The Concepts of LRE:

1. The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that students with disabilities have access to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment. Focus is on meaningful access to and progress within the general education curriculum.

2. The IDEA mandates that the placement of each student with a disability be only as restrictive as the student’s individual needs require.

3. The least restrictive possible placement includes full-time participation in regular classes and full time participation in school activities with non-disabled peers with supplementary aids and services as required.

4. To the maximum extent appropriate, students are to be educated with their age-appropriate peers, non-disabled peers, realizing that the regular education setting may not be appropriate 100% of the time or in 100% of the situations.

5. The extent to which an individual student with disabilities participates in the regular education setting with the use of supplementary aids and services must be determined on a case-by-case basis by the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team.

6. This requires an individual inquiry into the unique educational needs of each eligible student in determining the possible range of aids and supports that might allow the student to be educated satisfactorily in the regular education environment before a more restrictive placement is considered.

7. The public agency must offer a wide range of placements options, known as the continuum of alternative placements, to insure that each student is educated in what is determined to be the least restrictive environment that is appropriate for that individual.