Carolyn Rowlett

Many school districts still do use "backpack mail" to send home PWN's, which as you correctly state has many "wrongs," and as JSD24 states at a minimum should be in a sealed envelope. Nothing in the IDEA prohibits this, but as JSD24 states an unsealed envelope that got into the hands of a classmate would be a FERPA violation. However, the IDEA does state that parents can elect to have PWN's sent by email if the school has that option, which the vast majority, if not all, should have. So you should contact the school and tell them this is how you elect to receive your notices. From a practical standpoint, as an advocate it is much easier on my clients (and me) if they can just forward me a document that was originally sent electronically, rather than having to send screen shots or scan.

I am a facilitator in Missouri, so can only speak to how facilitated IEP's are conducted in my state, but I agreed with Jenna that all you need to prepare is a letter (or email) of parent concerns. In Missouri, I speak with both the parents and the school district via phone prior to the meeting. In my phone conversation with the parents I try to pull out all concerns that they have. I also offer to draft the parent concerns letter is they are unsure of how to do this. I, of course, have them review and approve the list. After parent approval, I forward a copy to the school district. It makes the process go a little smoother when the district is aware of the parent concerns prior to the meeting, as is the case with any IEP meeting. The meeting itself will most likely be conducted similarly to a "regular" IEP meeting. In fact, the facilitator has to follow the agenda outlined in the IDEA. There will just be some extra "bells and whistles" in the meeting such as visual charts that the facilitator (or someone he/she asks) tracks. The neutral facilitator will only jump in if tensions are rising, the meeting is getting offtrack, pros and cons need to be developed to reach a consensus on a particular proposal, etc. As for a report and what is done with the information at the end of the meeting, in Missouri there is no report generated after a facilitation. The school district is allowed to take pictures of the charts if they do so with a school device (not their personal cell phone) for purposes of adding it to the student's file. They charts are then taken down and destroyed.

It that case, I can tell you if there is a state policy - there is! (I'm in Kansas and Missouri.) In the Kansas Process Handbook (p. 88) it states that "the parents of a child with an exceptionality have the right to request an IEP meeting at any time." It is silent as to whether or not the parent must inform the school district of the purpose for the meeting, but there is no requirement to do so.

I think you took the appropriate next step in requesting an IEE, so I would just wait to hear back from that. They will most likely grant it, as otherwise they have to take you to due process. If they don't, this is probably something you could handle without an attorney since the only issue is getting an IEE. Reach back out to this forum if you do have to go to due process over this. If your request is granted, make sure the IEE is done in ALL areas that the school evaluated and that you disagree with. (If the school has not evaluated in all areas of suspected disability, ask them to.) As Jenna alluded to, hopefully the IEE will tie his disabilities to academic impact. Do NOT accept grades as data - they are not. Grades are very subjective and should not be the basis for denying eligibility. I don't know how old you son is, but this is especially true at the elementary school level. Request that they redo the Prior Written Notice in which they explained their reasons for denying eligibility and ask for DATA that they relied on - not grades. In the area of speech, it sounds like they won't have any, so the only thing they can look to (until the results of the IEE are in) is your private evaluation.

Ok. You should know in case the school pushes back when the parents refuse to provide an agenda that nothing in the IDEA or its regulations explicitly gives the parents a right to request a team meeting. So if they wanted to be difficult, the school might refuse to have the meeting without the parent providing an agenda. However, the Federal Register grants parents this right on p. 46676, Volume 71, Number 156, dated 8/14/06 on the topic "Rules and Regulations." Show them that, if needed. As to whether or not a parent has to provide a reason for calling a meeting, that is not addressed. I would also suggest checking your state's policies and regs - a lot of times states will put a parent's right to request a meeting in their state plan. If the school still refuses, your client could request a mediation.

No. The school district doesn't even have to provide an agenda prior to a meeting when they call a meeting. Although not legally required, your client should probably inform the school district as to why he/she called the meeting, unless he/she is trying to catch them off guard with a specific question that he/she doesn't want them to have time to prepare for.

You are exactly correct, JSD24. My apologies. Thank you for catching this. My first two suggestions would be accommodations. My third one would be a modification.

Let me preface with the fact that I am not located in Virginia. Also, in giving suggestions I am assuming you are acting as an advocate now (not as a parent) since your children are grown. You could try to make changes in two ways. One way is as an individual advocate on a case-by-case basis. School districts have some latitude on how they run their IEP process, BUT they must do so within the confines of the IDEA and state laws/regulations. So look up the state statutes regarding special education and go to the Virginia State Department of Education and read any polices, state plan, parent guides/resources, etc. they have on the special education process. If laws are not being followed or procedural errors are being made you can try to nicely point out their compliance "issue." For instance, what does Virginia require in terms of days' notice for meetings and are they following that? If not, you could state "it is my understanding that parents were to receive 5 days notice prior to a meeting." If they insist on parents signing a PWN at the end of a meeting, state "it is my understanding that parents have 10 days to sign the PWN." And have your documentation from the department of education's website ready. If the school district is following all laws and compliant procedurally but still being difficult, that requires different tactics. Once example I can think of is providing a copy of the draft IEP prior to the IEP meeting. Some school districts may flat out refuse to do this or may only send it 24 hours in advance. In the case where they refuse to send a copy, respond to that denial stating "in that case, we will need two IEP meetings in order to give my client time to review the draft IEP and make suggestions so that she may participate meaningfully in the process [which IS required by law]." If you ask for the draft IEP 5 days or 48 hours in advance, and it isn't sent until the day before the meeting, respond that "I'm sorry you were unable to provide us with a draft within the time we requested. Due to my client's schedule and needing time to review this document, we will need to reschedule the meeting for a later time." If you're hoping to make more system-wide changes, that would require more of a group effort, such as starting a Facebook page or something along those lines that would connect parents and get everyone on the same page as far as what changes they want to ask for. Although it would be seen as confrontational and "going over heads," as a last resort, you could get a group together to go to a school board meeting.

I specialize in specific learning disabilities and so will leave the transition/independence goals for a student with Down Syndrome to others with more expertise in that area. However, although reading could be addressed in transition goals, I believe it also needs to be addressed as a separate issue in her IEP. Students with Down Syndrome can learn to read, but may need a different technique than what is used in the general education setting. You need an evaluation showing she has the capability to read, along with suggested programs. If you don't have such an evaluation, ask for an IEE in the area of academic achievement (assuming the school has done one). You could also ask your pediatrician and see what he/she recommends - an evaluation might be covered under your insurance. Unless the school has data showing she cannot learn to read above a Kindergarten level, they have an obligation to teach her to read up to her capability. And to find the methodology that works for her. She needs specific goals in her IEP for reading - and instruction should NOT come by way of OT.

You can legally request to SEE the video - the school district doesn't necessary have to give you a copy of it. If the video contains footage of other students not pertinent to the incident, they can be redacted.

I'm also not familiar with the term "Armstrong student" and am not real clear what advice you're asking for, but I can tell two things. One, there is no set date by which ESY has to be determined. If they claim it's "school district policy," ask for a copy of the policy. It is good practice to discuss this early, but February doesn't even allow you to look at spring break data. Which leads me to number two. The determination of ESY has to do with the regression the student has over breaks (winter, spring, summer) - not the progress he makes during the school year.

Let me clarify. Having to "wait and see" applies to the methodology they decide to use. It does NOT mean that you can't demand methodology that is evidence-based, multisensory structured literacy. You are correct that they should only use something that evidence shows helps remediate dyslexia. But once they choose such a methodology, they are allowed a certain amount of time (I would say within a quarter/grade card period) to show progress. If they don't, then you can ask for additional teacher training and/or a different methodology. I agree that teacher training on the specific methodology should be done prior to teaching the student and there is a lot of language out there requiring methodology to be "applied with fidelity," but from a practical standpoint that is difficult to insist on until the child doesn't make progress. If it went to due process, most hearing officers would allow the school (and child) to "fail" first before insisting on the type of training recommended by most programs. What that means for getting tutoring at your private school is that the public school will get to try (and try again) before they'll ever agree to that. But keep on top of the progress and be a squeaky wheel - that works, too, and you never know what you might get!

I think your friend needs to pull in the director of special education, which hopefully the district office already did, but you never know. I would send the evaluation request attached to an email to him/her and tell him/her that they suspect their child has a disability in the area of emotional disturbance and want their child evaluated in that area. It would also be helpful if they could produce some "proof," such as times when the teacher has noticed meltdowns, etc. Factual instances. The director of special ed should know that a PWN is to be sent if they refuse. If it isn't, follow up with the director of spec ed and ask for one. And make sure the reason for denial is specific. Also, if refused, tell your friend to request an IEE. I would not deal with the principal and school psych on this matter anymore (until they have to during the IEP process). They are either uneducated or lying - both unacceptable. Of course there are more categories of disabilities under the IDEA than just specific learning disabilities. Does the school deny blind and deaf students if they don't have a learning disability? Or autistic students? Of physically impaired? I would hope not. I would also not deal with the district office anymore - too cumbersome. Go straight to the director of spec ed.

A very common modification is for the disabled student not to have to spend more than 1 and 1/2 times on homework that her non-disabled peers spend. So ask the principal what a "normal" amount of time is for homework in 10th grade. Then to get to the reduced amount, put in a modification along the lines that you suggested - only do even or odd numbers. Another way to word it is that "once mastery is shown," do not require additional problems. So on concepts that the does grasp, let her move on without doing busy work so she can spend more time on the concepts she doesn't understand. Finally, you could also consider asking for modifications to the curriculum in math. Is she really going to need all that she's being taught in math for her future that it's worth the stress it puts on her? Schools are very resistant to changing the curriculum to something like "functional math," but some experts are championing for this for disabled students. I'm not saying that your daughter can't learn the concepts, but rather are they worth learning.

I should have been more clear regarding the IEE and reconsidering eligibility. Assuming your request for an IEE is granted, new data from the evaluation should prompt a meeting to go over the results. If the school doesn't schedule a meeting, ask for one. Then in the meeting, assuming the data is favorable, you can ask them to reconsider the eligibility status. Hope this helps.

When you get the consent form for the assessment, make sure that "Academic Achievement" (or similar language) is checked. The school psychologist won't label anything as a "specific learning disability," but his/her evaluation should show if your son is struggling in academic areas and to what extent. You probably already have, but I would report the math teacher's lack of response to the principal. Also, if you feel this teacher is not providing the required accommodations and modifications listed on the IEP, you need to call for an IEP meeting to address this (ask the team for his/her attendance at the meeting).

Grades are meaningless IMO when it comes to whether or not a child needs an IEP. They are not data. Data is what is needed to determine whether or not an IEP is needed. Accommodations are not something the child does - they are something the school does. While you are waiting on the IEP process (reconsideration), I would ask for a 504 team meeting to rewrite the accommodations in terms of what the school must do. But if you want them to check in for understanding, you will need to show that he may not understand without this accommodation. You can ask him if he understands the classroom material and hopefully your private evals or the IEE will show this is a needed accommodation. When you request the IEE, that will start the process for you to ask for a reconsideration. When the new data comes in, ask to schedule another IEP eligibility determination meeting. The school can absolutely help with executive functioning if a need is shown. Click on the link below to see a list of executive functioning goals that Lisa has put together. https://adayinourshoes.com/executive-functioning-iep-goals-accommodations/

You can request this. The previous evaluations will hurt your case, but you can try to get additional information that will help it: 1) Ask his teacher what he/she thinks about his writing compared to his peers. (Sometimes teachers are reluctant to answer this in a straightforward way, if they suspect you're trying to get spec ed services.) Also, ask for writing samples - first drafts, not ones the teacher helped edit later. 2) If it's been a year since the last school evaluation, you can ask for another one in the area of writing. And remember, the school doesn't have to find a writing disability - only that he needs special services in this area because he is falling behind. Because you are correct. It might not be a writing disability; it could very well be a result of his other disabilities. 3) If you disagree with the school's evaluation or if they insist on a correlation between his ADHD and ED, ask for an Independent Educational Evaluation. A good, neutral evaluator should be able to determine if writing services are needed and tie the need to what is causing it. Then you have your case!

I don't know all the facts, but it sounds like you still have a few hoops to jump through before asking for tutoring at the private school. First, you have to get a "designation" (IDEA language) from the school district that your son is to receive special education services. Toward that end, request a meeting to discuss the results of the IEE and for a designation that you son needs special education services. (I'm unclear as to how the IEE came about - whether due to refusal of the school district to perform an evaluation or your disagreement with the school district's evaluation. If the former, they may now agree to do an evaluation.) The meeting should include both representatives from the school district, as well as a representative(s) from your private school. Once the designation is (hopefully) made, a "services plan" (IDEA language) will be developed in consultation with you, the school district, and the private school. A "services plan" has similar requirements to an IEP. But you will also encounter similar push-back from the school district. Although there is nothing in the IDEA that disallows it, it is very hard to get a school district to put specific methodology in IEP's/service plans. Some even have written policies against it. The best I've been able to get into IEP documents is language at the beginning of each goal for a specific learning disability stating "after receiving instruction in an evidence-based, multi-structured literacy program..." It's also very hard to get school districts to certify their teachers in any specific program, such as Wilson. The best you can do is wait and see (even though I know we all hate that clause) if your son does not make progress. Then you have an argument that something needes to change - the instruction and/or the teacher training. As far as getting tutoring at the private school, you are probably going to have to let the school district try it their way and fail before you can make this ask.

You are correct! And without knowing your specific state's laws and regulations (which you might look and and add, if applicable), I believe you are citing everything you need to. There is no requirement in the IDEA that reevaluations must be done concurrent with or before an annual IEP meeting. You can have the annual meeting, and then another meeting following the results of the reevaluation being available. But I would also ask the question: What are you basing this requirement on? If a school district policy, may I please have a copy?

I am probably in a different state than you are, so what do you mean by "declassify?" Does this mean she currently has an IEP and the school wants to take away her eligibility for special services? If so, I would ask what has changed in terms of when she originally qualified. If her condition impacted her academic needs then, why doesn't it now? IMO, grades are not proof of anything. To know for sure whether her condition impacts her academic needs, you would need an evaluation. I'm not sure where you are in this process, but you can ask for a new evaluation every year. Also, the IDEA requires an evaluation before a change in eligibility. It's hard to list ways that her condition could be impacting her academic needs without knowing her specific condition, but I'm sure your research will provide answers. However, the best thing is to have them written out in an evaluation report. If the school refused to do an evaluation, request an Independent Educational Evaluation.

What do you meant by the school district "denied eligibility?" Since he has an IEP, are you saying that they wanting to make a change in his eligibility status and exit him from services? Under the IDEA, that can't be done without an evaluation. Since the title in your question says "3 Year Reevaluation," I'm guessing this was done. In that case, the data in the reevaluation would drive the eligibility question - not the progress monitoring alone. What specifically are they referencing when they say "what they are seeing?" Teacher observation, the data in the reevaluation, progress reporting? They need to be looking at the data in the reevaluation. As for the goals not being met, there are many things you can do in that instance (investigate why, provide additional accommodations to support the goals, rewrite the goals), but dropping services is certainly not one of them. If he was eligible when these goals were drafted and they were deemed necessary by the IEP team, ask what has changed to make these same goals no longer necessary and him ineligible. I haven't watched it, but there is a YouTube video on scoring the essay composition on the WIAT III. There also appear to be some FAQ on the WIAT III on the Internet and a breakdown of its subtests. Other than that, I'm afraid I don't know much about it.

Just to make sure I'm understanding correctly, if your daughter does not finish the math fast facts sheet in the time allotted for the rest of the class, she has to start over with a completely new fact sheet and do it at home? That would be a violation of her IEP because it's not giving her extended time. She should be allowed to do what she can in the time allotted and take it home to FINISH - not start over. And she should be told this ahead of time - that it doesn't matter if she finishes or not - to relieve her anxiety. You should also add something to the accommodations in her IEP that state she should not be spending more than one and 1/2 the amount of time that others in her class spend on homework. That way she isn't required to finish the math fast facts sheet if it takes her several hours. There are other ways to assess her understanding of math facts. I would request an IEP meeting to address the fact that the IEP is not being followed with respect to "extended time" and ask for the additional accommodation listed above. In the meeting, I would also re-ask for the partial transcribing accommodation and if they refuse again, ask them to put their refusal in a Prior Written Notice (or whatever this may be called in your state).

I'm not completely sure what they mean by "can no longer use the initial evaluation to try to get services." I'm guessing they are saying that it was done, considered, and eligibility was determined (am I correct in assuming that the meeting you refer to was the eligibility meeting?). Therefore, case closed with respect to that evaluation. In the Missouri State Plan for Special Education (I highly suggest printing out a copy and taking to meetings), a reevaluation may not occur more than once a year unless the parent and school district agree otherwise, which is unlikely in your case. So your options at this point would be to request an IEE or file a state complain if you feel there is a procedural issue(s) in how the evaluation was conducted or eligibility was determined. Did they go through the Missouri Compliance Standards (something else I have printed out and take to meetings) and show how the data in the school's evaluation was not sufficient to meet eligibility?

I am an advocate in Missouri and get PWN's, evaluation, etc., all the time from school districts via email. But as Jenna stated, there might be a school district policy prohibiting this. And if so, just have the mom email you all the documents. If no school district policy, ask them for the federal or state law/reg/policy on which they are basing their actions.