Special Education Terms in Colorado
What special education terms does Colorado use?
Colorado uses several state-specific terms that differ from federal IDEA terminology. The most important for parents and advocates: 'Administrative Unit' (AU) instead of 'Local Education Agency' (LEA) — includes school districts, BOCES, multi-district cooperatives, charter school alternative AUs, and the State Charter School Institute; 'Serious Emotional Disability' (SED) instead of 'Emotional Disturbance' (ED); 'Boards of Cooperative Educational Services' (BOCES) — Colorado's regional service agencies that provide special education and other educational services cooperatively across member districts; 'Alternative Administrative Unit' for charter school networks acting as their own special education authority; 'Approved Facility School' for residential or treatment programs approved by the Facility Schools Board; 'Exceptional Student Services Unit' (ESSU) for the CDE division responsible for special education oversight; and 'Administrative Law Judge' (ALJ) for due process hearing officers (not a separate state-level hearing officer system). The IEP team uses the same name ('IEP Team') as federal law. Colorado's educational age of majority is 21 — not 18.
What Colorado Requires
'Administrative Unit' (AU) = Colorado's equivalent of the federal LEA; may be a school district, BOCES, multi-district cooperative, charter school alternative AU, or State Charter School Institute (1 CCR 301-8, §2.03).
'Serious Emotional Disability' (SED) = Colorado's term for the federal 'Emotional Disturbance' (ED) category; same eligibility criteria, different label — important for IEPs, records, and communications (1 CCR 301-8, §2.09(3)).
'Boards of Cooperative Educational Services' (BOCES) = Colorado's regional educational service agencies; they provide special education, related services, and other programs cooperatively to member districts and may function as AUs (1 CCR 301-8, §2.03; C.R.S. §22-20-101).
'Alternative Administrative Unit' = a charter school network or collaborative that has qualified to act as its own special education authority, bearing sole legal and fiscal responsibility (1 CCR 301-8, §§2.03, 3.01, 8.01(4)(a)).
'Developmental Delay' applies ages 3–8 in Colorado; the 'Infant/Toddler with a Disability' category covers birth through age 2 under Part C (2 CCR 503-1) (1 CCR 301-8, §§2.09(13)-(14)).
'Approved Facility School' = a private special education facility approved by the Colorado Facility Schools Board to provide educational services to children placed there by courts or public agencies (1 CCR 301-8, §2.19).
Age of majority = 21 in Colorado for educational purposes (ECEA Rules §6.02(9); C.R.S. §§22-20-108, 13-22-101) — parental rights transfer at 21, not 18.