he least restrictive environment (LRE) requirements stipulate that the removal of students with disabilities from the general educational environment should occur only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that instruction in general education settings (with the use of supplementary aids and services) cannot be satisfactorily achieved.

I know in a few school districts in Northern Utah, parents are fighting school districts for the rights of their children with disabilities. School districts are wanting to bus the children to other schools but the parents what their children in the school's with their neighborhood peers. I am curious how LRE plays into that argument.

opportunity to meet challenging and ambitious annual goals

With AI coming into the mix of things, I am curious if one day AI will help write challenging and ambitious goals. I don't think it will happen soon, but it is something to consider.

A thorough evaluation should include vision and hearing screenings, even though the primary area of concern is academics.

Most school's do a yearly vision and hearing screening for all their students. This insures that every child is screened for these concerns and anything can be noted or put in the child's file.>

This may happen more often than we think. I don't think the personnel necessarily mean to "cut" the parents out but because of their case load they are just trying to get everything done.