Education Law Center
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Publications: School Discipline & Alternative Education

ELC's publications are intended to give you a general idea of the law. However, each situation is different. If, after reading our publications, you have questions about how the law applies to your particular situation, contact us for a referral or contact an attorney of your choice.

Manual

Fact Sheets

School Discipline

The following fact sheets pertain to students in Philadelphia only:

School Discipline: Students With Disabilities

News

Summary of PDE's revised Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth BEC

JULY 2009 - Pennsylvania Department of Education has just issued a revised Basic Education Circular (BEC) on Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth. The BEC is available here.

The language of the BEC is very similar to the language of PDE’s recently-issued Guidelines, available here.

Highlights of the BEC include language clarifying that alternative education programs:

  • Are temporary
  • Must provide “a sound educational course of study that meets or exceeds state standards…and allows students to make normal academic progress toward graduation in their home district”
  • Must offer at least 20 hours of academic instruction per week and must operate five (5) days per week
  • Must provide behavioral supports and counseling to modify the behavior that led to the transfer, including 2.5 hours/week of individual or group counseling in addition to the 20 hours of required academic instruction.
  • Must provide a behavior plan for each student that has clear and measurable goals
  • Must review each student at the end of every semester, at a minimum, to determine if the student is ready to return to the regular classroom. The parent, student, and any other advocate(s) with knowledge of the child’s history should be involved in this review process.
  • Are only for grades 6-12 (if a district is sending a 5th grader to alt ed, the exceptions of 1901-C do not apply and the program must comply with all of the same laws as a regular public school, in terms of hours, teachers, classes, etc.)
  • May only be used “after all other options for improving behavior have been exhausted”
  • May only be used after a student has received due process; school districts must provide students with an informal hearing in accordance with 22 PA Code 12.8(c) before transferring the student. If the student poses a danger, the District can transfer the student immediately, but the informal hearing must follow “as soon as practicable.”


The BEC makes clear that alt ed programs that are not specifically approved by PDE must follow the same requirements as regular education programs (i.e. at least 27.5 hours of academic instruction/week instead of merely 20, etc.) The BEC also makes clear that school districts “remain accountable for students’ progress” in alternative education programs. The BEC also goes into more detail on the rights of students who receive special education services before they can be transferred.

The BEC states that students may only be transferred to alt ed programs if at the time of the recommended transfer they meet the definition of a disruptive student. This means that if a student is returning to a school district months after an incident, the relevant query is whether the student is “currently fit” to return to the regular classroom.

The section on students formerly adjudicated delinquent or convicted of a crime states, in part, that:

When a student returns to a school district from a delinquency placement, the school district cannot automatically place a child in an AEDY program merely because the child had been adjudicated delinquent. Each specific case must be examined on an individual basis. As with any other student being transferred to an AEDY program, students returning from delinquency placement are entitled to an informal hearing prior to being placed in an alternative education program. The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether the student is currently fit to return to the regular classroom or meets the definition of a disruptive student. Factors a school should consider include: whether the incident causing the adjudication occurred at school or at a school-sponsored event, the child’s behavior in placement, and the recommendations of teachers and other adults (such as juvenile probation officers and residential treatment staff) who have worked with the youth.

Students often make significant progress while in placement and some may be best served by returning to a regular classroom. Many want the chance to prove they are able to thrive in a regular school setting. Thus each case should be considered individually, based on the circumstances of a student at the time of return to the district.

Finally, there is a section on best practices for alt ed programs, which states that PDE “strongly recommends” that such programs follow such practices and that PDE will consider adherence to such practices in its review of applications. The best practices include:

• Full-day programs totaling at least 27.5 hours per week
• Student teacher ratios at or below 10:1
• Individual Program Plans for each student and flexible instruction
• Positive emphasis in behavior management
• Integration of a career preparation component within the academic curriculum
• Experiential learning opportunities
• Integration of evidence-based programs that support pro-social behavior
• Adult mentors in the program
• Parent and community involvement
• A formal comprehensive periodic review of each student’s progress toward achieving individual goals established upon placement in the AEDY Program

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