Manifestation Determination in Maryland: What the Review Must Cover and How to Prepare

Your child with an IEP was suspended. The school is now talking about a longer removal — a long-term suspension, an expulsion, or a transfer to an alternative placement. When the school decides to change placement because of a code-of-conduct violation, Maryland law requires a specific meeting: the Manifestation Determination Review, or MDR.

Most parents walk into an MDR without understanding what the team is legally required to determine, what the stakes are, or what happens if the answer comes out wrong. Here's what you need to know before that meeting happens.

What Triggers a Manifestation Determination Review

Under IDEA and Maryland's implementing regulations, an MDR is required within 10 school days of a decision to change the placement of a student with a disability because of a code-of-conduct violation. A change of placement includes a removal for more than 10 consecutive school days or, on a case-by-case basis, a pattern of removals totaling more than 10 school days in a year when the behavior is substantially similar and other factors show a pattern.

The 10-day threshold is not automatic after every short removal. A series of removals totaling more than 10 school days counts as a change of placement only when the behavior is substantially similar and the other pattern factors support that conclusion. Review the length of each removal, the total time removed, and how close the removals are to one another.

The MDR meeting is conducted by the LEA, the parent, and relevant members of the IEP team. The team reviews all relevant information — the IEP itself, behavioral intervention plans, any teacher observations, evaluation data, and the specific circumstances of the conduct that led to the removal.

The Two Legal Questions the MDR Team Must Answer

The review has a narrow, mandatory scope. The team must determine:

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

This is the core question. If a student with an autism spectrum disorder has a meltdown in response to an unexpected schedule change, and the IEP team never put sensory supports in place, the behavior is likely directly related to the disability. If a student with a reading disability sells a controlled substance on school grounds, that conduct probably isn't a direct manifestation of the reading disability.

But the legal standard here is "direct and substantial relationship" — not "caused entirely by." Many students have disabilities that affect behavioral regulation, impulse control, executive functioning, and emotional response. These connections need to be articulated clearly and documented.

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

This is the second question, and it's frequently overlooked. If the IEP specified 30 minutes of daily 1:1 behavioral support and the school stopped providing it due to a staffing shortage, and the student's behavior escalated in that period, that failure to implement the IEP is directly relevant to the MDR determination.

You need to come to the MDR with documentation of any IEP services that were not delivered — missed sessions, vacancies in support positions, changes in service delivery that weren't reflected in a Prior Written Notice. Request a complete service delivery log for the current school year before the meeting.

What Happens if the MDR Finds It IS a Manifestation

If the team determines that the conduct was a manifestation of the disability or resulted from IEP implementation failures, the student generally must be returned to the prior placement, subject to IDEA's interim-alternative-setting exceptions or a different placement agreed to by the parent and LEA.

Additionally, the IEP team must:

• Conduct a Functional Behavioral Assessment if one hasn't already been conducted, and
• Implement or revise the Behavioral Intervention Plan, or develop one if none exists

In Maryland, COMAR 13A.08.04.05B added a significant protection as of July 1, 2022: seclusion is prohibited in public agencies, while a nonpublic school has only a limited exception when seclusion is necessary to protect against imminent, serious physical harm and the regulatory conditions are met. The use of physical restraint is also heavily restricted — it is only permitted in an emergency when there is imminent risk of serious physical harm, and only after less intrusive interventions have failed. If restraint was used prior to the suspension that triggered the MDR, this is relevant information for the team and potentially for a separate MSDE complaint.

What Happens if the MDR Finds It IS NOT a Manifestation

If the team determines the conduct was not a manifestation of the disability, the school may apply the same disciplinary procedures it would apply to a non-disabled student. This means expulsion proceedings can move forward.

However, even in this scenario, IDEA still protects the student. A student with a disability who is excluded must continue to receive a Free Appropriate Public Education that allows them to continue to participate in the general education curriculum and to progress toward their IEP goals. The student cannot simply be expelled with no educational services.

This is also where the Home and Hospital Teaching (HHT) question comes up. Maryland COMAR 13A.05.01.10 explicitly prohibits the home from being used as an instructional setting for a student who has been removed from school for disciplinary reasons. If the district attempts to shift your child to a home-based instruction model as a result of discipline, that is a regulatory violation you can challenge through an MSDE State Complaint.

How to Prepare for the MDR as a Parent

If an MDR is required, the meeting must happen quickly — within 10 school days of the decision to change placement. You need to move fast.

Request the complete student record immediately. Under FERPA and Maryland State Government Article § 10-611, you have the right to inspect and review your child's educational records. This includes not just the IEP but behavioral logs, disciplinary records, communications between staff, and service delivery tracking. Request everything in writing today.

Review the IEP against what was actually delivered. Identify any gaps. If the IEP says your child receives speech-language therapy 3 times per week and they've only been getting it once a week because the position was vacant, document that specifically.

Write out the disability-behavior connection before the meeting. Come with a written statement that ties your child's specific disability characteristics to the specific conduct at issue. If your child's evaluation describes deficits in emotional regulation, cite the evaluation language. If an outside psychologist's report describes behavior patterns that match exactly what happened, bring that report.

Know that you can disagree with the MDR outcome. If the team determines the conduct is not a manifestation and you believe the evidence says otherwise, you can file a due process complaint or an MSDE State Complaint to challenge that determination. The MDR is a meeting, not a court ruling. It is reviewable.

The Paper Trail That Changes the Outcome

The parents who are most effective in MDR meetings are not the ones who cry or argue the loudest. They are the ones who walked in with documentation: the IEP service log showing missed sessions, the evaluation report language that directly describes the behavioral profile at issue, and a written request already submitted for a Functional Behavioral Assessment.

When districts realize that a parent has the paper trail assembled and understands the legal framework, the MDR tends to go differently.

The Maryland IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook includes scripts specifically for the MDR meeting table, templates for requesting service delivery logs and behavioral records, and a walkthrough of the MSDE State Complaint process as a post-MDR remedy if the district's finding is unsupported by the evidence.

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