Kaha

@JSD24, first and foremost THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! The IEP team decided that they wanted to schedule an annual IEP review at the last minute. The date proposed fell on the same day as my child's class awards ceremony, so I they offered the following day. As I was leaving my child's ceremony, the school Principal stopped me in the hallway (with my husband and child) & thought it was a good idea to discuss if I would attend the meeting & tell me the team was recommending the completion of my child's IEP and move to a 504. I told her my child wasn't ready for that & we could discuss it in detail at the meeting. So much for confidentiality.... I read and re-read your note and did some research on IDEA & pulled out my procedural safeguards. That information helped me so much in my advocacy for my child. The school was recommending completion based on the data they collected which wasn't measurable (or complete) and seemed to want to use the 15 month old re-eval data. And then they tried to say that they didn't have to do evaluations to declassify him. They said my state doesn't require that and I said I go by federal law (IDEA), not state law. When they realized those tactics wouldn't work, the gaslighting started "I didn't say that we were removing his IEP." Silly rabbit, I have it in an E-mail. I also need to thank @Lisa Lightner for having the Middle School/High School webinar. That helped me so much with having an idea on what I need to discuss with the Middle School for my child's IEP. I only hope that the school and I have a smoother transition and more open communication when we have our meetings. I have my follow-up meeting with my child's Elementary School tomorrow to go over the draft IEP. I'm sure it'll be interesting and they're probably happy to be rid of me. Thank you again for your time, I sincerely appreciate your assistance.

@JSD24, thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my questions. I did reach out to my child's school last week via E-mail and told the team that "I would like to better understand how the data they sent demonstrates that my child has met the two goals outlined in their IEP. If someone could please explain in detail how the data supports this determination, I would appreciate it." I also told them I have not received any additional data sets, nor have I received notice of a review meeting & asked if they could advise when the review meeting would occur and when I can expect to receive the remaining data? The SPED teacher responded with "so sorry for the delay regarding the data and scheduling the review meeting as it slipped my mind." They're aware that my child is moving to middle school. I'd like to give them grace, but I've been gaslit so much in the past year, it's hard for me to believe this was an oversight. Additional data was sent home, but there was 3 months missing. The school principal then responded that they can schedule a meeting on Tuesday at 11:30. I'm already losing time from work to attend my child's awards ceremony that day. I'm afraid to take any additional time off from work but school ends here on Friday. Last time I had a meeting with them, it was an hour + of time and then they didn't even address everything in the PWN. My fear is that they'll meet without me and switch the IEP to a 504 & remove some accommodations. They've brought this up numerous times in past meetings. And I know it's going to be a challenge to get switched back to an IEP. (They've already changed goals before an IEP meeting & they weren't SMART goals, so I have little trust in them.) I almost wonder if it would be best for me to tell them to send me the the details for their data that supports their position and I'll discuss it with the new school. I still want to request an IEE though. If they say "no," I guess the next step is due process if I'm not mistaken? Thanks for listening to one stressed out parent.....

I have a few questions which I hope the community can answer: Is there a specific timeline for requesting an IEE after the school completes testing? To whom is an IEE request addressed to? The school principal, school district SPED director, state agency? If the IEP goals aren't measurable (and the school was aware,) can I argue for an IEE? My child is moving over to Middle School next school year, should there be a transition meeting which includes the SPED teacher at the new school? Since the SPED teacher stated my child has mastered their goals, is it beneficial to ask for a meeting to have them show me how the data was collected even though they admitted the program they used only shows completion and isn't measurable? Here's a bit of background: In February 2025, the school completed the triennial testing for my child's IEP evaluation (DX with Autism & ADHD.) Although the results showed that my child was at average and even above average on some of the tests that they completed, I still didn't agree with the results. During our IEP meeting last March to go over the results, it was mentioned that timers were stopped because of "intrusive thoughts" but that wouldn't have affected the scoring. They also declined to test pragmatic language skills. I debated about requesting an IEE then, but the local state advocacy group was like, well, try to write them a letter stating that you don't agree with the results. (I had one of their advocates with me during the meeting. I don't think she said more than 10 words the entire meeting.) Fast forward to August 2025. I receive an E-mail from the new SPED teacher who set up a meeting to go over the annual IEP. When I received the draft, the two goals my child had were rewritten. Not only were they rewritten, it was done in a way which essentially stated child will complete X in 4 out of 5 opportunities. I brought up to the team that the goals weren't measurable this way, but my concerns were again dismissed. I also asked the SPED teacher why my parent concerns letter was summarized in the IEP and was told that they don't have to put my full letter in there. At this point, the school wasn't listening to me nor my advocate, so I called the district SPED Director to ask that she join us for another meeting. I spent 45 minutes on the phone with the SPED director and was told that my parent concerns letter was not where I put in that I disagree with the decisions made by the IEP team and that they don't have to put my full letter in my child's IEP. They also fully backed their teachers and the decisions that they were making, but they would contact the principal to request another meeting. Another meeting was scheduled, but that didn't work out because the school had tech issues & my child's teacher couldn't be in attendance for more than 15 minutes. After going back and forth with the school, I got another meeting scheduled and the state advocacy group put me in touch with one of their director's to attend with me. The state advocate pointed out that info was missing from the IEP and that the goals as written weren't measurable. The school principal was in this meeting and we discussed her suggestions to my child's IEP which I actually agreed with. After an hour plus meeting, it seemed like both sides were making progress, although I felt like I was being lectured for “not letting my child be independent.” The PWN comes with the amended IEP. Sure enough, it's missing a good deal of what was discussed at the meeting. And when I E-mailed the principal about it (when I had to e-mail and ask where the data was that backed up their progress reports,) she didn't directly address it. It was pushed off on the SPED and Gen Ed teachers to answer my questions. I'm literally at my wits end. I don't seem to be getting anywhere with the school and the state advocacy agency is super vague. It's more or less, "it's up to you what you want to do." As a parent who has no idea what they're doing, I'm just looking for some direction on what the next best steps are, especially with the school year ending next Friday. Thank you.

Carolyn, Thank you for taking the time to respond and for the very helpful information! I don't have a copy of the updated IEP (meeting was last Friday,) but I know that they have already implemented the changes. I'll definitely follow up with an e-mail stating what I don't agree with and request the PWN for the changes they made. I requested 2 new social emotional goals as well and they said that they needed to collect data; no timeframe given to collect that. His IEP states that progress reports are to be sent every 9 weeks, but I always have to send an E-mail reminder. And his second quarter progress report was almost 3 months late & indicated that he was showing progress on his goals, not mastered. They're not following some of his accommodations. His teacher, although really nice, feels that because he's bright & doing well, he'll advocate for himself. He doesn't. The IEE crossed my mind, especially when the school psychologist & OT said that they had stopped timers during testing because my son "needed to express a thought he had in his head." To me, that would indicate that his diagnoses interfered with his ability to complete the testing within the testing parameters. Not to mention, some of the scoring showed difficulties. I don't know much about IEE's, but I know that we could obtain one at public expense if the district agrees. My concern is that the district won't agree and then we're stuck because we can't afford to pay for one out of pocket. If you could point me in the direction to learn more about the IEE, that would be amazing. I appreciate the info that you have shared already. I was so worried I was overthinking what happened at the meeting. At least now I know I have reason to be concerned.

Thank you, JSD24 for replying. We moved from Florida to South Carolina last year. I met with the new IEP team in August to develop a new IEP and they now have his annual IEP set for August. The school was a little funny with the re-eval in that the person doing the Re-Eval would misplaced the docs from the OT, promised the Re-Eval report two different times & missed the deadlines given, and said that they were sick often which delayed completing the Re-Eval earlier. At our meeting last week to go over the results, they removed goals because they said he was making progress & didn't meet SLD in dysgraphia. They then combined his 3 Social Emotional goals into 1 & reduced his minutes. (The expectation is that he'll be accepted into their P/T gifted program, but I can't get the school district to respond to me.) I should add, no PWN for any of this. Unfortunately, I felt pressured to agreed to their terms due to their time constraint. Their testing showed some issues and they dismissed it as my child probably had an "off day." I'm now looking at sending my follow-up letter to them & telling them that I don't agree with the new IEP. They have consistently been late with progress reports & I haven't seen solid data from them. Something just isn't sitting right for me with all of this.

Thank you, Lisa for clarifying that for me. We moved to a new state last year and the school had a meeting in August and said they were creating a new IEP for him. But March was when his previous school initiated his first IEP.

Hello, Is there a timeline that the school district must follow when completing a triennial evaluation? I thought the school had 60 days to complete the testing and then 30 days to meet and draft the IEP. The school is telling me that isn't the case, that the 60/30 day timelines only apply to the initial testing. Unfortunately, I'm finding different answers to this online. Thank you for your time.