Here is something interesting.
If a child is placed in an ESE program they can't suspend him/her so much that it changes his/her placement and being home isn't the same placement as being in a classroom...more restrictive. Now if it has to do with guns or drugs there is some wiggle room to change placement imediately. But just hitting is different.
Now here is the funny part...if they THINK the child is in need of services the same rules apply. And by "being in the process" of getting an evaluation they obviously suspect that he MIGHT be in need of services. You need to go in and say that you know your child's rights and that the out of school suspensions need to stop and they need to do a Functional Behavioral Analysis and develop a Behavioral intervention plan (which might include time in a classroom with harder work).
Now if it were me, I wouldn't want my child given the label of Behavior Disordered or Emotionally Handicapped (unless he truly has some sort of serious mental illness, then it wouldn't bother me)...if he is just acting out because school makes him miserable then I really wouldn't want that label.
