JSD24

A gen ed teacher is required at an IEP meeting (unless the student spends no time in gened). You didn't have an IEP meeting if this person didn't attend. Now if the gen ed PE or music teacher was there, they too are gen ed teachers and would meet the requirement for having a gen ed teacher present at the meeting. This is a procedural violation (no gen ed teacher) so filing a state complaint would be a way to go. You could remind the public school that you did not, in fact, have an IEP meeting since there was no gen ed teacher present and request to meet at an IEP meeting where his teacher is allowed into the virtual meeting room. I actually had this happen and the supervisor arranged for another IEP meeting in less than 24 hours because the following day was an in-service and they day after that would have missed the timeline for the annual meeting. Turned out that the scheduled teacher was called into another meeting. It dawned on me that there was no gen ed teacher as I was walking to my car after the meeting. I wasn't asked to sign a waiver to excuse the teacher - this is a way to get around the gen ed teacher attending.

I think I know the (subtle) difference. A support person helps when needed. A 1:1 would be by the student's side throughout the school day. A support person could have other duties or be a 1:2 where they help 2 students at the same time. 1:1 might not have that flexibility. If your child only needs support in gen ed, they don't need a 1:1 given this perspective. My district will rotate 1:1 paraprofessionals where the student could have a different person in the afternoon or with a particular class. Not sure if this is good or bad. A consistent person would be better able to know the student and anticipate needs or recognise an antecedent and intervene before things go off track. It might be important if a student has absence seizures which can be hard to spot. Rotating helpers allows the paraprofessionals to have more breath of experience and learn how to support different disabilities. Also makes the transition easier if the aide ever misses a day and the child has a sub-aide.

I do seem to post on here frequently. Each & every time I post a link, the orange warning pops up that it needs to be okayed by a moderator. Sometimes, the link is to the Adayinourshoes website and the bots even block that.

They can restrain her. Students who are a danger to self or others can be restrained. If she's hitting her head or smashing her fingers, she is a danger to herself. The person restraining her would need to be trained on how to properly restrain because people can get hurt if it's done wrong. Redirection should be what's tried 1st but you don't stand by and watch a child hurt themself. Restraint should be the last resort. It is possible that they don't have trained personnel. If they are not trained, they legally cannot restrain. Pretty sure this falls under child neglect if they are not intervening and allowing your child to get hurt. You might want to call the CPS people in your state and ask them what's legal.

You can file a FERPA complaint since your child's confidential information was shared. Just be aware that when this happens, people get a slap on the wrist. Back when my sons were in elementary school, the principal shared class lists where he should have deleted the columns that said who had an IEP or a 504 or a GIEP. The remedy is generally training for the person who did this. (With my situation, it was an accident - he did know better. They were late with finalizing class lists this summer. He was in a rush & sent out the teacher list where it should have been edited.) I could see the principal sending a head's up email/letter saying that there is a student who will be attending school with a service dog. If students have a fear of dogs, the parents might want to talk to their child about this. I could also see including info that this is a working dog and that the dog shouldn't be petted while working. This is the link on filing a FERPA complaint: https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/file-a-complaint This is something a parent can do themself. I've been told they are fairly to fill out.

I view assessments as the 'tests' the school psychologist would do 1:1 with a student. While Rating Scales (questionnaires) can be part of these 'tests', I'm not aware of any that would be done to determine if a student has dyslexia - neither ones a student would do alone nor tests that parents or teachers would do. Dyslexia is defined as follows: “Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by the difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge” (Lyon, Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2003, Annals of Dyslexia, p. 2). Note the part about 'in relation to other cognitive abilities'. This means that a person with low IQ cannot be dyslexic. If their reading ability is on par with their other abilities, it's by definition not dyslexia. IQ testing should be part of an initial diagnosis so the school can tell what cognitive abilities the student has. Since IQ is fairly stable after age 8, there really isn't a need to redo IQ testing. I feel the best types of tests for dyslexia involve listening to the person read and seeing what sort of errors they make. Or reading what they've written to see if the errors are indicative of dyslexia. A dysgraphia assessment would be done by an OT. Testing is required triennially so it's not typical for a school to do this every year. If we had the names of the tests, we could see what the tests assess. Or, you could search the internet and look at this yourself. Did you sign a permission form for this testing? Could they be testing for something that would be in addition to dyslexia?

The logical place for this to happen would be the resource classroom. (Not every school has one.) Students should be supervised by an adult while at school and the hallway isn't appropriate due to lack of supervision as well as it not being safe should there be an intruder. The library does sound like it would work. Resource rooms tend to have a paraprofessional there and students use the room for extended testing time or a quiet place to work. If he has a 1:1, it would open up other places in the building as an option. Would an audio book work? He could read and listen. This could be done in a classroom with headphones.

Per the way IDEA is written, if you ask for a reading goal (and services to meet the goal) this should go on the PWN if the school says no. If they say yes, I don't think PWN is required. If you are asking for more of the same service your child already gets, what you are asking doesn't seem to fit with something that needs a PWN. (I feel how much of something falls under 'professional judgement' and they have the professionals to determine this. If there is no progress with the service, then you have data that something different is needed & that might be worthy of going in PWN.) https://adayinourshoes.com/iep-prior-written-notice-pwn/ My district would write out the PWN before the meeting. Not sure what crystal ball they have where they know what we might discuss & I might ask for for my child.

Given that the school can change a 504 w/o parent input, they can write the whole 504 however they wish. Predetermination doesn't apply with 504s.

They can hold him to the same behavior contract as classmates. Given a behavioral disability, IMO, they shouldn't. IMO, the IEP/IEP team should be able to modify this where he has about the same chance of going as a classmate. This would be the way to accommodate the disability. Also, all teachers should be following the IEP.

Lisa Lightner who runs this platform is an advocate in PA. She might be able to help. I could list out the names of several attorneys who can help but they don't work the whole state so I don't want to do that. We need to have an idea where you are so we can make sure the person we suggests will work where you are. (Without knowing where you are located, I'd rather not throw out names.) COPAA has a list. Not sure if this could be something to go to the Consult Line to get info. (They are part of ODR.) Disability Rights PA might also be able to help.

Posted before I finished. If they are an American style school, they should be doing progress monitoring of IEP goals which would allow them to do annual updates. What they might not be able to do is evaluations (done every 3 years) but they should be able to write an IEP if they are styled after an American public school.

Since COVID, there are some people who are certified school psychologists who are willing to do evaluations via the internet. Since they do not work for a school, this would not be free but it could be covered by insurance. The IEP itself can only be written by a school/school district. IMO, they are asking for the impossible. I know of no school that would evaluate and write an IEP for someone not living in their district. Sp ed is short handed. There is a shortage of teachers & school psychologists. You are not going to find someone willing to do this for free. With sp ed evals, you need to be trained in how to do the eval so that you are following the test protocol & getting accurate results. Their teachers are not going to have this background.

Was written expression identified as an area of need when the school evaluated him? If it's not assessed, the assumption is he's on level so no remediation or progress monitoring is needed. Since Endrew v Douglas County was decided by SCOTUS, the new benchmark is 'significant progress'. He went from 75 to 85 in reading - that's significant. What are his scores in written expression? Did he go from 75 to 80? (That might be significant.) Start by looking at the school's data before you spend good money on lawyer fees. If they missed evaluating written expression, your next move should be to request that the school evaluate that area. If they are providing instruction & he has goals in this area, how is the school measuring progress? Goals should be measurable. I'd expect progress in reading and writing to be parallel. If he moved 10 percentiles in reading, I'd expect at least half of that in writing.

The note should be easy to get. I agree that this might be fallout with parents who are just too lazy to toilet train where there are students who have a disability (like yours) who have a more legitimate reason for there being a delay with this. I didn't find anything saying that school playgrounds have to be accessible. Also, there doesn't appear to be all that many accessible playgrounds in the state: https://www.accessibleplayground.net/playground-directory/?cn-s=&cn-cat=37&cn-pg=1

This is a duplicate post. The other post looks to have more info so I answered there.

My thought is very simple. The school is saying he is emotionally resilient and will have little issue with changing schools. Where's there data on this? According to the way rules are written, schools can generally do things like this. There is nothing that says they need to consider a student's resilience or mental health status when making this sort of decision, so they are in their right to transfer him because there is nothing that says anything to the contrary. I see this as the ball being in your court and you needing to strategize how you will return it back to them. If you are concerned that he will have 2-hour long meltdowns if he has to attend the school they've picked, mention that you have concerns about school refusal and request that the school evaluate that this would be OK (that he can handle this without tantrums and other disruptions to your household) given that you see his emotional dysregulation/disability being a big factor with making a huge change like this. Do this in writing so you have it documented in a paper trail. Write this out as a parent concerns letter. (More info here on writing a letter: https://adayinourshoes.com/parent-concerns-on-the-iep-parent-letter-of-attachment/.) Request support to help him make this transition. I know that some of the things that can help are being able to explore the building over the summer or in off hours, meeting with staff. Playdates with other students (this would depend on the other student's families being OK with this). Also request an evaluation that this isn't going to trigger anxiety and school refusal. My perspective is they decided to make this change and you need to move forward from where you are which is him attending a new school where he's unfamiliar with the floor plan, staff and classmates. You need to plan your strategy from here. My thought is that if he doesn't cooperate with touring the new school & meeting his new teachers (things that are in the IEP because you requested the school support him with this transition), you now have data that shows this is causing him anxiety which is something they didn't consider when changing his placement.

In PA where I live, online schools are not associated with school districts unless the district has their own online school. These schools are chartered by the state and anyone in the state can attend. In other words, you cannot transfer to the online school another district has but you can go to the other in-state cyber schools. Rules definitely vary by state. To answer the OP's question. The transfer deadline is 1/15. If you want to transfer for fall 2025, you might be able to. This has info: https://education.mn.gov/MDE/fam/open/index.htm The links on this page look to have additional info - I didn't open them. Your question about transportation for special ed isn't specifically addressed - it does say that families transport most of the time. This might be an exception.

Rules like this are often state specific. My state has public virtual charter schools but these are not 'schools of choice'. I'm not sure how a school of choice works. Knowing where this is would allow for a state specific answer.

An IEP doesn't stay current forever. If the public school will implement it 6 months from now depends on if things are the same or different. My advice is to bring the eval & IEP to the private school and work with the school to come up with a plan for them to provide support to this student. Private schools don't do IEPs but they can write out a service plan. I've seen private schools use the public school's IEP to do this. It gets parents & school on the same page. It also lets the parent know that if a service the child needs like specialized remedial instruction for dyslexia that the private school doesn't offer, the parents know they need an outside person to do this.

I really don't have an answer for you. Just wanted to say my son had similar issues. His diagnosis is ADHD/dysgraphia. He never wanted to use the accommodations in his IEP. He saw himself as typical and saw the accommodations as cheating. He also didn't want his classmates to view him as different/disabled. I think he was afraid this could end up with him being teased/bullied/shunned. When he got closer to graduation and could see himself living a life after graduation, this is when he started to realize he needed to do better so he could graduate with his class. He graduated in 2022. I can see your child using their accommodations if they had peer models that had similar accommodations. He'd have this is he was attending a school where everyone had dyslexia...or a summer camp where they bring dyslexics together. At 15, he's not seeing the importance of being able to write well.

This would be a no in my area. You pay taxes to your local district. They are responsible for your child's education. There would need to be a contract between these 2 districts for this to happen. In most cases - no make this almost all cases - you would need to move to the other district for them to educate your child. If open enrollment is available in your area and this is the mechanism that allows your child to attend another district, look at the rules for open enrollment. I'd assume they would be available on a website. If your child is experiencing emotional abuse due to how they are being treated by their en loco parentis, I would think this would be grounds to have your child's placement changed but the vehicle to do this is a lawsuit/due process which is not fast nor inexpensive. (I'm not aware of case law that sets a precedence for this.)

Extra time might also be needed. I'm pretty sure that reading aloud takes longer than when you read to yourself w/o speaking. This would level the playing field for this student. It would also be something they probably need in college.

I didn't want your question to go unanswered but I'm not sure of the right answer. I do know that teachers/staff rarely lose their job over an IEP complaint. Teacher/staff training tends to be what happens. The resolution should attempt to make it like the issue didn't happen. Back services also tends to be a resolution. I had filed a complaint when my child was being evaluated for an IEP. I dropped off my signed permission to evaluate. (It was actually the school that initiated evaluating my child.) Around 60 days later I was back at the school for something and popped in to check on how the eval was coming along. The AP opened the desk drawer and the paperwork was still there. I later found out that the psychologist assigned to this middle school was sick. She eventually passed away - I'm pretty sure she had cancer. The HS psychologist should have been given the paperwork to do the eval. I'm not sure why that didn't happen. The Assistant Principal should have known better than to do what she did. She still works for the district - I think she's an AP in one of the HSs. I'm hoping she got chewed out for doing this and never does this to another student.

Audiobooks with headphones so he's not disturbing others sounds like the accommodation he needs. I don't see where they would allow him to read aloud in a classroom. Teacher should not be doing this without the accommodation listed out in an IEP or 504. A resource room makes sense but then they need an aide to supervise and he'll disturb anyone else using the room. Colleges will be able to provide audiobooks. The HS's evaluation showing this is needed is what they are going to look for to provide this. Some colleges will do what's in the IEP as far as accommodations go but they want data to support the need. Sounds like he's an auditory learner. You're also going to need data to support what you're asking for. Do you have this? Schools don't accommodate w/o data. They may want to their own assessment which would likely require your written permission to do. You want this data in an eval written by someone other than you.