A student over the age of eighteen is presumed to be capable of making educational decisions and able to provide informed consent unless he or she is determined to be "incapacitated" through a legal guardianship proceeding. If a parent, another interested party, or the district believes that student over the age of eighteen is unable to provide informed consent or make educational decisions, and the student does not have a legal guardian, the parent or other interested party may ask the district to appoint an educational representative. This determination will only be made if two separate professionals state that they conducted an examination or interviewed the student and concluded the student is incapable of providing informed consent, and the student has been informed of this decision. The district will appoint the parents, spouse, or another adult who is willing to act as the student's educational representative, or a surrogate educational representative to represent the student, in that order of preference. The appointment of the educational representative will continue for one year.

The student or other adult may challenge the certification at any time. If a challenge occurs, the district will not rely on the education representative until the representative is recertified.

*See the Special Education Terms & Definitions page for more information.

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