Can a school force a student to be in Special Education?

No schools are not able to place a student into Special Education Classes without an IEP and the families permission. Students have to qualify for Special Education based on testing and interviews that can not be done without parental permission.

HOWEVER a school can require that a student take remedial classes or place the student in an alternative learning center environment. Neither of those options are special education classes. But many people believe that only special needs students are in those types of classes, because many people with learning disabilities use those classes if they do not need to be in a full-time special needs environment. Many times those classes are smaller and have an interventionist type teacher that regularly checks up on the student to see if they understand and can complete their homework.

It is very common for lazy students that are failing to be placed in Alternative Learning Center classrooms.

I doubt it's 'special education' if there is no IEP/504. It's likely in school suspension or alternative school. These are NOT for people with disabilities,.

They are disciplinary programs for students who do act up and do not have disabilites. The schools can force students to be in these programs and don't need to get parent consent for placement.

There's more to this story. Special education classes cost a school district more money; it's not in their interest to put a student in there who doesn't belong. I'm not even sure it's legal.. I also doubt they can do this without the parents' permission. I worked in a district where they couldn't even leave a child back a grade if the parents didn't agree, no matter how stupid the kid was.