Disciplinary removal (10-day rule)
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The 10-day rule limits how long a student with an IEP can be removed for discipline before IDEA protections such as services and a manifestation review apply.
Topic: IDEA, law and procedure
In plain terms
Schools can remove a student with a disability for up to 10 school days in a school year, as they would any student. After 10 days, the school must provide services that let the student keep progressing toward IEP goals. A removal of more than 10 days in a row, or a series of shorter removals that forms a pattern, is a change of placement, which triggers a manifestation determination.
How it shows up in an IEP
Counting removal days accurately matters, and so does recording what happened before each incident. Repeated removals are often a sign that the student needs a functional behavior assessment or a revised behavior plan, along with replacement behavior goals.
Example
A case manager notices a student has been suspended for 8 days across three incidents, all during unstructured lunch. The team reviews the pattern and starts an FBA before another removal happens.
The rule
Federal reference: 34 CFR §300.530, 34 CFR §300.536.
Rules vary by state. Check your state's regulations and your district's procedures.
Related terms
- Manifestation determinationA manifestation determination is a review that decides whether a student's conduct was caused by the disability or by a failure to implement the IEP.
- FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment)An FBA is a process for figuring out why a behavior happens, by studying when it occurs, what triggers it and what it gets or avoids for the student.
- BIP (Behavior Intervention Plan)A BIP is a written plan, based on an FBA, that describes how staff will prevent a behavior, teach a replacement skill and respond when the behavior happens.
- Stay putStay put is the IDEA rule that a child generally remains in the current educational placement while a due process complaint is pending.
- Replacement behaviorA replacement behavior is an appropriate skill taught to meet the same need as a problem behavior, so the student no longer needs the problem behavior.
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