Responses to Policy Revision to Age of Eligibility

Yes. The student should be permitted to enroll until their 22nd birthday. 

No. Students are entitled to free appropriate public education (FAPE) until age 22. As a result, students may remain enrolled only until the day before they turn 22.

Yes. The student should be permitted to enroll until their 22nd birthday.

LEAs should review their July 2023 special education PIMs submission for students that turned 21 years old during the 2022-2023 school year.

LEAs may reach out to their Special Education Advisor in the Bureau of Special Education for the PA secure IDs of the students that received notification letters from the Department of Education.

IEPs should be revised in accordance with the circumstances set forth in 34 C.F.R. § 300.324(b).

Re-evaluations should occur in accordance with the circumstances set forth in 34 C.F.R.§ 300.303(a).

LEAs are required to provide FAPE until the student turns 22.

Yes. A student with a disability may not be placed in a class in which the chronological age from the youngest to the oldest student exceeds these limits unless an exception is determined to be appropriate by the IEP team of that student and is justified in the IEP (22 Pa. Code § 14.146).  

Yes. Each special education class must be composed of at least 28 square feet per student (22 Pa. Code § 14.144(3)(v)).

Yes. 

Yes.

Yes. School districts will receive both BEF and SEF for students with disabilities if they are 21 years of age and reported in the PIMS submissions for Child Accounting and Act 16, respectively.

LEAs will receive IDEA funding for students with disabilities if they are 21 years of age and are reported in the December 1 Child Count PIMS Collection.

The LEA should remove the student from the sample during the post process and include the student in the PaPOS process for the 2023-2024 school year.

No. These students do not count toward the caseload limitations.