I wrote a “parent IEP attachment” and asked that it be included with my child’s IEP. The special education coordinator refused. She said my input could not be attached to the IEP because of school policy.
Can they do this? Is this written in the law? How can I deal with this?
Of course not. Nothing in the statute or regulations prevents you from adding input to your child’s IEP. Just the opposite.
As the parent member of your child’s IEP team, you are an equal participant in meetings. You provide essential information about your child’s strengths, weaknesses, and needs. You also share concerns about your child’s special education program.
Schools must do all they can to ensure that parents participate in the IEP process. The law is very clear that parents have the right to participate in the meeting where their child’s IEP is developed.
Prior Written Notice (20 U.S.C. section 1415(b)(3)) clearly states that concerns and requests made by the parents must be accepted or rejected — and that the IEP team must list the reasons for accepting or rejecting the parent’s proposal.34 CFR Section 300.503
Judy Bonnell devised a simple form with these columns: (Click form to enlarge)
- Proposal
- Accepted
- Rejected
- Reason Accepted or Rejected
- Start Date
- Responsible Person
If your request is accepted, add a notation on the form that states who is in charge of initiating the proposal and the start date.
As a parent member of the team, see to it that the other IEP team members state their reasons for accepting or rejecting each proposal. Then add this information to the form.
Here is a sample of Judy’s Prior Written Notice Form — a great example of KISS!
Download the Prior Written Notice Form as a pdf document.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/tips/Judy_IEP_Attachment.pdf
Judy’s website, Special Needs and Special Gifts, includes many excellent articles and tips for parents and advocates.
http://www.specialneedsadvocate.com/
Tags: IEPs · Parent Rights · parental role · Prior Written Notice6 Comments
6 responses so far ↓
I came across some stats about the ratio of wins and losses during Due Process. The startling thing is that without an attorney you don’t stand a snowball’s chance of winning. I believe that uneven playing field is discriminative to say the least. Is there a way to bring the question of discrimination of the IDEA into a federal court. Think about this the intent of the IDEA is the children and what effect they can have on society. If an attorney is the only way to see to it that IDEA lives up to it’s intended goals isn’t the spirit of the law lost in translation. I can’t afford legal assistance and i should not have to after all it’s child like my son that gave birth to this new industry. Education Law. I need to hear from all of you who see the parent’s role in Special Education being slowly phased out.
Document, document, document, Here is the deal Juan, the data does not lie! Is the playing field level? No….unless the parent knows to document every single thing that is said and done. And I do mean EVERYTHING documented back to the school. Documentation and data levels the playing field. It is the only way. I work with parents every single day, is what they are telling me happening? Yes. Do they have the data and documentation to back it up? Generally, no. It is not until a parent begins documenting every word that is spoken and every move that is made that the playing field is leveled. It WORKS!
I want you to put the shoe on the other foot, you are the school district….a parent has documented to you, in writing that you have lied, misquoted the law, repeated “what you have been told” and said that you do not have to do this or that…..would you want to go to due process with that kind of documentation against you? NO, you wouldn’t. My point is a parent lays the paper trail just as they would if they knew they were going to due process, in hopes that they don’t have to go. The school district usually wins in due process because the parent does not have the documentation to back up their claim, But when a parent has the data to back up their claim…….the school district does not want to go to due process……..it is the sweetest song I ever heard!!!! The kid WINS!!
Documentation is VERY important.
There are a number of systematic flaws in exercising your child’s rights under the IDEA.
Requesting due process without legal representation is not a wise use of time.
The notion that a due process hearing is “FREE” is a sad misunderstanding that most parents realize all too late.
Due process hearing officers are not paid for by the parent. That is the only free part to the parent. The school district arranges for the Hearing officier to be paid. ……Think about that………..
Expect to pay thousands for an Education Attorney to represent a child and don’t expect the search for an attorney to be easy.
I’m not suggesting that you back down. Quite the opposite; Be prepaird and understand what you are asking for before requesting a due process hearing.
Help I need help getting my daughter transferred from her home school. My daughter had been attacked by this girl who had just recently attacked my daughter and her grandaunt in the school counseling office. I need to transfer her and I was told that the special education committee had not yet decided what was in my daughter’s best interest. Please help me!
Mayra,
As an equal member of the IEP team, you can request an emergency IEP meeting for the IEP team to discuss your daughter’s safety while in her local public school.
The team should consider the pros and cons of moving your daughter into a school other than the one in her community. It is appropriate to discuss the school’s anti-bullying process for the school your daughter attends as well as the school that you would like to transfer her to.
Just playing Devil’s advocate. What if the school allows you to choose the neighboring school that your daughter will be moved to, she adjusts to the significant change and then the other child’s parents decide to move into that same community.
What have you gained?