OAR 581-015-2310: Prior Written Notice

(1) For purposes of this rule, school district also means ECSE program and its contractors and subcontractors. (2) Prior written notice must be given to the parent of a child, and to the adult student after rights have transferred, within a reasonable period of time before a school district. (a) Proposes to initiate or change, the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child, or the provision of a free appropriate public education to the child; or (b) Refuses to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the child. (3) The content of the prior written notice must include: (a) A description of the action proposed or refused by the school district; (b) An explanation of why the district proposes or refuses to take the action; (c) A description of each evaluation procedure, assessment, test, record, or report the school district used as a basis for the proposed or refused action; (d) A statement that the parents of a child with a disability have protection under the procedural safeguards and, if this notice is not an initial referral for evaluation, the means by which a copy of the Notice of Procedural Safeguards may be obtained; (e) Sources for parents to contact to obtain assistance in understanding their procedural safeguards. (f) A description of other options that the IEP Team considered and the reasons why those options were rejected; and (g) A description of other factors that are relevant to the agency’s proposal or refusal. (4) The prior notice must be: (a) Written in language understandable to the general public; and (b) Provided in the native language of the parent or other mode of communication used by the parent, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so. (5) If the native language or other mode of communication of the parent is not a written language, the school district must take steps to ensure that: (a) The notice is translated orally or by other means to the parent in the parent's native language or other mode of communication; (b) The parent understands the content of the notice; and (c) There is written evidence that the requirements in subsections (5)(a) and (b) of this rule have been met.