You have legal rights, use them.

Federal laws that are on your side:

Individual’s with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (AKA IDEIA, or IDEA‘04)

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504)

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
 

No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Freedom of Information Act

Civil Rights Acts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------IMPORTANT:

Documentation/Paper trails can be vital!

Make sure to document (keep a note book) every telephone conversation (date, time, who you spoke with, and what you discussed). Get a copy of everything in your child’s education files, and everything you sign immediately (don’t let them mail it to you), if it’s carbon copies then ask for a copy of the original (top copy) because sometimes carbons are hard to see/read.

Make all request, etc. in writing, and make sure you can document they received it (i.e.; fax sent receipt, certified receipt snail mail, read receipt email).

If you feel what is discussed in the IEP meetings never makes it on the documents, you can tape record the meetings.

It’s always a good idea to keep backup copies of all documents, etc., I scanned mine onto the computer then burned them to cd.

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The school district is required to invite you to all IEP meetings, as well as inform you of who willing be attending the meeting.

You have the right to request the meeting be scheduled/re-scheduled on a day/time in which you are available to meet.

You have the right to invite whomever you like to IEP meetings (family, friends, advocates, attorneys, doctors, clinicians, diagnosticians, specialist, teachers, tutors, etc.).

You have the right to request an IEP meeting (or to reconvene the IEP) anytime you deem necessary or as often as you deem necessary.

The district is required to reasonably calculate the IEP for your child to receive benefit from the IEP.

You have the right to know the credentials of those working with your child, as well as request they receive additional training/education pertaining to your child’s specific areas of disability and methods of instruction.

You have a right to access your child’s educational records (see federal law FERPA)

You have the right to see/access state and federal laws, regs, etc., (see freedom of information act). For example: the district tells you we can’t do something because it is against policy, regs, laws, etc., you have the right to know what those policies, regs, laws, etc., are. You should also keep in mind that Federal laws/regs always supersede state and district if the laws/regs conflict (state supersedes district).

You have the right to take documents home to review and think about.

You have the right to receive a copy of the proposed IEP and or any evaluation reports/findings prior to the IEP meeting.

You have the right NOT to sign the IEP if you disagree with all or part of it (then the previous/old IEP remains in tact until a new one is agreed upon)

You have the right to request an IEE (independent educational evaluation) at public expense (the district pays for it) if you disagree with the district’s evaluation.

You have the right to have the district/IEP team consider private evaluations, and/or doctors reports.

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PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE (PWN) You can request/expect PWN

ANYTIME you want to change the IEP (even if they deny your request for changes during an IEP meeting), want the school district to evaluate/re-evaluate your child, and/or the school district changes or proposes to change the IEP.

Under 34 CFR §300.503

(A), the school district must give you notice in writing, whenever the school district:

(1) If the school district proposes to begin or change the identification (changing the special ed classification including discontinuing services), evaluation, or educational placement (the amount of time receiving services, and/or the location , who will be providing services, and/or the type of services) of your child or the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to your child; or

(2) After you make a request the school district Refuses to begin (evaluate your child or implement existing IEP) or change the identification (special education classification), evaluation, or educational placement (the setting in which your child is receiving special education services and the amount of time spent in that location, such as regular education, resource, self-contained classrooms, hospital, homebound, off campus and/or out of district) of your child or the provision of FAPE to your child.

The required content under 34 CFR §300.503(B) is listed below:

a. Description of the action that the school district proposes or refuses to take:

b. Explanation of why the school district is proposing or refusing to take that action:

c. Description of each evaluation procedure, assessment, record, or report the school district used in deciding to propose or refuse the action:

d. Description of any other choices that the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team considered and the reasons why those choices were rejected:

e. Description of other reasons why the school district proposed or refused the action:

f. Resources for the parents to contact for help in understanding Part B of the IDEA:

g. If this notice is not an initial referral for evaluation, how the parent can obtain a copy of a description of the procedural safeguards:

See the US Dept of Ed PDF on PWN:

www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/modelform-notice.pdf