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A clear understanding of judicial opinions is essential to individuals responsible for providing children with disabilities with an appropriate program within a least restrictive environment (LRE). To assist in achieving this understanding, the purpose of this paper was twofold: (a) to identify and delineate the LRE standards established within federal circuit courts and (b) to create an alternative, more comprehensive, standard that reflects the explicit mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990. In addition to a current overview of LRE court decisions and specific legal issues, the similarities and differences of four standards are discussed.
The concept of least restrictive environment (LRE) is derived from the constitutional doctrine of the "least restrictive alternative." That doctrine requires government to achieve its purposes through the least oppressive and restrictive means. As such, school districts, in their efforts to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 (IDEA) may not restrict individual rights and liberties beyond that which is minimally and reasonably necessary to provide each child with a disability with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). A position emanating from this concept is that Individualized Education Program (IEP) placements must be least restrictive. In recent years, parents, education practitioners, and legislators have argued and debated over when, if ever, placement other than in the regular education classroom would be appropriate, how to balance academic and nonacademic benefits in making LRE decisions, and how to weigh restrictiveness, educational benefit, cost, and other factors when determining whether the IEP is appropriate. Federal statutes, regulations, and case law have been the source of some clarification, but also have resulted in some tension and confusion (Huefner, 1994).
In regard to restrictiveness, current and newly proposed federal regulations pertaining to the education of children with disabilities specifically require
(1) that to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are nondisabled; and (2) that special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. (Assistance to...