Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Requirements

It is PDE’s policy that to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are nondisabled. A student may not be determined to require separate education because the child cannot achieve at the same level as classmates who do not have disabilities, if the child can, with the full range of supplementary aids and services, make meaningful progress in the goals included in the student’s IEP. A student may not be removed from or determined to be ineligible for placement in a regular education classroom solely because of the nature or severity of the student’s disability, or solely because educating the student in the regular education classroom would necessitate additional cost or for administrative convenience. Public agencies shall be required to provide access to a full continuum of placement options.