Manifestation Determination in Alabama: What Happens When Your Child Is Suspended

The school called. Your child with an IEP has been suspended, and now they're talking about an expulsion hearing. You have exactly 10 school days to understand what a Manifestation Determination Review is and why it matters — because that timeline is running whether you know about it or not.

What a Manifestation Determination Is

A Manifestation Determination Review (MDR) is a meeting of the IEP team — including you — that must occur within 10 school days of a disciplinary decision to remove a student with a disability for more than 10 consecutive school days, or when removals accumulate to constitute a change of placement (generally 10 cumulative school days with a pattern).

The meeting has one question: is the behavior that led to the discipline a manifestation of the student's disability?

The answer determines everything that follows.

The Two-Part Test

Under IDEA and Alabama Administrative Code 290-8-9, the team must determine whether either of the following is true:

1. Was the conduct caused by, or did it have a direct and substantial relationship to, the child's disability?

2. Was the conduct the direct result of the district's failure to implement the IEP?

If the answer to either question is yes, the behavior is a manifestation. If both answers are no, it is not.

These are not trivial questions. A student with ADHD who impulsively shoved another student — was that impulsivity directly related to the ADHD? A student with anxiety who left school property — was the elopement a direct result of an untreated anxiety response? A student whose IEP specifies small-group testing but who was placed in a large exam room and melted down — was that a failure to implement the IEP?

What Happens If the Behavior IS a Manifestation

If the behavior is determined to be a manifestation:

• The district must return the student to their prior placement (unless the parent and district agree to a different placement as part of a revised IEP)
• The IEP team must either conduct a Functional Behavior Assessment (if one has not been done) or review and modify an existing FBA and Behavior Intervention Plan
• The district may not expel the student for the behavior or continue a removal beyond 10 school days

There are three narrow exceptions where the district can place a student in an Interim Alternative Educational Setting (IAES) for up to 45 school days even if the behavior IS a manifestation: weapons possession, illegal drugs, and infliction of serious bodily injury. Even in IAES, FAPE must continue.

What Happens If the Behavior Is NOT a Manifestation

If the team determines the behavior is not a manifestation of the disability, the district may apply the same disciplinary procedures that apply to students without disabilities — including expulsion.

However — and this is critical — even if expelled, a student with an IEP is entitled to receive educational services during the expulsion period. This is called the "FAPE during disciplinary exclusion" requirement. The district must continue to provide services that allow the student to participate in the general education curriculum (even in an alternative setting) and to progress toward their IEP goals.

This is substantially different from Section 504. A student with only a 504 plan who is expelled for behavior that is not a manifestation does not automatically retain the right to services during expulsion.

Common Problems in Alabama Manifestation Determinations

Predetermined outcomes. In some Alabama districts, the MDR meeting is perfunctory — the form is filled out before the meeting, team members don't have access to the full IEP and evaluation records, and the outcome is announced rather than analyzed. You have the right to an independent review of that determination and can challenge it through due process or a state complaint to ALSDE.

Failure to consider the full record. The team must review the student's IEP, any behavioral assessments, teacher observations, and discipline history. If the meeting lasts 10 minutes and no one reviewed the actual documents, document that in writing.

Ignoring IEP implementation failures. The second prong — failure to implement the IEP — is regularly overlooked. If your child's IEP specifies supports that were not in place at the time of the incident, document that. It may control the manifestation determination even if the first prong (causal connection to disability) is debatable.

What to Do Before the MDR Meeting

Gather these documents immediately:

• Your child's current IEP and all recent amendments
• The most recent evaluation reports
• Any Behavior Intervention Plan in place
• Discipline records showing prior removals and their dates
• Anything in writing about whether IEP services were actually being delivered

Request from the district, in writing, the entire discipline file, the meeting date, and the names of team members who will attend. Bring your own documentation of the disability characteristics that are relevant to the behavior at issue. Ask the district to provide copies of evaluation reports to be reviewed at the meeting at least two days in advance.

You have the right to bring an advocate or any person with knowledge of your child to this meeting.

The Alabama IEP & 504 Blueprint includes an MDR preparation checklist and template documentation for challenging manifestation determination outcomes in Alabama.

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