SECTION I: RIGHT TO EDUCATON POLICY STATEMENT
A. Consistent with the ROP Public Law 3-9 as amended in 1996, referred to as the Programs and Services for Handicapped Children Act of 1989, the ROP Ministry of Education (MOE) has adopted a policy that a free, appropriate, public education (FAPE) is currently made available to every child birth through 21 years of age, inclusive, residing in the ROP, including any child with disabilities who has been suspended or expelled from school, and who is in need of special education and related services. Eligible children and youth include those children who are evaluated as having mental retardation, hearing impairments including deafness, speech or language impairments, visual impairments including blindness, serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, specific learning disabilities, deaf-blindness, multiple disabilities, or developmental delay and who, because of those impairments, need special education and related services.
B. The Policy Statement for the ROP applies to all public agencies in the Republic that provide for the education of children and youth with disabilities.
C. The ROP assures that FAPE is available to each eligible child residing in the Republic from age 3 through age 21, inclusive, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school. An individualized education Plan (IEP) shall be in effect for each eligible child by the child's third birthday. If a child's third birthday occurs during the summer, the child's IEP Committee shall determine the date when services under the IEP will begin. A child with a disability who is 21 years of age on the first day of the school year shall be entitled to a FAPE for the entire school year even if the child's twenty-second birthday occurs during that school year.
D. Children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school shall not be denied a FAPE [see Section VII for additional detail].
E. A FAPE shall be made available to any child with a disability who needs special education and related services, even though the child has not failed or been retained in a course or grade, and is advancing from grade to grade, as determined by that child's IEP Committee. This determination also includes children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school. Students with disabilities continue to be eligible for FAPE until 21, unless they graduate from high school with a regular diploma. The term regular high school diploma does not include an alternative degree that is not fully aligned with the ROP’s academic standards, such as a certificate or a general educational development credential (GED).
F. The ROP MOE provides educational services to all incarcerated individuals up through the age of 18. Students with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 21 who are incarcerated in adult correctional facilities shall be provided FAPE if they were identified as having a disability or had an IEP in their last educational setting.
G. Section 2 of the ROP Public Law 3-9 (1989) states: "The Olbiil Era Kelulau recognizes that it is the obligation of national government to provide educational services to all children to enable them to lead fulfilling and productive lives, and therefore, declares that it is the responsibility of the national government to provide full educational opportunities and necessary related services to each handicapped child in order to ensure that each handicapped child acquires the skills and knowledge necessary to lead a fulfilling and productive life as a citizen of the Republic. It is further recognized that such educational opportunities and related services shall be provided in regular classrooms and regular schools or other environments which provide education and interaction with non-handicapped children to ensure that handicapped students become integral members of community life and fully participating and accepted members of the social, educational, political, and economic institutions of Palauan society." Other FAPE Requirements:
H. Methods and Payments
It shall be MOE’s policy to use whatever Palau or Federal and private sources of support are available in Palau to meet the requirements of this part. This policy does not relieve an insurer or similar third party from an otherwise valid obligation to provide or to pay for services provided to a child with a disability. Palau MOE ensures there is no delay in implementing a child’s IEP, including any case in which the payment source for providing or paying for special education and related services to the child is being determined.
I. Residential Placement
It is the policy of MOE that if placement in a public or private residential program is necessary to provide special education and related services to a child with a disability, the program, including non‐medical care and room and board, must be at no cost to the parents of the child.
J. Assistive Technology
The MOE ensures that assistive technology devices or assistive technology services, or both, respectively, are made available to a child with a disability if required as a part of the childʹs:
(1) Special education; (2) Related services; or (3) Supplementary aids and services.
On a case‐by‐case basis, the use of school‐purchased assistive technology devices in a childʹs home or in other settings is required if the childʹs IEP Team determines that the child needs access to those devices in order to receive FAPE.
K. Extended School Year Servcies
It is the policy of the MOE to ensure that extended school year services are available as necessary to provide FAPE. Extended school year services is provided only if a childʹs IEP Team determines, on an individual basis that the services are necessary for the provision of FAPE to the child. In implementing the requirements of this section, the MOE does not:
(i) Limit extended school year services to particular categories of disability; or (ii) Unilaterally limit the type, amount, or duration of those services.
The term extended school year services means special education and related services that:
• Are provided to a child with a disability:
(i) Beyond the normal school year of the MOE; (ii) In accordance with the childʹs IEP; and (iii) At no cost to the parents of the child; and
• Meet the standards of the MOE.
L. Nonacademic services
The MOE takes steps, including the provision of supplementary aids and services determined appropriate and necessary by the childʹs IEP Team, to provide nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities in the manner necessary to afford children with disabilities an equal opportunity for participation in those services and activities. Nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities may include counseling services, athletics, transportation, health services, recreational activities, special interest groups or clubs sponsored by the MOE, referrals to agencies that provide assistance to individuals with disabilities, and employment of students, including both employment by the MOE and assistance in making outside employment available.
M. Physical Education
The MOE ensures that public agencies in Palau comply with the following: Physical education services, specially designed if necessary, must be made available to every child with a disability receiving FAPE, unless the MOE enrolls children without disabilities and does not provide physical education to children without disabilities in the same grades. Each child with a disability is afforded the opportunity to participate in the regular physical education program available to nondisabled children unless:
(1) (2) The child is enrolled full time in a separate facility; or The child needs specially designed physical education, as prescribed in the childʹs IEP. If specially designed physical education is prescribed in a childʹs IEP, the MOE is responsible for the education of that child must provide the services directly or make arrangements for those services to be provided through other public or private programs. The MOE is responsible for the education of a child with a disability who is enrolled in a separate facility must ensure that the child receives appropriate physical education services in compliance with this section.