April 5, 2022 Blog- Secretary of Education- COVID 19 Recommendations from the CDC

 Secretary of Education Issues Letter to Educators and Parents Regarding New COVID-19 Recommendations from CDC

Franczek P.C.: Dana Fattore Crumley 

On March 24, 2022, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona issued a Letter to educators and parents of IDEA and Section 504 eligible students regarding the revised COVID-19 recommendations from the CDC, emphasizing additional precautions that may be needed to ensure equal access to in-person instruction in the least restrictive environment (LRE).

While the focus of the past few months has been the mask litigation and its impact on mask requirements in schools, the Secretary’s Letter reminds educators and parents that precautions may still be required in order for public school districts to meet their obligations to provide in-person, inclusive instruction to students with disabilities who are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

Here is a summary of the recommendations and requirements special educators should be mindful of as they continue to program for medically fragile students:

• Use IEP and Section 504 teams to determine services required to support in-person learning. Both IDEA and 504 require districts to include medical personnel when making determinations about placements that meet the LRE requirement and address student health needs. This means school health service staff, school nurses, and if appropriate, the student’s health care provider. Teams are also encouraged to create “COVID-19” health plans as part of a student’s IEP or 504 Plan, similar to a food allergy plan.

• Continued use of layered prevention strategies in school settings. The Letter encourages districts to continue the use of layered prevention strategies to preserve in-person instruction. This means masking when COVID-19 transmission rates are high, and exclusion from school for presumed and positive cases.  Notably, even when cases are not high, the Letter reminds educators that to meet their Federal non-discrimination obligations under Section 504, schools must make reasonable accommodations when necessary to provide equal access to in-person instruction for medically fragile students, absent a showing that such modifications constitute a fundamental alteration or undue burden to the educational program. This means that even with no mask requirement currently in place, schools may require masking of students in certain settings as a reasonable accommodation for a student with a disability.

• Don’t forget about the LRE. While teams may be inclined to place medically fragile students in a segregated setting to reduce the risk of exposure, they should be mindful of IDEA and 504 requirements that students with disabilities must be educated alongside their peers unless the educational goals for that student cannot be met in that setting.  To meet the LRE when a student’s health needs prohibit exposure to large groups, schools should consider smaller cohorts, which include non-disabled peers.

Finally, teams should consider the emotional needs of students who require additional accommodations related to COVID-19 exposure and avoid identifying such students as the cause of continuing COVID-19 mitigation strategies to minimize stigma and bullying. 

With mask litigation continuing in Illinois despite no mask requirement in place, this may be challenging. You can read the Secretary’s entire letter here.