Last week we posted about using an IEP Parent Attachment to add input to your child’s IEP.
We heard immediately from Daunna who wrote:
The question was “How can I deal with [the school's refusal to include a parent attachment]?”
Judy Bonnell’s parent attachment form is a great idea, but it’s not really an attachment unless the school includes it in the IEP.
So what IS the strategy for getting the school to include your attachment as part of the IEP?
1. Review the Findings and Purposes of IDEA 2004
20 U.S.C. 1400 (c) (5) and (d)
Congress found that the education of children with disabilities can be made more effective by “strengthening the role and responsibility of parents and ensuring that families of such children have meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children at school and at home;”
The purpose of passing IDEA was to ” to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living; ” and “to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and parents of such children are protected;…”
Check page 46678 in the Commentary to the federal regulations (2006). It states that certain “…provisions are important to encourage parent participation in the IEP process, which is an important safeguard for ensuring FAPE under the Act.”
And, on the same page, “Parents are free to provide input into their child’s IEP through a written report if they so choose.”
2. Get a Copy of your State Special Education Regulations. What do your state special ed regs say about IEPs and your role as the child’s parent?
3. Write a Short Businesslike Letter
After you know what the law says, write a short businesslike letter to the director of special ed and /or superintendent.
Briefly describe your attempt(s) to participate in your child’s IEP, that you thought you were a member of your child’s IEP team, that you asked to have your input included as an attachment to the IEP, but that INSERT PERSONS NAME advised you that “school policy” does not allow you to provide input.
You are confused. This school policy is not consistent with anything you’ve read about IEPs and your role as the child’s parent. Perhaps there has been a misunderstanding.
Request (very politely) that the district provide you with their written policy that prevents you from adding a parent attachment to your child’s IEP. To save time, you’ll be happy to come to the school to pick this information up.
Try to keep your letter to one page. The tone should be polite and businesslike. You want to give school officials a way to change their position without losing face or admitting fault.
Hand-deliver the letter (don’t send it by mail or certified). When you deliver your letter, make a note about who you gave it to, what the person said, what the person was wearing, anything else that happened at the time you delivered the letter. (It’s quite possible that the school may lose your letter so this detailed information shows that you did deliver it.)
As Congress wanted to strengthen the role of parents and ensure that families “have meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children, any district policy about barring parent IEP attachments is not consistent with the spirit or the letter of the law.
Tags: Advocacy · FAPE · IEP Team Meetings · IEPs · paper trail · Parental Rights · Rights & Responsibilities · Special Education Regulations · Strategies5 Comments
VA Action Alert!
5 responses so far ↓
an a district determine that since the child’s ability is high but the actual doing of the work is low, that an IEP is not necessary? Doesn’t that fall under IDEA? Can they then determine that a 504 would be best and if so, could the school nurse be the one who writes it. Or does it not matter who writes a 504?
A district can do just about anything when parents are not informed about their rights and responsibilities, how to negotiate for quality services, and how to resolve disputes.
I thought I was informed, well read and up on things. All was not finished until the end of the school year. I thought it was handled poorly and have left that school system. Would there be any recourse? I would not like for any other family to go through this in that system.
Rebecca, Go back through the articles in Wrightslaw.com. Start your documentation. Talk to your child’s medical care provider. There is some reason your child’s work does not rise to the level of his/her ability. You and the team at school need to discover what it is.
Neither an IEP nor a 504 plan can meet your child’s needs if those needs are not defined! What is the nurse going to write? Under what disabling condition are they proposing the 504 plan? If you want to become a true team member for your child, back up a bit and get the know how. Learn what questions should be asked. There is lots of info on the site, so take some time and plan your strategy. You will be much better off in the long run.
I try to prepare for the PPT a full written statement on Present Levels of Functioning in each domain to illustrate just how the disability impacts the child across all learning environments; home, school and community. Then we design the IEP from there.
In my own child’s case, I have gone on the state dept of ed site, and printed into the blank IEP form directly and handed it to the Sped director at the meeting re modifications, recommendations and service delivery.
Digital recordings for quotable content in post PPT letters.