Do’s and Dont’s in IEP meetings

IEP meetings can be stressful…and doing the right thing is difficult to know. We trust the school people to know how to work with our child yet when we aren’t comfortable with our child’s progress or programming, we need to voice our concern.
This is where we can get hung up. Certain terms can mean something quite different to the educators. Expecting what is “best” for our child is not what the school has to provide. Parents need to be prepared and know what the lingo to be used is.
This is where a seminar at TheIEPCenter.com can help parents. On October 17, 2009, a guest advocate will present “Do’s and Dont’s in IEP meetings” at 9:30 – 11 a.m Saturday in the Kansas City metro area.
Visit the website for info; www.theiepcenter.com

WHAT is in your student’s school records?

A parent might be surprised to see what’s in the records at the school…about the PARENT!
Some parents cordially ask the school office secretary to arrange to view the student records the following day…so the parent can get info from it to “give to the doctor”…
the files may contain test scores, attendance records, nurses notes, discipline notes…interestingly the e-mails between staff may not be present. A request is made for the e-mails that personally identify the student…and here is where the “dirt” may be found. Sometimes references to other activities the district is pursuing is mentioned in relationship with the name of the parent.
In Missouri, a “sunshine” law exists that is to allow for open records by public agencies…visit the Missouri Attorney General’s website for info. Pursuing “sunshine” requests can open a whole new world of info to the public about the operations of public schools.

IEP’s for the summer a.k.a. Extended School Year (ESY)

“Summer school” enrollment is fast approaching; it is offered by school districts to ALL children–yes, our kids with disabilities can participate.  You might need to request accommodations so that your child can have “equal access” to what is being offered.

Our children who have IEP’s may receive ESY during the summer.   This may include services to address goals in the IEP as well as related services (for example OT, PT, ST, etc.).

Many school district IEP teams rely only on a criteria of “predicted regression” to determine if ESY is necessary for the student; this is outdated.  This is not the only criteria.  IDEA address ESY at CFR 300.309.

Some students get ESY for a few hours every morning for a few weeks during the summer.  The most I have seen provided in Missouri is three hours for five mornings a week for eight weeks.

A resource you’ll find helpful is  http://dpi.wi.gov/SPED/pdf/esyguide.pdf        Be sure to print it and take the copy to your IEP meeting.

IEP’s have a special section for “consideration” of ESY; be sure this section is completed by your IEP team.  It should indicate the duration, amount, frequency and specific service(s) of the ESY.    If you believe your child should receive ESY services over the summer but the district doesn’t, a parent can indicate objection by saying so during the meeting and also writing such.  It might be an issue for a child complaint with the state.

If you don’t want to deal with school over the summer, then don’t  pursue ESY.   Some kids need the summer to chill and take a break.

No special ed problem unless you let them know there’s a problem

Believe it or not, an advisory panel exists in Missouri that is mandated to advise the state special education matters. At the last quarterly meeting (sept 08) it was made known that a committee would begin to accept comments from the public via e-mail.
Here’s the e-mail: seapcomments@gmail.com A committee is to present the comments to the advisory panel.
The next meeting of this advisory panel is Dec 12 in Jefferson City.
For more info, visit www.dese.mo.gov, click on special education. Then look for “Special Education Advisory Panel” or SEAP.