Manifestation Determination in South Dakota: What Parents Need to Know

Your child was suspended for more than 10 school days, or the school is talking about expulsion, or a "long-term removal" to a different program. You have heard the term "manifestation determination" thrown around, but no one has explained what it means for your family, what rights you have in the process, or what the school is legally required to do depending on the outcome. This post covers all of it.

A Manifestation Determination Review is one of the most consequential procedural protections in special education law. Understanding how it works — and where the pressure points are — is critical when your child's education and school placement are on the line.

What a Manifestation Determination Review Is

A Manifestation Determination Review (MDR) is a required meeting that happens any time a school district makes a decision to remove a student with a disability from their current placement for disciplinary reasons and that removal constitutes a "change of placement." Its purpose is to determine whether the behavior that led to the discipline was connected to the child's disability.

The underlying principle is straightforward: you cannot expel a student with a disability for behavior that is a symptom of that disability. Doing so would punish the student for having the disability itself, which violates the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The MDR is the procedural mechanism that enforces this principle.

The meeting must include the parent or guardian and relevant members of the IEP team — typically the special education teacher, a general education teacher, an administrator, and anyone else with specific knowledge of the student's behavior and disability. The team reviews all relevant information: the IEP, teacher observations, evaluations, records of prior behavior, and any other data pertinent to understanding whether the disability and the behavior are connected.

The South Dakota Timeline: 10 School Days

Under ARSD 24:05:26 and the federal discipline provisions of IDEA, the MDR must be conducted within 10 school days of any decision to change a student's placement due to a disciplinary violation.

A "change of placement" is not just a formal expulsion. It includes:

• Any removal that totals more than 10 cumulative school days in a single academic year
• A series of shorter removals that form a pattern (same behavior, similar circumstances, excessive duration compared to typical non-disabled students)
• Long-term suspension beyond the initial 10-day threshold
• Removal to an alternative educational setting

The 10-school-day MDR clock is a hard deadline. If the district fails to convene the review within 10 school days of the placement change decision, that is a procedural violation of ARSD and federal law. You can include a missed MDR deadline in a formal state complaint to the SD DOE, which triggers a mandatory 60-day investigation.

Note that the initial 10-day suspension window — the period during which a student with an IEP can be suspended using the same procedures applied to general education students — does not require an MDR. It is only when discipline crosses the 10-day threshold or constitutes a change of placement that the MDR process kicks in.

The Two-Question Test

The MDR team applies a two-question legal test. Both questions must be answered by reviewing the full body of available information about the student and the incident.

Question one: Was the conduct in question caused by, or did it have a direct and substantial relationship to, the child's disability?

This question asks the team to examine whether the disability itself — not just the diagnosis label, but the specific functional manifestation of the disability — directly contributed to the behavior. For example, if a student has an autism spectrum diagnosis and the behavioral incident involved a meltdown triggered by an unannounced schedule change in a sensory-overwhelming environment, the team should examine whether the disability's core features (sensory sensitivity, difficulty with unexpected transitions) were direct contributors to what happened.

The phrase "direct and substantial relationship" is important. Courts have found that the relationship must be more than merely tangential. A student with ADHD who hits another student does not automatically have a manifestation determination outcome — the team must look at whether the impulsivity and self-regulation deficits characteristic of the disability contributed directly to that specific incident.

Question two: Was the conduct the direct result of the school district's failure to implement the IEP?

This question examines whether the school did what it said it would do. If the IEP specified behavioral supports, check-ins, or de-escalation protocols that were not being implemented, and the behavioral incident occurred in a context where those supports were absent, the conduct may be a direct result of the implementation failure — even if it would not otherwise meet the disability-connection test.

This question is where documentation of IEP implementation becomes critical. If you have been tracking whether services are being delivered as written in the IEP, and the record shows gaps, the answer to this second question may favor your child.

What Happens When the Behavior IS a Manifestation

If the MDR team answers "yes" to either question, the behavior is determined to be a manifestation of the disability. The legal consequences that follow are significant:

The school cannot proceed with a long-term suspension or expulsion based on that incident. The student must be returned to the placement they were in prior to the removal — unless the parent and district agree to a different placement as part of a revised IEP.

The district must conduct a Functional Behavioral Assessment if one has not already been conducted. If an FBA exists, it must be reviewed and updated.

The district must develop a Behavior Intervention Plan, or if a BIP already exists, the team must review and revise it to address the behavior that led to the disciplinary action.

These are not optional steps the district can defer. They are immediate, mandatory obligations. A district that finds a manifestation and then fails to conduct the required FBA or revise the BIP has violated ARSD 24:05:26 and federal law. That failure can be reported as a state complaint.

What Happens When the Behavior Is NOT a Manifestation

If the MDR team finds that the behavior was not caused by or substantially related to the disability, and was not the result of an IEP implementation failure, the district may apply the same disciplinary procedures it would apply to a student without a disability. Even so, the district must continue providing FAPE during any removal period. A student with an IEP who is expelled must still receive educational services sufficient to allow continued participation in the general education curriculum and progress toward IEP goals — delivered in an alternative setting.

If you believe the outcome was incorrect — the team failed to properly consider available information or applied the two-question test without supporting evidence — you can appeal through a due process hearing. During the appeal, the stay-put provision applies: the student remains in their current placement until the dispute is resolved, unless the parent and district agree otherwise or a special circumstance exception applies.

The 45-Day IAES Exception

Federal law and ARSD 24:05:26 create a narrow category of situations where a district can remove a student with a disability to an Interim Alternative Educational Setting (IAES) for up to 45 school days without regard to whether the behavior is a manifestation of the disability. These "special circumstances" are:

• The student carries a weapon to school or to a school function
• The student knowingly possesses or uses illegal drugs, or sells or solicits the sale of a controlled substance at school or a school function
• The student has inflicted serious bodily injury upon another person at school or a school function

Even under the 45-day IAES, the district must continue providing FAPE during the alternative placement, and the IEP team must still convene to determine appropriate services. The IAES must allow the student to continue participating in the general education curriculum and continue working toward IEP goals. Parents retain the right to challenge the placement through an expedited due process hearing, which in South Dakota must occur within 20 school days of the complaint filing with a decision rendered within 10 school days after the hearing.

Your Role in the MDR Meeting

Parents are full, equal members of the MDR team — not passive observers. Before the meeting, gather the current IEP, behavioral data and incident reports, records of whether IEP supports were actually implemented, and any outside evaluations or clinical reports. Request relevant records in writing ahead of time.

During the meeting, ask for clear answers to both questions. Which specific features of the disability did the team consider? Did the team review IEP implementation records? If the questions are answered quickly without referencing specific evidence, push back.

If you disagree with the outcome, say so in writing before you leave. A dissenting statement on the meeting notes page — "I, as the parent, disagree with the team's finding that the behavior was not a manifestation of [child's] disability for the following reasons..." — becomes part of the official record.

Navigating an MDR under pressure is difficult. The South Dakota IEP & 504 Blueprint covers the discipline and manifestation determination process step by step, including the documentation strategies and written communication templates South Dakota parents need when a disciplinary situation escalates.

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