The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) is a nonprofit organization that is the largest legal advocacy for persons with disabilities in the U.S. In January, 2022, NDRN published “Out of the Shadows: Informal removals of children with disabilities.” We believe that this booklet should be required reading for all teachers of students with disabilities LEA representatives, parent advocates for students with disabilities, and principals throughout the U.S. and U.S. territories.

The publication concerns “off the books” informal removals of students with disabilities. According to NDRM, schools across the United States are removing students with disabilities from classrooms through “informal removals”—practices that are not recorded as formal suspensions or expulsions, thus avoiding legal protections and data tracking. These removals are often used in response to behavior linked to a student’s disability and happen without the procedural safeguards required under IDEA and Section 504.

Off the books or informal removals include procedures such as:

• Sending a child home during the school day.
• Repeatedly shortening school days.
• Placing students on homebound instruction with minimal contact hours.
• Pressuring parents to withdraw their child from school to avoid formal discipline records.

Because these removals are not counted as formal removals, they are not counted toward disciplinary removals from school, are not subject to due process procedures, and (c) can persist without review or accountability. Additionally, these removals take away valuable instructional time from students, deprive students of essential services, and may have a discriminatory impact.

The NDRN calls for federal changes to address the problem of off the books informal removals. For example, such informal removals should be defined and prohibited in federal law and regulations. All school removals should be documented thus ensuring that all students receive the procedural protections of federal law, and school removals should be reported in federal disciplinary data.

The NDRN also believes that states need to become involved by issuing formal guidance prohibiting informal removals and monitoring districts’ disability data for the use of informal school removals, and by requiring corrective actions when districts engage when violations occur. The NDRN also commented that school officials should understand and implement positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) schoolwide. 

The NDRN concludes that off the books informal removal negatively affects the climate and culture of schools, and has long-term consequences for the students and families who experience it. Moreover, the lost instructional time has long-term negative economic, health, and community impacts for individual children and their families. The NDRN recommends that school administrators (a) treat all school removals as placement changes under the IDEA, (b) ensure due process protections are applied consistently, and (c) make all school removals visible through data collection. These actions will hold school officials accountable for off the books informal removals.