You CAN Disagree With an IEP!?

 3 REASONS YOU CAN DISAGREE WITH AN IEP

Knowing them will allow you to know what type of assistance you need to resolve any disagreements and what actions to take.

 It is hard for parents to know when to stop being the “nice cooperative” parent to a fault, afraid to cause ANY conflict or have ANY disagreement, and when to start acting as an active focused advocate for their child in the IEP process. There is guilt and angst associated with this process. Many parents jump from having a disagreement right to wanting to go to court or due process. The school is not your friend nor your enemy. Parents must learn to act professionally and bring documentation to the table just as they would to a business meeting. The business meeting for their child is called the IEP meeting. They do not need to negotiate their child’s rights away, lower their expectations nor be treated with disrespect.

It is not uncommon for school district employees to make declarative statements that are untrue. “We don't cover that here” or “That is not our policy”. If the statement is not challenged then the issue does not need to be discussed.

When this happens always ask for the policy to be sent to you in writing.You will be amazed at how often they cannot send such policies.

Please, please! get your information from more than ONE SOURCE. There's a saying in medicine you don't go to a surgeon if you don't want surgery. So don't go to a lawyer unless you want to sue the district. While lawyers can be great advocates as they give you a bigger picture of what's going on and an opinion on whether you may or may not have a case, they are not IEP experts. Creating an IEP with goals that can lead to functional outcomes is not their expertise. Their job is to help you enforce that IEP once written.

The school can afford to delay the IEP process. Your child cannot afford to delay their educational process. Do not allow a child to go without help and the school to drag their feet just so you can have a Due Process Case. This is equivalent to malpractice in medicine, so I don’t know why parent lawyers do this.

FIRST, DO NO HARM!

Most parents don't understand that when you disagree with the IEP you are beginning a legal process. It doesn't involve lawyers, but it is a legal process. That is why we have procedural safeguards. 99% of all parents do not read them. Most advocates do not understand them adequately enough to use them! So please, do yourself a favor and read the Procedural Safeguards. A lot of people spent a lot of time and effort into creating them because it is always important to preserve the child's rights.

THE 3 REASONS TO DISAGREE WITH THE IEP:

1. APPROPRIATENESS

We cannot agree as to what should or should not be in the IEP.

• ESY dates and services that are the same for everyone are not appropriate for your child
• Goal baselines are inaccurate
• Goals do not address all of the student’s needs
• Refusal to create an emergency plan for a child with mobility or language issues
• Child is able to be in a less restrictive environment with supports
• Child is not in the appropriate placement so that they can access their education
• Special education services – “Specially designed instruction” - “accommodations” and “modifications,” are not specific enough and they have not decided how to use them.
• Type, frequency, and goals related to related services
• IEP does not target the fundamental cognitive, communicative, behavioral, sensory integrative, and social deficits necessary for the student to succeed.
• IEP goals are too vague or not measurable (SMARTER GOALS should be used)
• Present levels of academic achievement, functional performance, strengths, and needs are not clearly documented
• Refusal to address bullying (adult or student) in an appropriate way

2 - COMPLIANCE

The school is not complying with legal procedural mandates related to an existing IEP or the IEP process.

PROCEDURAL VIOLATIONS occur when schools fail to comply with the IEP development process-based requirements of IDEA.

• IEP not developed within a timely manner after the IEP meeting
• IEP meeting not within 30 days of written request
• Evaluation must be done within 60 days of signing Permission To Evaluate
• School tells you that you only have 1 hour to write the IEP and that is it! ( an average IEP takes 2-4 hours)
• Refusing to issue a permission to evaluate within 10 days of request – to determine eligibility
• You are told, “We have to try “response to intervention” before we can evaluate and give special education services
• We are removing related services without exit criteria 

SUBSTANTIVE VIOLATIONS occur when the IEP’s substantive content is insufficient to provide the child with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). This includes appropriate individualized instruction and educational support or failure to implement key aspects of an IEP.

• IEP not being complied with or not implementing some of the IEP
• Reading program is inappropriate
• Goals do not address all of the student’s needs
• Child is not in the least restrictive environment
• Student is not making meaningful progress commensurate with their ability
• IEP sets low expectations and misrepresents the child's educational potential.

• Student’s evaluation is inaccurate and/or incomplete and does not represent the student accurately so that an appropriate IEP can be developed
• Student’s evaluation does not identify the student accurately as, “a student with a disability”
  • Have you shared a diagnosis or suspected learning disability?
  • Are academics negatively impacted – what does it look like?
  • Does the student need specially designed instruction – accommodations or modifications?
  • Have you documented this and your request in writing
• Refusal to issue a permission to evaluate upon request when you believe that there are additional unaddressed or unidentified student needs
• The LEA / School representative does not know the school district’s resources and curriculum. They do not have the authority to approve special education services.
• A school supervisor or lawyer (not an IEP team member ) determines what the child's needs are
• You are told that Special education is only provided in the resource room and not in regular education or advanced placement classrooms
• The child’s issues are emotional and behavioral, not academic. So they say they cannot offer an IEP.
• Not completing an evaluation as agreed to within the permission to evaluate (tools or areas)
• The IEP cannot be translated into your native language so that you can be an equal participant to the IEP meeting
• The school does not notify you of changes in the IEP
• Changing IEP to 504 because child is getting good or passing grades
• You are told that, “We don’t have the money, staff, technology, or program for unique special needs remediation.”

3 - DISCRIMINATION

When a child is being discriminated against because of their disability.

• Child is not allowed in the band
• Child is not allowed to go on all field trips due to lack of accommodations
• Child does not go to classes with their peers on the second floor because there is no elevator 

So, what should parents do when they don’t agree with the school system regarding any one of these 3 areas?   Subscribe and see our next blog!!

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AUTHORS

Marie Lewis is an author, consultant, and national speaker on best practices in education advocacy. She is a parent of 3 children and a Disability Case Manager, Board Certified Education Advocate, and Behavior Specialist Consultant. She has assisted in the development of thousands of IEPs nationally and consults on developing appropriately individualized IEPs that are outcome based vs legally sufficient. She brings a great depth of expertise, practical experience, and compassion to her work as well as expert insight, vision, and systemic thinking. She is passionate and funny and she always inspires and informs.

MJ Gore has an MEd in counseling and a degree in elementary education and natural sciences. She worked as a life-skills and learning support teacher She has been honored with the receipt of the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. She is the Director and on the faculty at the National Special Education Advocacy Institute. Her passion is social justice, especially in the area of education. She is a Board Certified Education Advocate who teaches professional advocates, educators, and clinicians the best practices in education advocacy.