By Attorney Thomas B. Mooney, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut

The “Legal Mailbag Question of the Week” is a regular feature of the CAS Weekly NewsBlast. We invite readers to submit short, law-related questions of practical concern to school administrators. Each week, we will select a question and publish an answer. While these answers cannot be considered formal legal advice, they may be of help to you and your colleagues. We may edit your questions, and we will not identify the authors.

Please submit your questions to: legalmailbagcasciacorg.
 
 

Rebecca Rudnick Santiago, Partner, Shipman & Goodwin LLP

NOTE: Attorney Rebecca Rudnick Santiago, a partner of Shipman & Goodwin LLP who works with many school districts on special education matters, writes today’s answer as Legal Mailbag’s guest author.

Dear Legal Mailbag:

I have a question for Legal Mailbag regarding required PPT attendees. I had thought that a Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) staff member always attended Planning and Placement Team meetings (PPTs). However, my current district is not in the habit of automatically inviting a PPS staff member to each PPT meeting. So, I tried to look it up. According to “A Parent’s Guide to Special Education in Connecticut,” a document disseminated by the State Department of Education Bureau of Special Education in 2007 to help guide parents through the special education process, the PPT is comprised of:

Given what I found, I am concerned that my district is out of compliance. But before I open my mouth, I should check with the experts. So help me out here:

1. Is a PPS member a required member of the PPT in Connecticut?

2. Who is defined as PPS staff? Are special education teachers considered PPS staff? Are related service providers who do not provide counseling services, such as an SLP or OT, considered PPS staff?

Signed,
Stumped Special Educator
 

Dear Stumped:

The regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Connecticut’s special education regulations directly answer some of the questions that you pose and others are up to interpretation. But you may be happy to know that your district is not necessarily out of compliance with special education requirements.

The IDEA regulations require that the PPT include the following people:

1) The parents of the child;(2) Not less than one regular education teacher of the child (if the child is, or may be, participating in the regular education environment);(3) Not less than one special education teacher of the child, or where appropriate, not less than one special education provider of the child;(4) A representative of the public agency who—(i) Is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities;(ii) Is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum; and(iii) Is knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the public agency.(5) An individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results, who may be a member of the team described in paragraphs (a)(2) through (a)(6) of this section;(6) At the discretion of the parent or the agency, other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child, including related services personnel as appropriate; and(7) Whenever appropriate, the child with a disability.

34 CFR § 300.321

Accordingly, the IDEA regulations do not explicitly require “a PPS staff member” to be at every PPT meeting. However, the regulations include, “where appropriate, not less than one special education provider of the child” as a member of the team. This language could refer to a PPS staff member. Similarly, “an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results,” could also be a PPS staff member, as could “related services personnel as appropriate.”

Connecticut regulations refer to the IDEA definition of a PPT as follows:

(14) “Planning and placement team” or “PPT” means the individualized education program team as defined in the IDEA and who participate equally in the decision making process to determine the specific educational needs of a child with a disability and develop an individualized education program for the child. For purposes of the evaluation, identification or determination of the specific educational needs of a child who may be gifted or talented, the PPT means a group of certified or licensed professionals who represent each of the teaching, administrative and pupil personnel staffs, and who participate equally in the decision making process.

Conn. Agencies Regs. § 10-76a-1(14).

Given your intellectual curiosity, you will be interested in an inconsistency in the regulations. The Connecticut regulation cited above notes that the PPT for a child who may be gifted or talented must include “licensed professionals who represent each of the teaching, administrative and pupil personnel staffs.” However, this same reference is not included in the requirement for the team that determines the educational needs of a child with a disability. Instead, the regulation simply refers back to the IEP team as defined in the IDEA.
You may also be interested to know that the Guide you quoted was correct when it was published. The previous Connecticut special education regulations, which were effective until June 30, 2013, included the following definition of PPT:

(15) ‘‘Planning and placement team’’ means a group of certified or licensed professionals, who represent each of the teaching, administrative and pupil personnel staffs and who participate equally in the decision making process to determine the specific educational needs of the child and develop an individualized educational program for the child. These shall be persons knowledgeable in the areas necessary to determine and review the appropriate educational program for an exceptional child.”

Conn. Agencies Reg. 10-76a-1(15) (emphasis added). Given the old definition, historically, a pupil services staff member did attend each PPT meeting. For this reason, Legal Mailbag would not be surprised if many districts have continued this practice. However, the current regulations do not explicitly require a PPS staff member.

To make this question a little more interesting, the CSDE Bureau of Special Education issued a model Procedures and Practices Manual in 2019, which districts were encouraged to use as a template for their own procedures and practices manual. The model Manual defined a PPT as “a team established pursuant to the IDEA, which includes professionals who represent the teaching, administrative and pupil services staffs who, with the parents, are equal participants in the decision making process to determine the specific educational needs of the student and to develop, review and revise a student’s IEP.” (emphasis added). The Manual refers to the IDEA definition of required participants and also references pupil services staff. PPS staff is not defined in the manual, but commonly the phrase refers to social workers, school psychologists, and related services staff.

In light of all the foregoing, it is likely that PPS staff will continue to attend PPT meetings in Connecticut frequently. However, PPS staff are not legally required to be at every meeting unless they fit one of the IDEA required participant designations, such as “where appropriate, not less than one special education provider of the child” or “an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results,” or “related services personnel as appropriate.” So to summarize the answer to your question, Legal Mailbag must rely on the answer to most legal questions — it depends!