The "Stay Put" provisions

Update!  Check out this free IDEA online discipline tool!

When the parents and the school disagree about a child's IEP services or setting for services there are three ways it can turn out:  somebody gives in, they compromise, or they end up in due process (or mediation/arbitration).  A common question when parents proceed to due process to challenge a school's decision is:

In what setting are services provided to my child while we are in due process?

The school and the parents often have differing opinions as to the appropriate placement for the child during the due process hearing--but the basic rule and answer that IDEA provides to this question is that the "then-current" placement of the child is maintained during the resolution of the dispute.  In other words, the child "stays put" unless the hearing officer or arbiter eventually rules that the school's preferred placement is the appropriate one.  That's why these provisions in IDEA are often referred to as the "stay-put rule."

There are two exceptions to the stay put rule:

(1) The parents and the school can ignore the stay put rule if they agree on an alternate placement during the hearing (but both must agree).

(2) Proposed changes in placement and other removals based on disciplinary incidents are also treated differently.  In 2004, IDEA was amended to state that for discipline-based removals, the 'stay put' placement is the disciplinary placement.  In other words, while waiting for a resolution to the dispute, children removed from their IEP placement for disciplinary reasons must remain in the "interim alternate setting" or other setting in which they were placed as part of the school's response to their behavior.

The stay put rule, as first glance, may seem fairly straight forward with little to dispute.  Nevertheless, it is often a contentious issue with many of the arguments between schools and parents predicated on different opinions as to what the "then-current" placement of the child was when due process was initiated.  This issue arises most often when the child is going through some form of transition (such as from preschool to grade school or when changing districts).  The courts are split on many of these issues and there are significant differences between the court decisions in different jurisdictions, but the courts often turn to the last agreed-upon IEP placement in making their decision.