The Meaning of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

By Shannyn Riba, Esq

Each school district must ensure that children with disabilities are, to the greatest extent possible, educated in an environment with children who are non-disabled. This requirement on the District’s part includes those children who are in public school, private school or any other care facilities. Any removal of children from a “regular educational environment,” such as special classes or separate schooling, must occur only if the nature or severity of the student’s disability makes it impossible to educate the student in regular classes, with the use of any necessary supplementary aids and services, in a satisfactory manner. A “regular educational environment” includes regular education classrooms, along with other school settings such as lunchrooms and playgrounds in which non-disabled children are present.

In order to ensure that students are placed in an LRE, Districts must make available a continuum of alternative placements to meet the needs of children with disabilities. This continuum refers to the placement of a child and not to the particular aids, supports or services that the child’s unique needs may require. Such a continuum must include a range of options for student instruction, such as regular education classes, special education classes, special schools, home instruction, and instruction in hospitals and institutions. Furthermore, the Districts must provide supplementary services if necessary, such as resource room, in conjunction with regular education placement. An educational placement becomes more restrictive the less it resembles a regular or typical classroom environment. Accordingly, the least restrictive of all possible special education placements is the regular education classroom for the full school day with supplemental support services; and the most restrictive environment is a residential facility.

Placement on the LRE continuum must be based on a student’s unique needs. The mere requirement for modifications into the general curriculum should not cause a child with a disability to be removed from an age-appropriate regular education classroom; rather, the general education curriculum should be adapted or modified to meet the disabled student’s unique needs. While it will not always be the case for every student, school districts have been found in violation of IDEA due to refusing to provide individualized ABA services, constituting FAPE for a student, in the LRE of a regular education classroom.

Similarly, Districts may not place disabled children in separate schools simply because such a school has more placement options. Nor may a District place a child in a more restrictive environment for reasons such as administrative convenience or institutional hurdles that make it more complicated or difficult to provide necessary services in a regular education setting.

Districts must ensure that a disabled child’s placement is as close as possible to the child’s home; however, the child must attend the school that he or she would if non-disabled, unless the child’s IEP absolutely requires another arrangement. The District must also take into account any potential harm to the quality of services that the student requires.

Your Comments and Questions are Welcome