Students qualified for special education services under IDEA cannot be suspended or miss more than 10 instructional days in a given school year. The limit on the amount of time these students can be suspended from school is included to urge the school to step in early and create a specific system or plan to help these disabled students.
Students qualified as special education are under this suspension limit. Students qualified for 504 services are not.
If a student has used all of his suspension days, this may result in a Manifestation Determination, which means the school will look to see if there's a link between the child's behavior and his disability.
If a student is found to be under the influence of a controlled substance, determined to be "a user" of one of these substances, if they are found with drugs or a weapon in their possession, or if they are considered to be a danger to themselves or others, their suspension limit rights will be revoked.
If a student who qualifies for the IDEA is suspended or expelled, he is still entitled to special education services. Parents also have a right to appeal the suspension or expulsion decision if they disagree with the school's decision. In this case, the "stay-put" provision will be enacted, which means the child will stay in his current school until the proceedings end.