Suspension and Expulsion Rights for Students with Disabilities in Colorado

Your child with an IEP was sent home after a behavioral incident. The school calls it a "safety concern." They want to suspend for more than 10 days or impose a disciplinary change of placement. At that point, you're not dealing with standard school discipline — you're dealing with special education law, and the district has specific obligations it cannot skip.

Understanding those obligations before the meeting is the difference between accepting a removal that may deny FAPE and stopping it.

The 10-Day Threshold and What It Triggers

For students with disabilities, the law distinguishes between short-term removals (10 cumulative school days or fewer in a school year) and longer removals. Short removals — a one-day in-school suspension, a two-day out-of-school suspension — are generally permitted without special procedures, provided the district is not creating a pattern of removal that amounts to a change of placement.

Once removals exceed 10 cumulative school days in a school year, or a proposed removal otherwise constitutes a disciplinary change of placement, federal and Colorado law impose a set of mandatory procedural safeguards.

The most important of these is the Manifestation Determination Review (MDR). The IEP team — including you — must conduct the MDR within 10 school days of the decision to change placement and answer two questions:

1. Was the conduct in question caused by, or substantially related to, the child's disability?
2. Was the conduct a direct result of the district's failure to implement the IEP?

If the answer to either question is yes, the conduct is a manifestation of the disability. The team must conduct a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and implement a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) if needed, or review and modify an existing BIP, and generally return the child to the prior placement unless a statutory special circumstance or agreed change applies.

Autism and the Manifestation Determination

For students with autism, ADHD, and other conditions with significant behavioral components, MDRs are frequently contested. Schools have a financial and practical incentive to find that the behavior was not a manifestation of the disability — that finding allows removal to proceed.

But the legal standard is protective. The question is not whether your child "should have known better" or whether other students with the same diagnosis behave differently. The question is whether this child's disability — as documented in their evaluation, their IEP, their behavioral history — contributed to the specific conduct. If your child has autism with a documented history of sensory overload resulting in meltdowns, and the suspension follows a meltdown in an overstimulating environment, the connection is clear.

Before the MDR meeting, pull your child's current evaluation, their IEP goals, any existing BIP, and the incident reports for the specific event. Compare the documented triggers and behavioral patterns in the IEP and evaluation against the circumstances of the incident. The closer the alignment, the stronger the argument that the behavior is a manifestation.

What the District Must Provide During Suspension

Even during a lawful short-term suspension, students with disabilities have rights that students without disabilities do not.

Once removals exceed 10 cumulative school days in a year, the district must continue to provide FAPE — educational services — to the extent necessary for the child to progress in the general curriculum and advance toward IEP goals. Services do not stop simply because the child is out of school.

After the 10-day threshold is crossed, during subsequent removals, the district must provide services sufficient for the child to progress in the general curriculum and advance toward IEP goals. A child receiving 90 minutes of speech therapy per week should not simply lose access to FAPE; document any missed sessions and ask how the district will provide the required services during the removal.

The "Special Circumstances" Exception

There is a narrow exception in which school personnel can place a student with a disability in an interim alternative educational setting for up to 45 school days; it does not eliminate the MDR requirement. These special circumstances apply only when a student:

• Carries or possesses a weapon at school or a school function
• Knowingly possesses or uses illegal drugs at school
• Has substantially inflicted serious bodily injury on another person at school

Even in these cases, the district must still convene an MDR, continue FAPE, and cannot permanently expel the student without following all procedural safeguards. The 45-day alternative placement is a temporary measure, not a final resolution.

If You Believe the MDR Was Wrong

If the MDR team determines the behavior was not a manifestation, and you believe that decision was incorrect, you can challenge it through an expedited due process hearing. The hearing must occur within 20 school days of filing the complaint, and the hearing officer must make a determination within 10 school days after the hearing.

During an expedited discipline appeal, the hearing officer may return the child to the placement from which they were removed if the removal violated § 300.530 or the behavior was a manifestation, or order an interim alternative educational setting for up to 45 school days if maintaining the current placement is substantially likely to result in injury.

Colorado's HB 24-1063, enacted in 2024, also directly addresses abbreviated school day schedules — a practice that had been used to manage students with behavioral profiles by reducing their instructional day without IEP team authorization. HB 24-1063 and 1 CCR 301-8-8.01(1)(j) require the IEP or 504 team to determine whether an abbreviated day is appropriate; a shortened day imposed outside that process requires informed written parent consent.

Practical Steps If Your Child Faces Suspension

Act immediately. The 10-day window for an MDR is short, and you need to request the meeting in writing, review your child's records, and prepare your documentation before it convenes.

Send a written email or letter to the special education director requesting the MDR meeting and stating that you expect to receive all records related to the incident before the meeting date. Cite the requirement under 34 C.F.R. § 300.530 for the MDR and your right to records under FERPA.

The Colorado IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook includes a guide to the Manifestation Determination Review process, a checklist for evaluating whether behavior is disability-related, and templates for demanding compliance when disciplinary procedures are not followed. See the full toolkit at /us/colorado/advocacy/.

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