schedule. This will affect your special education differently based on what your school is doing with its 2019-20 calendar.
Graduating seniors who have individualized education programs are entitled to all of the procedural safeguards that normally apply under the IDEA, even during COVID-19 closures. Graduation from high school with a regular high school diploma or aging out of special education constitutes a change in placement, which triggers the procedural safeguards of the IDEA. At a minimum each of these students should receive prior written notice of the change in placement. Additionally, regardless of whether the student's IDEA eligibility is terminating due to age or graduation with a regular diploma, the district must provide the student with a summary of his or her academic achievement and functional performance, which must include recommendations on how to assist the student in meeting his postsecondary goals.
For non-graduating special education students, school districts face less paperwork but more options.
Schools that are not providing any education--and instead are only providing enrichment--should discontinue providing enrichment to special education students at the same time they discontinue providing enrichment to general education students.
Schools that are providing FAPE-implicating educational services and that will continue to serve students through the original date set as the end of your 2019-20 school year should simply continue to serve special education students to the end of the year.
Schools that are ending their school year early will need to refer to each student’s IEP. If the IEP says that services will be provided through a specific date, the safest thing to do is to provide services to that date even if you have “ended” the school year early for general education students in light of COVID-19. On the other hand, if the IEP says that services will “follow the school calendar,” education leaders will have to decide whether to end special education services when the school year ends for general education students or whether to continue services through the date that the school calendar originally set as the end of the 2019-20 school year.
Accessibility to Graduation Ceremonies
Most school districts do a good job of thinking about physical or architectural barriers that may exist in their traditional in-person graduations. However, shifting the festivities online or to a different physical location means schools will need to ensure their ceremonies are accessible to individuals with hearing impairments, visual impairments, or other disabilities that might affect participation. Representatives of your school district should reach out to the families of individuals with known disabilities so they can identify and address accessibility concerns in advance. Districts should also run through the modified ceremonies ahead of time, with an eye toward identifying and addressing any accessibility concerns.
For online ceremonies, school district staff should be sure to accommodate individuals with hearing or visual impairments. Schools should consider providing a sign language interpreter or closed captioning for those with hearing impairments. Ideally, all images will have meaningful labels for visually-impaired individuals who rely on screen readers. At a minimum, each school district should post a notice on its website containing the name and contact information for a person to contact should an individual have difficulty accessing or participating in the graduation ceremony.
Drive-through ceremonies should also be thoughtfully designed. If a student or parent doesn’t drive, the district should consider providing a driver. Similarly, if the student has a mobility impairment that would require specialized transportation, the district will likely have to provide both an accessible vehicle and driver.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the many details that should be considered when planning for improvised or rescheduled plans to honor seniors and how you plan to end your school year. There are certainly a lot of logistics to consider in terms of finding an appropriate ceremony that fits your school and your community. However, these ceremonies and alternatives have legal consequences that make it worth thinking them through ahead of time. As you make plans for what you will do in lieu of your traditional graduation, including when it will occur, we recommend that you contact your school attorney, or contact Karen, Steve, Bobby, Coady, or Jordan at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com or (402) 804-8000.