Suppose you’re a parent in Colorado, and your child has mental health challenges. You might expect your school to provide support.
Instead, you get a phone call asking you to keep your child home.
For many Colorado families, that’s now all too common. A recent Denver Post headline tells the story: “Suspensions in Colorado schools jump 25% as districts struggle to staff since pandemic.”
Paraprofessionals are reporting it too. When they miss a day of work, they find that the children they ordinarily support are sent home or kept out of school altogether.
This is not just unacceptable — it’s a crisis. And some of Colorado’s most vulnerable students are the victims.
During the 2024 legislative session, we worked to pass House Bill 1063 in order to curb the practice of informally removing children with disabilities from school. In these informal removals, a parent is called to pick up a student early or asked not to bring them to school–without a formal suspension or disciplinary action.
This practice violates federal and state law, but it occurs frequently. That’s why HB 24-1063 was necessary: to protect students with disabilities.
The new law requires support teams to determine the student’s individual needs and how services will be provided–discussions that must take place before a student is removed or kept out of school. It also requires frequent review of the student’s schedule and thorough documentation of the plan to reintegrate the child back into full school days. While the law does not prohibit the use of an abbreviated day if appropriate for an individual child, such decisions must be well-documented and supported by the child’s school team.
The law requires statewide data collection and reporting on these practices. The reports of out-of-school suspensions are alarming, but the real numbers may be even higher. Until now, school districts have not been required to track or report informal removals.
What produced this crisis? Staff shortages are one explanation. Our schools need better funding, and our direct support staff deserve living wages.
Under federal law, however, “[t]he lack of adequate personnel or resources cannot be used as an excuse by the district to relieve them of their obligations to make [a free appropriate public education] available to disabled students in the [least restrictive environment].” While staff shortages pose an enormous challenge, school districts remain legally obligated–regardless of resources—to educate students with disabilities.
All children deserve a chance to fulfill their potential. That’s why we need to create positive, inclusive school environments; decrease the use of suspensions and informal removals; and improve wages for direct-support school staff.
Mary Young is a Colorado state representative for House District 50. Emily Harvey is a community access and youth advocacy team leader at Disability Law Colorado.
Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns, editorials and more.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.
