Special ed law...How many kids in classroom?

Question

Hoping someone can help. I checked wrightlaw.com and cannot find the answer there. Does anyone know what the maxiumum # of special ed kids/classroom is? Is there a law about that. I have a 3.5 year old son (nonverbal/autism) who the school ditrict is planning on placing in a class with 10 other kids and 3 teachers. I called a month and a half ago to reconvene his IEP and requested 1 teacher to 3 kids. They did not return my calls or corresp. Now, we are meeting on Friday and they lay this on me. I just don't believe my son will a. be safe with that many kids in a room b. learn anything

Just want to know where I stand as far as the law goes B4 the mtg Friday. Thank you in advance

Answer 1

There is not a federal law that addresses this issue. Districts have their own rules about what constitutes a full program and this usually varies by type of program. For eg in my district the ratio is 1 adult for every 2 students in the severe/ autism classes. In the mild moderate classroom the rules is 1 adult for every 4 students. The general rule is not more than 12 kids in the mild classes and not more than 8 in the severe classes but it bends sometimes and ratios change sometimes if a child has medical needs or needs 1 on 1 there may be more adults than the general rule. IEP is suppose to be individualized so it is better to try to stick to your child's individual needs and why a certain class size or ratio will or will not meet their individual needs. State preschools also have rules about ratios, class size and number of students but these are not the rules that govern district programs

Answer 2

My daughter's class was considered full by our district when she turned three in March; there were 10 kids with 1 teacher and 5 aides. By the time she was placed in June there were 7 kids. Now, in late August, there are 6 kids and one is moving at the end of the week. They still have 1 teacher and 5 aides.

Of course there are other issues going on, we'd like the teacher and aides to have more training regarding autism for one, but it generally works out and she is happy. Most days each kid is one-to-one with an adult and I haven't seen it get more than 3-to-1 during breaks. I don't think you could get the more intensive work done with a ratio of more than 2-to-1, and that would be really stretching the adult.

Ask how many aides there will be in the class. Our district likes aides because they are cheaper. I've found that the aides know more what is going on for each individual child because they shadow them each day. My daughter's aide is a huge help, she is the one that fills out our communication log - the teacher hasn't even read it.

So I don't know the legal answer but I suggest you ask for an aide if the ratio is going to be 10-2; that is just too high for productive interventions. And if worse comes to worse know that there is a lot of movement in SDCs because parents are always looking for a better option - so you may end up with a better ratio in a few months.

Also find a consultant to work with - they will know what to push for in your district.

Good luck, in a better world school districts would make it easier.

Answer 3

There is no law on this--school districts decide what they think the proper number is depending on the type of student. However, even they can't always keep the numbers low due to teacher shortages. Just make sure that your students individual needs are being met--if they are, it doesn't matter how many students are in the class. And remember...these teachers are used to having this many students, they may have things set up where they each take a smaller group of students and focus on goals that those students share...then mix around the groups...making sure all students are reaching their goals.

Answer 4

I don't know if it's the same for every state, but NY is no more than 8 kids per teacher. So 11 kids/3 teachers is not illegal in NY at least.