According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), once students with disabilities receive educational placements, school officials cannot unilaterally change their settings. When officials wish to change the placements of students with disabilities for any reason, they must not only notify their parents of their intent to do so in writing, they must also afford them opportunities either to participate in making decisions involving their children or to object to those with which they disagree. Under what is known as the status quo or stay-put provision, the IDEA mandates that while administrative hearings or judicial proceedings that parents filed to challenge proposed changes by school officials are pending, students must remain in their "then-current placements" unless the parties agree otherwise. The purpose of the status quo provision is to provide educational stability and consistency ("Gabel ex rel. L.G. v. Board of Education of the Hyde Park Central School District 2005"). In light of the lack of judicial clarity about when school boards must incur the typically unbudgeted cost of unilateral parental placements of students in private schools, the authors examine the key provision from the IDEA's regulations regarding who should pay for unilateral placements along with case law on point, then reflect on what this means for school business officials, other education leaders, and school boards.