Carolyn Rowlett

It's hard to comment without knowing the specific facts of each case (for instance, it might matter whether the private placement was by the parent or by the school), but if a parent can waive FAPE in a settlement agreement that includes a private placement, I would assume that would mean the entirety of FAPE - even the "free" part. Waiving FAPE in order to receive the services of the private school allowed the school district to use this as an argument to not cover at 100%. May not be the best result, but I can't think of a reason it would not be allowed in a situation involving a private school not subject to FAPE, and perhaps having 50% covered was the best the parents thought they could receive without spending more time and money. Unsure in Seattle (actually, Kansas City :))

Not in Pennsylvania, so others might know more. But for me, it would help to see the language in the NOREP as to what was agreed to at the meeting. Regardless, however, it looks like you were given some bad advice during the meeting from individuals who did not understand the entire process or know all the facts in your case. Under the board policy, you appear to be out of luck. My suggestions are: 1. Ask for all policies regarding ability to transfer schools. There might be some other way to request a transfer. 2. Write a letter to the superintendent and school board members pleading your case. Since you don't have any policy or legal ground to stand on, appeal to their emotions to make an exception. However, there are a couple of legal issues you could allude to (but I would start out nice and not demanding in this initial letter/email). State how this would affect your son and his ability to access his education (he would be so traumatized he wouldn't be able to focus and learn - I would even suggest getting a letter from a psychologist/psychiatrist stating the environment would making learning difficult, if not impossible, and attach the letter). Hopefully they could connect the dots that they would be denying FAPE. Another legal angle would be adding something like "it would be be devastating to my son physically, mentally, and emotionally if another attack were to occur." Hopefully they could connect the dots in terms of their liability if an attack occurred and they were on notice of the previous one. 3. If they insist on knowing the other boy's name, keep in mind that the school district is required to keep this confidential.

I may have missed something, but when did the "compensatory reading" come into play? Also, I may not be following all the timelines, but if it's been one year since the school evaluation in academics, ask for one. If denied (or if given and you disagree), ask for another IEE. You mentioned when summer instruction starts. I don't think you'll likely be able to get a private evaluation in time for it to make a difference this summer. I would just wait out the year so you don't have to pay. But, of course, that's totally up to you. I'm a little confused about the "specific OG reading evaluation." That isn't a thing in special education, so it must be something used for their general education intervention. Make sure you understand the difference. Reach out and ask for the policy, steps, qualifications, etc., for the "specific OG reading evaluation." I don't understand how they're tying that to "compensatory reading for the summer." Compensatory minutes are minutes missed in the special education setting.

If the school "skipped" the step of doing a reading evaluation, you shouldn't have to pay for one yourself. Ask for an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at school/public expense. They have to give you this or take you to court to prove why they shouldn't have to. Or they might just go ahead and do the evaluation themselves. If you disagree with their evaluation, you can still request an IEE after its completion.

First I would want to know what "can read the words" means. Sometimes students can "read," but that is only because they have memorized the words. The real question is whether he can DECODE. To determine that, you need an evaluation that tests nonsense word reading and also digs down into phonics and phonological awareness. Have you had any evaluations that have done this? If you don't have an evaluation that did this, request one. It will be easier to "fight" for OG if you can show a phonological and/or phonics deficit. But OG is also appropriate for the areas you mention - comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. It depends on how low his scores are in these areas (and thus what the present levels show). You can fight for anything - but you need the data to support it. If you have the data, also ask for goals in reading to be added to the IEP (comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, and any phonics/phonological awareness deficits). That way it will have to be addressed with specialized instruction as opposed to remediation, which I assume is general ed instruction/remediation that takes place in spec ed only because he is in a self-contained class - not because it is specialized instruction.

Also include phonics for reading as that is different from phonological awareness. For writing, I think you've covered all the bases. I would look at your state standards to see where he should be at his grade level for writing and state you are concerned he is not meeting those state standards. I don't know if you'll be able to get anything for "handwriting fluency." I think that this would be more of a fine motor skill and by the time a child is in middle school, it's past the time where it can be corrected other than practicing. I'm guessing he has accommodations such as speech-to-text or typing? I know you eventually want him to be able to write without accommodations, but "handwriting" without accommodations may be a losing battle. In general, keep in mind that it's the school's obligation to evaluate in all areas of suspected disabilities - not yours. If they don't evaluated in an area that should have been, you would be entitled to request this in an IEE - they don't get a "do-over" if their evaluation isn't sufficient the first time. Auditory processing disorder is something I would advise pursuing privately. Most insurance covers this, as well as the therapy. However, his IQ test may have shown low processing, which you can use for the time being as a reason for accommodations - extending time to process/respond, etc.

Yes, the school will want to do their own re-evaluation BUT if you don't agree with their results, THEN you can ask for an IEE. So start the process of requesting a re-evaluation as soon as possible. (I would ask for it not only in the areas which have been removed, but also in the areas which are still in the IEP unless you are comfortable with the data in those areas, if any.) Unfortunately, the IDEA doesn't define a time by which re-evaluations have to be done. But since the director of spec ed probably works during the summer months, you can include her on your email request to make sure someone sees it. Then follow up when school starts. I would push hard for this to be done ASAP given that they removed services without data. You will be required to sign a permission form before the re-evaluation can start, so ask for that on a weekly, then daily, basis until you receive it. Although the IDEA does not define the timeline, the default is usually "withing a reasonable time," which has been defined to mean 60 days - similar to the initial evaluation.

Hi AM. I will attempt to answer the questions I can in the order you presented them. To be safe, I would wait until after the meeting is held to go over the results of the school's reevaluation. It would be a difficult to argue you disagree with the evaluation (necessary to request an IEE) if you haven't seen it or received an explanation of the results. The amount of time in which an IEE is done is on the school - not you. However, you should keep an eye on the timeframe. Most states define it as "within a reasonable time," which has been interpreted as 60 days (similar to the school evaluation requirement). If it starts going beyond 60 days, I would reach out to the school and inquire as to timing. I'm not completely sure about the Due Process timeline for denying an IEE and how it's affected by summer break. In my state, Due Process complaints and resulting timelines continue throughout the summer. You could call your state department of education and ask. You can always decide to withdraw your request for an IEE. Unfortunately, there is no criteria on when a school district must accept the results of a private evaluation. Legally, they are only required to "consider" such results. That's why IEEs are so important - to "break the tie" between the differing reports in the hopes that the school district will reconsider their refusal of a secondary category. At the very least, it will hopefully get the needs listed in the present levels and then the IEP has to address those needs regardless of whether he is found eligible in a particular category.

I'm not in PA, so hopefully others with chime in regarding PA specifically. In general, I would look at the language of the goal - does it say anything about writing independently? Of course, even if it doesn't, that's the assumption - that supports are put in place in the gen ed setting UNTIL the goal can be met independently without support. When you say "at two previous IEP meetings, school staff agreed to add a goal for on-demand writing," etc., why didn't that happen after the meeting(s) in which it was agreed upon? With respect to the executive functioning goal, it would be necessary to also look at the language of this goal - was it only about checking his work? If there was more, then the goal wasn't met. To answer your question about data versus meeting a goal, they are intertwined. It IS based on whether or not the goal is met (although a different goal may be needed, i.e., if he met a sentence-writing goal, he needs to more on to a paragraph goal), BUT the only way to tell if a goal is met is with DATA. Have you been receiving quarterly progress monitoring reports? The annual IEP can't just "show" he met his writing goal without data in the present levels. Here are my suggestions: 1. In response to the PWN/NOREP, because it should be set forth on this document why a goal was removed, I would definitely request an explanation, but more importantly, the data behind the explanation. Also cite the previous meetings in which a goal and data were agreed upon but never added. 2. Since you are entitled to an evaluation every year, I would request one in the areas which have been removed - writing, executive functioning, and social skills. They have to have data before they can remove these, and it sounds like they don't have it. So request an evaluation.

The notes she has from the teacher ARE her notes pursuant to her IEP. She should be allowed to use them in any way other students use their notes. If all other students are allowed to use their notes for a test, she should be allowed to use her teacher-provided notes. Since you're short on time, I would reach out to the entire IEP team asking for assistance. If you don't hear back quickly, reach out (maybe call) the director of special education. If you have a phone call (or calls) make sure to write everything down that was said.

Great information, JSD! Just a side note to this post and something I just found out. The US Department of Education's acronym is ED (Education Department) to distinguish it from the US Department of Energy (DOE).

A BIP doesn't necessarily need parental consent, but you should reach out stating you are not in favor of it. It's never too late to do that. If they had done an FBA, that would have required parental consent. I would request a social/emotional/behavior evaluation and that it include an FBA. Schools aren't great at those, but once you receive the school's FBA, you can request an IEE. In order to receive a 1:1 aide "officially" and a good BIP, you'll need to go this route. Special education teachers and others are always afraid to speak up in meetings due to the pressure from "higher up's" about keeping services and supports to a minimum.

I like your idea of an accommodation stating "No peer editing or sharing..." However, I agree that it may not be accommodated because he wasn't found eligible for SLD in written expression. But it never hurts to ask! Could he possibly be allowed to use speech-to-text or type with autocorrect during on-demand writing? The downside to any of these is him looking different from his peers, which may be worse that showing them his "poor" writing. Yes, continue to bring samples (which is data) to meetings. I really think I'd push for the IEE. I understand your concerns, but it seems to me the school evaluation is either flawed for not having him write the entire 15 minutes OR proof of his writing deficiencies since he did NOT write for the full 15 minutes. Get another eval, then you have two versus one (which is flawed). Also, the request for an IEE might prompt the school to just say "ok, we'll give him services and write a goal."

You are actually "lucky" in the sense that the school even showed you the writing your son did for the evaluation. Many districts take the "copyright" infringement a little too far and won't even show the parent that. If they let you view and take notes, that's probably all you're going to get. Here's what you can do: 1. You can ask that a parent concern be added to the IEP regarding what you saw on the evaluation (be as specific as you like with all the errors, etc. - heck, if you can remember it, you could put in the whole thing), as well as the fact that he only wrote for 5 of the 15 minutes. Also, speak to your son's behavior when it comes to writing and reading tasks throughout the years. 2. I was thinking of suggesting a request for an IEE, but it looks like a private evaluation was already done? (Albeit, one you paid for, I'm assuming, so you could technically still ask for an IEE. I think one reason for disagreeing with the school's eval would be the 5 minutes - what would the writing have looked like if he had to write for the entire 15 minutes? But you don't necessarily have to give a reason for wanting an IEP other than you disagree with the school's.) What did the private evaluation show in terms of qualifying for written expression? If you have both a private eval and a school eval with average scores, you may be out of luck. (And thus, yet, may be looking at outside help.) Scaled scores and standard scores can be converted to the other. You could ask the school for a conversion chart or find one online.

I don't really have a problem with the "when available digitally" language. But if you're concerned about different interpretations, ask the team what is meant by "when available digitally"? And what are your concerns as to how it might be interpreted? Maybe those concerns could be addressed with clarifying language. Regardless, they need to have a backup accommodation for when such books are not available, such as human reader or a C-pen. Totally agree with you regarding the quality. If he won't listen to computer voices (many kids won't), then it's the same as not providing him with the accommodation. You could add language to the accommodation along the lines of "such books will either have text-to-speech capabilities or a voice pattern that the student responds to/engages with." Can't answer your question regarding specific programs.

I would send any document that you may refer to during the meeting, in full, to the school team ahead of the meeting. Concurrently, I would request in writing a draft IEP (if you have not already done so) three school days prior to the meeting (you might land on two days, which is fine - whatever is enough time for you to review before the meeting). I would additionally state that if the team cannot provide a draft IEP before the meeting (with sufficient time for review), that the meeting be postponed until they can.

This is a tough one. I'm sure Lisa will chime in with some great suggestions. Here's what I'm thinking. In general, a parent cannot dictate who the staff member is - but can dictate that they be trained to provide the necessary services and accommodations to the child. So that would be one question to look into: What is the training of the person(s) the school is considering for his 1:1? If not sufficient (you'll need a report that sets out what your son needs), make that argument (which might lead to them hiring someone else). You could also ask that during the transition period (and this is a huge transition) that your son's current care attendant be allowed to be the aid in tandem with whoever will be fulling this role at the school. It might make the transition easier and you have the letter that this is recommended. You would, of course, have to pay/have Medicaid pay for the current care attendant's time to help with the transition. I don't know much about how Medicaid factors into this. Does this funding stop when a child reaches Kindergarten? Or would it be possible to continue with the same care attendant and just obtain the school's approval that this person be the 1:1? (Can't see why they would object to this - would help them out tremendously - but there could be liability issues, union issues, etc.) This is not my area of expertise so just speaking generally. Hopefully others with more experience will join the discussion.

As always, Lisa has great suggestions. I'm only adding my two cents as my area of "expertise" is reading. From what you describe, it sounds like your son may need and probably didn't receive the necessary underlying reading skills - phonemic awareness, phonics/decoding, encoding, etc. Because students (especially very bright students) are able to mask by memorizing many words and figuring out words from context, deficiencies in these areas often go undetected in elementary school. But when the student hits the middle and high school years, they can no longer memorize all the words they need to know and they are reading about subjects for which they have no prior context - and the struggles begin. The school is saying he is on "grade level." But what do they mean by that? That he is able to get good grades? That doesn't necessarily mean he is on "grade level." Did the academic evaluation the school did dig down to all the necessary subtests such as phonemic awareness, phonics, nonsense words, fluency, etc.? If not, you need to request an IEE. It may be that he is NOT on grade level when it comes to these areas. Although it sounds strange, it is very possible (again, especially for a bright student) to score well in comprehension and not know how to decode, because they are very good at figuring out the passage from context and memorized words. But this inability to decode will catch up with them.

Is the "evaluation meeting" the first evaluation meeting and the one to determine eligibility for the first time? Also, what eligibility categories are you going to be looking at? If you're looking at specific learning disabilities, then an evaluation showing low scores in academics could definitely (and legally) take into consideration all the absences as a reason for the low scores. Especially if those absences have reached the point of non-compliance with state policy/regs. However, if the disability is something like ADHD, maybe that is the reason FOR the absences. What was the reason the parents chose an online school and is it through the school district?

Request a special education evaluation in the area of social/emotional/behavior. List all the reasons you state above. Attach the autism and anxiety diagnoses. Ask the teacher to report what he or she sees in the classroom, at lunch, at recess, and at specials in terms of her responding to questions, making conversations, having friends, etc. and attach that feedback. The school must already see a need in terms of social skills if she's seeing the counselor for that. Those skills can be addressed in an IEP with goals and specialized instruction.

Just in general, you should make EVERY request to the school district in writing - whether or not it has to do with special education and whether or not you asked for it in a meeting. If you did think of it and ask during a meeting, jot down a note to yourself to send a follow up email reiterating your request to the team. Specifically, I'm not sure I can answer your question. Is the child eligible for a specific learning disability in math? If not, there would be no requirement for the school district to provide special education services in math and a PWN rejecting eligibility in a specific learning disability for math would encompass this. Your use of the term "Tier intervention" leads me to believe you were asking for something provided in the general education setting, in which case a PWN would not apply. If you child is eligible in specific learning disability (math), the services provided would not be provided in the general education setting. Others can correct me if I'm off base here. Also, Little Papa3, please reach back out with any clarification questions.

Emotional/Behavioral should include an executive functioning component. But you can ask this question to be sure. As far as the "oral testing" for special education, the school has to go by the testing protocols. If they allow for oral testing, then you shouldn't need to sign anything. I wouldn't sign anything that allows them to change the test protocols.

Ok. It seems we were confused and thought you were referring to the special education testing when you said "oral testing." But you mean the school wants to give her oral, rather than written, tests in the classroom because of her ADHD. I haven't heard of this being something to consider for students with ADHD, but maybe because it "forces" them to stay focused more than if they're sitting in front of paper or a computer taking a test? Whatever the reason, I would ask them to explain their thought process on this change - whether you ask for that in an email or during a meeting. You did say her grades are dropping, so it could be in response to that? Since you are wanting a behavioral plan, I would ask that the emotional/behavioral testing include an FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment).

What areas are checked on the consent form to be evaluated? That could make a difference. I would also ask what evaluations are being used for each area and then look up online to see if an oral version is appropriate.

In my opinion, they're exposing themselves to a different type of liability by preventing a child from accessing FAPE when there is not a documented medical reason for the child having to stay home. Yes, get everything in writing and the reasons behind the decision, as well as share everything JSD24 points out. But I would include the IEP on your emails (do they even know the nurse told you this?), and I would request an IEP meeting to figure out the educational plan moving forward (and if even needed) because the nurse doesn't seem to have a good one.