Can schools mandate that a child receive psychotropic medication as a requirement for continued enrollment?
Can schools refuse to allow children to attend school during medication adjustments such as dosage changes or medication discontinuation? Under IDEA, publicly funded special education programs cannot mandate that children receive psychotropic medication as a requirement for enrollment. Children cannot be denied attendance in appropriate special educational settings during times of specific medication adjustments, such as changing, decreasing, or discontinuing medications. However, the school may seek to change the classroom setting to one deemed more appropriate to the special educational needs of the child. For example, a child with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder attending a community-based behavioral support class may be recommended for transfer to a more highly structured and supervised special education setting because of symptoms not adequately contained in a less restrictive classroom. Such transfers are subject to the parent’s right to challenge the school’s proposal a
