Colorado schools must provide equal access for students with disabilities

Public school providers must offer education suited to eligible students' needs, equal access to activities, and needed communication and physical access support. These duties cover students with disabilities entitled to free public education. Providers include districts, charter schools, and state-run programs. The responsible special education units carry the free-education duties. Schools may refuse policy adjustments that fundamentally change a program or cause an undue financial or administrative burden. Adjustments are not required solely because someone is regarded as having a disability. Students must learn alongside peers without disabilities as much as their needs allow. Separate classrooms are allowed when education in regular classrooms cannot work satisfactorily even with added support. Ordinary fees charged to other students remain allowed. Schools need not pay for a family's chosen private school when an appropriate public education is available. Schools must accommodate parents with disabilities and provide interpretation and translation for parents with limited English proficiency.

School providers must identify eligible students outside public education, evaluate students who may have disabilities, and protect parents' rights in education decisions. Evaluation safeguards cover students who have or may have a disability. Annual outreach covers eligible students in the provider's area who are not receiving public education. Parents must consent before an initial evaluation, but consent is not required for reevaluation. Evaluations must use the student's primary language and suitable tests. A knowledgeable group must consider several sources when deciding eligibility and school placement. Parents must receive notice and opportunities to examine records, participate in an impartial hearing with a lawyer, and appeal the outcome. Schools may use existing evaluation information when they meet the required safeguards and agree with the parent about eligibility, placement, and support. Schools must look for eligible students outside public education at least annually and reevaluate identified students at least every three years.

School providers must offer a fair disability complaint process, train responsible staff, and address harassment and retaliation. Each provider must name a contact and give that employee time, resources, and authority. Annual training covers the contact and relevant building and support-plan staff. Schools need not use this complaint process for identification, evaluation, placement, or free-education disputes under an individualized education program, a student's special education plan. Schools must promptly investigate possible disability-based harassment they know or reasonably should know about. They must act to end harassment that interferes with school participation and address its effects. Schools must not threaten or punish people for asserting protected education rights, making covered complaints, or helping with investigations. The contact must receive training within 60 days of designation. Initial rights notices and contact information are due on or before April 1, 2027.

Once sufficient resources activate these provisions, the Colorado Department of Education can investigate complaints and order schools to correct violations. Orders may restore denied services, provide make-up services, and correct school practices. These provisions grant no additional authority over education decisions under a student's special education plan. State enforcement and remedy provisions take effect only when sufficient funding or resources arrive and the education commissioner gives the required written notice. Complainants generally must first use the school's complaint process and receive a final decision or wait 60 days. The department may waive this step if it would be pointless, likely cause irreparable harm, or lack a readily available, prompt, and fair process. The department must dismiss complaints for specified reasons, including lateness, insufficient facts, or overlapping proceedings. Outside parties may complain about systemwide problems or represent a student as an attorney or advocate. The State Board of Education may withhold state money only for intentional violations and unwillingness to enter a correction plan. Schools receive written notice, 60 days to respond, and an opportunity to appeal. State complaints must be resolved within 180 days, with a pause of up to 60 days for other resolution efforts. Enforcement and remedy provisions expire July 1, 2028, if the required funding notice is not given by June 30, 2028.

The Colorado Department of Education may dismiss a state complaint or cancel state findings and remedies when the person also files a substantially similar federal education civil rights complaint. These limits concern individuals pursuing state and federal disability complaints about the same events. The complaints must be substantially similar and based on the same alleged facts. The dismissal and cancellation powers specifically concern filings with the U.S. Department of Education's civil rights office. People retain their right to pursue claims under federal law or other state law. Dismissal may follow a federal education civil rights complaint filed before the state complaint. State findings or remedies may be canceled if that federal complaint is filed after state resolution.