The Wrightslaw Way

I am a teacher in the district and feel like I’m being jerked around by our sped director. She says a parent has to be present for a teacher to formally refer a student for special education testing? I don’t mean “giving/denying” permission to test. Does a parent have to be present simply for the […]

I submitted a written request for an evaluation that included my parental consent for the eval. They would not accept my letter of request including a statement of written parental consent as “legal consent”. I received this response from the director of spec. ed. “As you may know, the IDEA contains certain requirements related to […]

Updates  from Office of Special Education And Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) On September 6, 2011, the Department released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the IDEA Part B regulations. Changes are being proposed to the regulations regarding when a State or local educational agency seeks to use a child’s or parent’s public benefits or […]

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether police and social workers must obtain a warrant, court order, or parental consent before interviewing children at school about claims of sexual abuse. An Oregon police officer and protective services worker argue that, because details of child sex abuse are known only to the victim and […]

Why has the school never asked me to sign the IEP? The federal special education law and regulations do not require a child’s parent to sign the IEP.  Parents are required to give informed consent before the school can provide services in the initial IEP, but not subsequent IEPs. Some state regulations include a provision […]

My son is dyslexic. He has an IEP and receives services in a special education classroom. Because he is not making enough progress, I enrolled him in the Barton Reading program. The school is implementing a new reading program that will conflict with the Barton program. If I refuse consent for this new intervention program, […]

Good question from Marissa on the Community Helpline today. I had an IEP meeting with my son’s school on Monday. I didn’t agree with it, but signed it. How many days do I have to revise his IEP? You have a right to request an IEP meeting to review and revise your child’s IEP at […]

A Guidance Counselor ignored our parental consent form and conducted some tests on our daughter against our written instructions, even though she also signed the form acknowledging our concern. Our parental control was totally ignored. This guidance counselor is listed as an IEP Team member, but my wife and I can not trust her anymore. […]