Opinion letter to the Honorable Peter J. Grewach

Opinion No . 405 ( I 4 t If> Answered by Letter (De~o) lanuary 14, 1965 Honorable Peter J. Orewa.eh Prose~uting Attorney Troy Building Troy, Missouri Dear Ill'. GNwaoh e FILE 0 Thia letter 1s in response to your request of November 30, 1964, tor an o1'f'1o1al opinion or this ott1oe . You in- quire: "xr a student round technically eligible tor placement in a class tor JOung educable mentally retarded adolescents and tor whom the achool establishes a modified curriculum in accordance with the curriculum guide and suggest1ona received from the State Depart- ment ot Education can compel the School District to pay tuition tor such child in another d1etr1ct or be required to furnish transportation to a Special School District when auch o~ld ~ not ottioiall7 enrolled 1n th~ school and the district in which auch child 1s lo1::ated and the modified cur- riculum placement baa not been tried and evaluate<lT" Section 163.310 RSMo 1959, imposes a duty upon school districts, to wit: 11'1be 'board or education or any school district shall provide appropriate in- struction for all handicapped children residing 1n the district between the a.ges of e1X and twenty years, who are educable and capable of benet1t1ng by special training. • • • ., Honorable Peter J . Grewach The school district has three options by which it may fUlfill this obligation. These are set out in sub- section 2, to wit: "School districts shall provide instruc- tion tor handicapped children under the provisions or this section by establish- ing special classes, by contracting with nearby districts tor the training or one or more such children or when any child cannot attend olassea economically, &afely or conveniently by providing adequate home instruction. 1'1 ve ho-urs ot home instruction is considered to equal one week of school work per child. " Your letter inf'ormzs ue that your achool district bas elected to "establish special classes . " Having thua f'ul- f'1lled its duty under Section 163. 310 the district cannot be compelled to send educable handicapped pupils to another tUstrict . or course, it the district cannot be compelled to send such pupils to another district, it tollows that it cannot be compelled to turnlsh tranaportation to another district. I1' the above leaves any particular areas ot doubt, we shall be pleased to answer turther apeciric questions . LCD:df Yours very truly, ltORRAll B. ANDERSoN Attorney General