Special Education Academy: Know Your Rights in the IEP Process

ANGELA HAYNES: Hello, thank you for joining us today. This is part two of our 10 part series, Special Education Academy: Know Your Rights in the Special Education Process. And today we are talking about procedural safeguards. My name is Angela Haynes. I am one of the education advocates here at DREDF. I have two children who have completed the public education system, one who had an IEP to support them throughout their education journey.

So today we’ll talk about procedural safeguards, and then I’ll have some time at the end for some questions and answers. As I mentioned, I am one of the education advocates here at DREDF, Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund. DREDF is a unique alliance of people with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities. It’s a national law center and policy center dedicated to protecting and advancing disability civil and human rights.

We have a vision of a just world where all people live full and independent lives free of discrimination. We educate legislators, policy makers on issues that affects the rights of people with disabilities.

DREDF also has a parent training information center. I am one of the advocates at the Parent Training Information Center. It’s a federally funded program that supports parents and youth in accessing their education, understanding how to request accommodations, how to request the supports they need to access their education.

If you have specific questions or concerns, you can contact your parent training information center. If you wanna know the one in your area, here is a website that can instruct you to find what covers, the center that covers your county or your state.

We’ll talk about today’s parents’ rights, advocacy strategies, but we’re not, we will not be talking about specific students or specific schools. If you have some questions on an issue that you’re dealing with, please contact us at iephelp@dredf.org if you’re within our catchment area. With your specific questions. One of the advocates will be able to speak with you, discuss your concern, help you understand the next steps in the process.

We’re not attorneys, so we cannot represent you, but we can help you understand your IEP, we can review the IEP, and provide some advocacy strategies for your next IEP meeting or contacting the district and helping you to request the development of the free appropriate public education.

Some of these issues and concerns take time. With hope that you will be able to have a better understanding of how the process works to continue to monitor your child’s progress, what’s happening in the IEP, are they meeting their goals? And that can help. The sooner you notice a concern and the process to correct it, that can lessen the time, but it does take time to develop the appropriate plan and implement it to see that it’s working accordingly.

So I’ll have some general questions at the end. Please assume positive intentions. We will do our best to use plain language and explain unfamiliar technology.

Before I go on, I would like to discuss why we use disability and not the term special needs. Special needs is not a term coined by disabled people or a disability community. Everyone’s needs are valid. There’s nothing special about having equal access. Special needs erases the expertise of a disabled adult who finds the phrase infantilizing and inappropriate. It’s not a term defined in law.

Disability has a specific legal definition and meaning. Special needs does not cover all disabled people because not all disabled students are in special education classrooms or receive special education services. Parents may worry about labeling or stigmatizing a child. But disability brings rights, services, and access.

I’d like to give a quote that’s from Rebecca Cokley. “Special needs gives the impression that rights of people “with disabilities are special or extra. “We have the same rights as everyone else. “How we access those rights may differ, “but disability rights “are fundamentally the same civil rights as all people. “When you imply that the act of accessing our rights “is special, it gives the rest of the public a pass “to treat us as though our rights are special privilege, “and then we get harassed for it.”

So I’d like to take some time to reflect on that. As you advocate for your child, please consider, sometimes it may feel that, you don’t wanna ask for too much or you don’t wanna ask for anything out of the ordinary. What is needed, your child has that right to have to equally participate and have equal access. And if that’s the support that needs to, the type of accommodation that’s needed, that is the right, not a special privilege.

My child had a opportunity, had a one-on-one aid, and had an opportunity to go on an overnight camping trip or hiking trip at Yosemite and participated in a marathon with the one-on-one aid. And I felt, I thought, oh, how wonderful they’re making that special exception. No. I do still commend them for respecting the rights, the civil rights, but that was not a special privilege. It was the right, her right to equally participate in those events. And if that’s, she required an aid for those to have a overnight trip, or she required an aid to run aside so she can participate in that marathon, that was her right to equally participate.

And I encourage you to see it in the direction of the right so that you can request what’s needed for them to participate and make educational progress.

So we’ll talk now into going to procedural safeguards. The procedural safeguards, the quick overview is, there’ll be a notice of procedural safeguard and we’ll talk about when you should receive that notice. Parents have the right to meaningful participation, and we’ll discuss a little bit about what is meaningful. A prior written notice, what is that and when should you receive it? Informed consent. So what is… It’s not just about receiving consent, but what is receiving informed consent? And your rights to have access to records, an independent evaluation. And then we’ll talk a little bit about due process resolution.

So a notice of procedural safeguards is a document. The document will list the things that we will be talking about today. The document is a required document under IDEA, Individuals with Disability Education Act. And that is a federal education law. The IDEA tells us how special education services, the process with special education services, how it is delivered, how the IEP is developed, and how it’s implemented. And one of the requirements is to provide the notice of procedural safeguard.

You should receive this whenever the parents ask for it. So if you had one, at the last IEP meeting, and, if you had it at the meeting and you wanted to review it, but you can’t find it, you can ask for it because whenever the parent asks for it, you should receive a copy of the procedural safeguard.

When the student is first referred for special education evaluation and each assessment after that, you should receive a copy of the notice of procedural safeguard. When there’s going to be an assessment, you will have to sign for that assessment plan. You can receive that copy.

Upon receipt of the first state or due process complaint. So if there’s a state complaint or due process complaint, should receive a copy of the procedural safeguards. And when there’s a decision that’s made to make a removal that constitutes a change of placement, you should receive it then as well.

So, if you receive it, hold onto it. It helps you remember your rights. It also should have some information on the PTI or other organizations to help you understand your rights. So hold onto it. It is a very important document.

So as we go into meaningful parent participation. When there’s an IEP meeting, there are specific people who are required to be in that IEP meeting. And you see as the top one is parent of the child. The parent of the child should be at the IEP meeting.

A parent, when we discuss parent, parent is anyone who holds the education rights of the student. So that parent can be the birth parent, it could be a surrogate parent that’s appointed by the district, it could be an adoptive parent, a relative, any person who holds the education rights. And when the child becomes 18, the education rights goes to that child. So that’s important to note as well.

So the education rights holders should be there at the IEP meeting. Not less than one regular education teacher of the child or one special education teacher of the child. And a representative of the public agency who is qualified to provide or supervise the provisions of specially designed instructions to meet the unique needs of the children with disability. So they should be knowledgeable of the curriculum and knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the public agency.

When you attend the IEP meeting, take note of who is there and their roles. To have a representative of the agency who is knowledgeable of the resources. So when you ask for services at the IEP meeting, that person should be aware of whether or not that is a resource they can provide or willing to provide. They should be able to provide that answer there at the IEP meeting.

An individual who can interpret the instructional Implications, excuse me, of the evaluations results. If your child had an evaluation or an assessment completed, the evaluator should be there at the meeting to not only explain the assessment, but how does this affect their access to education? What type of accommodations? What is the methodology that should be used? What curriculum can help support that child? If the person had the assessment complete, the assessment is not there, that makes it harder to develop the IEP appropriately. What are the areas of need that requires goals? So this is a very important person, just as all, I wanna say, all members are important. They have the expertise in their field to bring to the table to discuss how to develop that free appropriate public education.

And I wanna go back to say, as every person has their own specific expertise, the general education classroom instructor, they know how their class is ran, they know the supports in the classroom, and they know the demands in that classroom. The teacher who’s providing specialized instruction, special education instructor, they have their expertise. And the parent is the expert of the child. The parent will continue to support the child throughout their life. They knew what happened last year, and they can bring that information to the table and discuss what happened, what worked, what may not work. They could have that discussion.

So all members as a team can have a very in depth discussion on how to best support and provide an appropriate education plan.

And at the discretion of the parent or the agency, other individuals who have knowledge or special ed expertise regarding the child, including related service personnel as appropriate. So the parent, if you know people who have expertise on the child, they can come and attend this IEP meeting as well. The district can also choose who they would like to bring to the IEP meeting.

It’s important to recognize that it is who has expertise of the child. The IEP is centered on the needs of the child. So if they’re proposing to bring someone who does not have expertise, it’s not the focus of the child, the parent does have right to speak on that. However, I want to emphasize the importance of all members who interacts with the child, who’ve observed the child has something to bring to the table.

And whenever appropriate, the child with a disability should be at the IEP meeting. This allows it to be focused on the child. And it also allows that child to begin their self-advocacy journey. This is something that they will need to use throughout life, and so it allows them to start to practice how to express themself, request the accommodations that they need. And if the child cannot be there physically, some people have brought recordings, some people have had, maybe the child could put together a poster, a short video, or letter or a statement. But allowing the child to have their voice heard and seen in the meeting, expressing what is important to them and what they see they need to help them access their education.

The parent has the right to… The parent has the right to excuse any member of the IEP team from the meeting. Sometimes the district will request, please excuse this, the speech therapist, occupational therapist, that is the right of the parent if they would choose to do that. Or they can say no, it’s really important for this person to be there. They have input to help develop the plan. I would like to reschedule the meeting in a time that that person can be there.

So part of having meaningful parent participation is the right to refer a child to special education. If you notice that your child is having difficulty completing a 30 minute assignment, the assignment should only take 30 minutes, but it’s taking an hour. Your child is breaking down crying over a homework assignment or, the child’s having difficulty getting all the supplies and getting down and focusing on the assignments. If you’re noticing some concerns, you have the right to make that request for an evaluation for special education.

The parent has a right to participate in developing the IEP. If you notice that your child works better if they have someone who checks in on them, maybe they do better if they work on 10 questions and then they need a quick break and to go back and do 10 more. Maybe when you give them instructions, you need to check for understanding that sometimes they might not. I understand, but maybe they don’t. So if you notice those things about your child, you do have the right to have that conversation at the IEP team and share what share your experience. And this could be added to what type of accommodations or how the goals are being… Or what goals they need or how the goals are being implemented.

And to be informed of all the program options and alternative. So the district may come and offer you, make an offer of what they have found through their assessments on what works, that they believe that will be appropriate. However, you do have the right to understand what are all of my options? You’re offering me this, but are there other alternatives? Are there other ways to reduce the environment from if your child is overstimulating? Are headphones, noise-canceling headphones, are those the options? Or do we have to remove him from the classroom? What are other alternatives to help support? If your child is in the classroom and needs a break periodically, could that be an option? A break every half an hour or every hour. I don’t know how long in the classroom. But what are the alternatives to what’s being offered? And what are the public and non-public options?

Meaningful participation is also understanding the documents that are being provided to you. Are the assessments in the language that you can understand? You do have the right to request the documents to be presented in the way that in the language that’s your preferred language. You have the right to have those assessments provided to you in a timely manner. Some people have a advocacy strategy when they sign an assessment plan, because assessments cannot be conducted without your consent. When they sign an assessment plan, they’ll request, please provide me the documents five days prior to the IEP meeting. So, to receive it in a timely manner that you can read it, review it, and have any questions highlighted. So when you go to the IEP meeting, you can ask about those questions. You could ask those questions. Excuse me.

You have the right to have it translated and to have it in plain language. You have the right to have the meetings in a date and time when the parents can attend. If they offer you a specific date, February the 19th, is our IEP meeting scheduled at this time, and you cannot make it, you do have the right to say, “This is not a time that’s convenient for me.” It’s not that you’re just refusing to attend the IEP meeting. They have not provided it to you in a time and date that’s convenient for you. So a strategy that some people have done is they will provide three or four dates of their availability so that it can be scheduled within those times. Says, in our IEP meeting the parent, there needs to be an education right holder, the parent does need to attend.

And interpretation and translation in the primary language as we discussed. You do have that right to have that interpreter in an IEP meeting. Not just someone who happens to speak a language because you could have a certified interpreter. It is a specific skill to be able to interpret what is said, not just summed up the information, but to have actually an understanding of what is being said in the room around you.

And if you have a disability, you do have a right to request accommodations for you so that you can meaningfully participate in the IEP meeting.

You have the right to audio record the IEP. So if you are choosing to audio record the IEP meeting, you just notify them 24 hours in advance that the meeting will be recorded. If you record it, more than likely they will record the IEP meeting as well. However, if you request to be recorded, don’t just rely on their recording. Do your best to record it yourself.

Parents can bring information, reports, diagnosis. So you have reports that you can bring to the table. Reports from specialists that your child have seen, and they need to be taken into consideration. Not just looked at, not just… not ignored, but to be taken into consideration when developing an appropriate, free appropriate public education plan for your child.

Meetings involving consecutive interpretations should be scheduled for twice as long as meetings were simultaneous or no interpretation. So, the IEP meeting should be scheduled in enough time for every, for you to have, if you requested interpretation, for you to have meaningful participation. It should not be shortened. So because you have to consider the information’s being translated.

And the right for, as we mentioned, for a person with disabilities to have the accommodations to attend the meeting. So an advocacy tip is request a draft for the assessment report, as I mentioned before, before the meeting to be able to review it and prepare questions and meaningfully participate in the meeting.

So… we’ll talk a little bit about predetermination. So you do have the right to, when a parent discuss, when they come to the IEP meeting, the IEP should not be developed already. This is a time where everybody is, they’ll present their present levels, they’ll share what’s your concerns, and then you start to create goals in areas that you see that’s needed. It gets developed with the parents voicing the parents’ concerns, with the parents’ input, and with the reports that the parents have provided that input as well.

If the parent’s input is not taken into consideration or the IEP is already developed without any input from the parent, you the opposite of meaning participation is predetermination. They predetermined what was going to be in the IEP without any input from the parent. A procedural violation of IDEA.

So this is a big deal. In matters alleging a procedural violation, a hearing officer may find that a child did not receive a free public education after procedural inadequacies significantly impeded the parent’s opportunity to participate in the decision making process regarding the provisions of a free appropriate public education to the parents’ child.

So some examples, of course, as we talked about you being able to attend and put the input, see that reflected in the IEP. But other things is that if you’re asking, I brought up noise-canceling headphones, so I’ll mention that again. If you brought up, “Could we have noise-canceling headphones?” And they say, “Oh, we don’t offer that here.” That decision is not based off the unique need of the child. It’s based off of the school. The IEP should be developed for the unique needs of the school. So in a case like that, if the child requires noise-canceling headphones and it’s not something that’s brought from home because it’s a free, right, if they need to access to education, it’s free, no cost to the parent, and so maybe they have to send them to a school where they will have that.

Now, generally something like that, the school can provide it. But it’s an example of you develop the IEP for the unique needs of the child and then you find a placement of where the child can receive those services.

So, an example of sometimes the child may require intense counseling, sometimes the child requires a placement. So there are some specific schools that provide some of the services that the child requires. So if there’s a service or support that the child requires, you develop the IEP for that child, and then you find a place for it.

We don’t have the staff or training to implement that service and program. There, again, that is not developing it for the needs of the child. And are they taking the parents’ consideration? Are they considering the other, is the parent having a right to meaningfully participate? So if there’s a support service that this doesn’t guarantee everything that the parent recommends is received or agreed upon, but a decision should be made up really, they should really think about is this appropriate for the child? And to say we don’t have the staff or training to implement it, that is not basing the needs of the child. Once again, if this is something that the child requires to access the education, then it can be put in the IEP, but then they’ll need to find a place that can implement and provide that service.

The school staff met before the meeting and we decided that. Well, once again, this sounds like there’s a meeting outside without the parent. So, the parent should be at any IEP meeting as it sounds clearly that the decision is made without the parent input. The parent is a very big part of the team. You’re not just there to listen to what they have to share and sign it where they point and say, “Sign here.” No, you understand your child. You’re gonna be with your child for the journey. And so your concerns should be heard, should really think about it, should be thought through. And if they determined that that is not appropriate, then there are things that, there are ways that they can provide you the information why they have that concern and show that they truly have thought about it.

And we’ll talk a little bit about the prior written notice later on that. So if you are asking for a support or service and it’s denied, they feel like it’s not appropriate for your child’s unique needs, then they can provide that information in a prior written notice.

A prior written notice must be provided when the district proposes to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or education placement of a student, or initiate or change the provision of FAPE, or refuses to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or placement, or refuses to change the provision of FAPE.

So if you make a request… If you make a request for services, we’re just gonna stick on this noise-canceling headphones. But if you have an IEP, I’m sure you’ve been to a meeting where you’ve made a request. And if they choose, they don’t feel like it’s appropriate for the unique needs of your child, then they can let you that this is not appropriate, and they can put it in writing. And in that writing, they can let know why they’re refusing the service and let you know different things they’ve tried, alternatives, and what they’re going to provide in its place so that it’s not that they’re, that they are looking and addressing that need.

Here we give an example of parents asking for one-on-one help from a trained paraeducational to help with staying on task or taking breaks. The district does not agree with this and refuses to provide an aid in IEP. So parent can ask, when will they receive the prior written notice, right? And this is given legal and evidence-based reasons why the school district refuses to provide that aid. So it’s now in writing, right? You now have not just the passing in the hallway, oh yeah, we don’t do that here. And you’ve moved on. If it’s in writing and then you can see not only what they’re denying that you’ve asked for this, as, you know, for this appropriate need for your child. Not only have you asked for it, but they’ll let you know why they’re denying it. And they’ll also let you know, we are not able to provide a one-on-one aid, we don’t feel that’s appropriate, but instead we’re going to provide this, right? And now you have the district’s decision in writing.

And parents may respond to a prior written notice in a letter of their own if they disagree with the district’s reasons in the prior written notice. So you can respond to it as well, and you can document, this is documented because… if you cannot come to an agreement, and you’ve tried, we’ll talk a little bit later about ADR, alternative dispute resolution, ADR. You’ve tried that and you’re not coming to anything, then you’ve chosen to do a due process hearing, you now have this documentation of the refusal of a service that you believe from the assessments that you’ve noted or knowing your child would be providing your child with FAPE, a free appropriate public education.

So the prior written notices are important to have. In addition, if the district is choosing to make a change, right, if the district is choosing to change the setting, the classroom, or remove services, they can provide it to you in a prior written notice. And if you receive that notice, you can respond to it. If you’re not in agreement with the change that they’re recommended, you can respond, “I am not in agreement of you removing speech services,” if that is the notice in the prior written, if that’s the statement in the prior written notice.

So if you receive a prior written notice with a change that you do not agree, if you’re not agreement, respond to that in writing right away within 10 days, so that change does not occur.

So it was talked, a prior written notice describes the action that they’re refusing, an explanation of why the public agency proposes or refuses the action. So let you know why they believe that this is an appropriate decision for your child. And description of each assessment procedure. So what the information of what’s got them to this to make this decision, right? What assessment, what is going on that’s causing them to choose to make this decision.

And the statement that the parents of the individual with a disability have protection of the procedural safeguards. And if this notice is not an initial referral for assessment, the means for which a copy of the description of the procedural safeguards can be obtained. So once again, information about your rights to have the notice of procedural safeguards.

And then also a source for the parents to contact and obtain assistance. So if you receive a prior written notice that they’re denying, where can you go to get assistance, right? That should be in the prior written notice.

And a description of other options that the individualized education program team considered and why those options were rejected. So this is really important. If you ask, did they consider what you asked? And why did they reject it? Why did they find what you’re asking for not to be appropriate?

And a description of other factors that are relevant to the proposal or refusal of the agency.

And so once again, the prior written notice becomes your documentation that you ask for something that you believe to be appropriate, and it was denied. And it lets you know why the district is choosing to deny it.

Or even if they’re asking for a change. And looking at it initially, maybe you did not want to change the classroom setting, but after reviewing the prior written notice that they’re making a change, you realize, oh, that classroom has more staff member or it’s smaller student ratio, that classroom may be more appropriate for my child. And you may choose to. So this is a documentation that really helps you understand the district’s position and why they’re choosing it. And if you are not in agreement, you now have their decisions in writing and you can go forward to your next step. So parental consent.

Parents have the right to consent. Parents must provide informed written consent before the child is assessed or provided with any special education services. Informed consent must also be provided before any change in special education services may occur. So this is a very important right.

And informed consent also is about do you really understand, are they taking the time to explain to you why they’re making this decision and what the decision is they’re proposing. So you have the right to sign that you are in agreement, you do in starting the services.

If you believe that, oh yes, I’m okay with starting the services, however, I don’t believe this is a free appropriate public education, right? I want to consent, but there are some things I don’t agree with. I don’t agree with the amount of OT service hours. I don’t agree with… you fill in the blanks. Then you can consent with exception.

I consent to the goals and services you have offered in this IEP, but I do not agree that they provide my child with FAPE. Or I consent to the first speech goal, but not the second. So you can, and I’ve referenced throughout this, the free appropriate public education because as you look on the IEP, they said, this is our offer of FAPE. It’s free, no cost to you, it’s appropriate, it shows that they’re making progress in their goals, and it’s public, public and it’s education. So they’re being educated, of course.

And education is not just academic, it’s social emotional as well. So if that’s where the continued reference to FAPE, right? So if you are in agreement with some parts of it, but the whole IEP is not FAPE, you can let them know, I consent to part of it, right? Share what you agree to, but most importantly, share what you do not agree with.

Because if you do not agree with it, they cannot begin to implement it. So yeah, if you’re not in agreement with it, share. I don’t agree with, the change of classroom. I do not agree with the removal of the aid. Or I do not agree with, you fill in the blank for that piece. But it’s very important that if you are consenting with exception to specify what you do not agree with.

And then you can refuse to consent. Parents may refuse to consent to an assessment or placement of the child in special education. And parents may also refuse eligibility for special education. So you have received the assessment, and they are offering the offer of FAPE. If you don’t agree, you have the right to refuse to consent.

So when the parents refuse consent, a school district may file for due process against the family if it believes the assessment or placement is truly appropriate and is ready to demonstrate so. So if your child, the school district has an obligation for child find, they have an obligation to find the children in the area, assess them if they need specialized instructions to access to education.

So if they’ve done an assessment, they really strongly believe this child really needs the support services, they can go to a due process hearing to show that, this is something that the child needs. And in the hearing, the judge will decide whether or not to continue to implement the services or supports or to start the IEP.

So yes, they can go through due process, however, they cannot start these services without the parent’s consent or through the due process hearing.

So informed consent. Parents or eligible students must be given complete and understanding information about the proposed action, including the nature of the services, the reason for them, and any potential risk or benefits. So everything has risk and benefits, right? You can ask. Ask those questions. How does this benefit my child? And, then of course, how are you going to monitor the progress to see if this is actually something that’s working right?

If your child, there are… Sometimes if the child requires to be able to get up and move around, or sometimes they might get tired and they need this specific exercises that can be done to help them get to refocus, right? If this is a plan, is it working, right? Why are they recommending this? How is this going to help?

Having that discussion, and then think about it. You don’t have to sit and sign and decide at that moment. You can take it home and speak to some people that you know in the community or some specialist that you know. The occupational therapist is recommending that we use this type of paper or this type of pencil. The occupational therapist is recommending… they’re providing services for this amount of hours. And this is the assessment.

You have the right to go over it with someone, think about it, reflect on it, and say, “Hey, you know what? “The school district is really on it. “I really appreciate this recommendation.” But being well informed. And decide to consent or decide, no.

Understanding the information provided must be in the language and format that the parent or student can understand. So we talked about that. It’s important that you fully understand it. Many people, often the information will be presented in English. You may be able to, speak English. However, sometimes to really grasp some of the terms in special education, it may be helpful to have it, the document in your preferred language. And that’s okay too.

So if you are communicated in English, but you prefer the document to be in your writing, I mean in your preferred language, you could ask for it to be translated, and they can’t really say, “Oh no, no, I hear “that you’re speaking English just perfect. “This will be fine.” You do have the right to have it in your preferred language.

Consent should be a voluntary agreement. So, to withhold services for your child until they agree to what they’re offering. When you provide consent, it should be something freely given without any coercion or pressure.

And so if they are denying services, because it’s not appropriate services, different, right? But if what is being asked would provide FAPE, would be appropriate, would be something that addresses an area of need, and the withholding it simply for no other reason but to coerce or pressure you into choosing what they’re choosing a change of placement, it just goes to the question: is it voluntarily being agreed or is there any kind of coercion or pressure?

So just to be aware that this is, it should be something that you heard the information, you understand what you’re hearing, and you’re saying, “Yes, this is appropriate for my child.”

Written documentation. Consent must be documented in writing. So specifically the action and any records that will be released. So, you can sign that you consent. And this is important. And then you can revoke your consent. So if you sign something and you’re like, “Oh, I probably shouldn’t have done it that way,” you can revoke your consent.

Parents or eligible students can withdraw their consent at any time, which will stop the provisions of the services. However, this doesn’t undo actions already taken with prior consent. So this is particularly a tricky one if you have consented to the removal of transportation, right? And then the school has a contract with the transportation company. But it is important to recognize that you do have the right to revoke your consent.

Why is informed consent important in special education? Legal requirements. Informed consent is a legal requirement under IDEA and ensures that parents have the right to make decisions about their child’s education. And I will reemphasize, you as a parent or the young adult with an education holder, you have rights, and things cannot be started without your consent, without your agreement.

So now we’re talking about FERPA, a Federal Education Records Privacy Act. So this is a law that you have right to your education records. And education records is any document with a student’s name on it. All education records are confidential. Parents must sign a release for others to access the records for information from the school.

So this can be sometimes the school requests that you have… That you let me talk with the doctor to see what the doctor, or the medical facility sign this release. You can do that if you believe that this would be the best for you. But you don’t have to, right? You can choose to make sure that you are involved in all of the outside conversations. You can get the information from the school. What do they want to ask? Ask the doctor, the doctor can… Or, the outside medical professional or educational professional can write on a documentation on a letter of what the response to those questions. And you can hand it over for the records. It is different from each person of what you prefer to do. However, sometimes information, it matters to be part of all conversations.

So signing blanket releases to outside professionals sometimes can leave you out of that conversation. However, that’s specific for each person and sometimes that may be what you would require for your child. I just encourage that you stay part of each conversation to know what’s being said on both sides.

Parents must give the school permission to contact outside professionals, providers. We just talked about that. And parents are privacy right holders until the student turns 18, then the student is the privacy rights holder. So when your child becomes 18, they are now their education right holder, their privacy rights holder. And you will have to sign something, or, excuse me, the student will have to sign something to allow you to have access to the records.

So you may need to have that signed prior to the 18 or when they become 18, because some people won’t need to advocate for the child for life. And, the child may not be in a place where they can self-advocate yet. So just be aware of that, be prepared for that when they become 18 for you to have access to the records, to come to the IEP meetings, and that you will need to have your student sign for that if they’re past 18.

Records must be provided to the parents. Well, in California it is five days, but for the FERPA, it’s the federal law, it’s 45 days. Without unnecessary delay. So if you requested the records, you should be receiving those records within 45 days. For California, it’s five days. With FERPA, you do also have the right to challenge your records, right?

If there’s an incident where maybe your student is getting suspended because they knocked all the papers off the desk and jumped up and yelled and knocked all the papers off the desk. But what happened before that, right? What happened before your overly stimulated child became emotionally overwhelmed? The student has a right to add their part to the records, their point of view, what occurred.

Maybe the student, I’m just jumping on the noise-canceling headphones today. Maybe a student was supposed to be, prior to any overstimulating event, they were supposed to be notified ahead of time when these events were so that they could be prepared for it. And suddenly a lot of noise started in the classroom, and it overwhelmed them.

And, maybe there was steps that’s in place that they should have been provided the headphones, and they weren’t there. So they have the right to add their point of view of what occurred prior to the incident ’cause sometimes the incident will only have that moment and on. If there’s something that you don’t agree with, that can be challenged. Often they should have a hearing to decide to make those decisions.

And if there’s a violation to the FERPA law, there is a complaint process through FERPA as well. So, as I mentioned in California, parents have the right to access education records within five business days of an oral or written request to see the records. Schools may charge reasonable costs of reproducing copies, but not if the cost is prohibitive for parents. So if it’s too much for the parents, then they can just provide it.

So independent education evaluation. If the parent disagrees with the result of assessment conducted by the school district, they have the right to ask for and obtain an independent education evaluation, or an IEE, at public expense.

So the IEP is built on the foundation of assessments. If your child has had assessments or an evaluation and you’re not in agreement with the results of that assessment, you do have the right to ask for an IEE. An IEE is not just individual assessments, but it’s a whole evaluation process.

So in an evaluation, and you will see more about that in part three. But in the evaluation, there are several assessments. If you ask for an IEE, then it would be… You could ask for the different assessments for that evaluation process. So like I said, the evaluation is a process with several assessments under it. It’s the assessments that you ask the parent. Assessment could be hearing, it can be vision, it can be speech, but all of those assessments come under the evaluation.

So if you’re not in agreement with an assessment, you are now asking for a whole new evaluation process. So if you don’t agree with the speech assessment, you can ask for, that speech assessment to be done over again. But what other assessments do you not agree with in that whole process? Because once you’ve completed that IEE, then that is the completion of that evaluation process for those groups of assessments.

So as I said, we’ll discuss a little bit more about evaluation and assessments in part three. But I wanted to mention that because if you’re in disagreement of the assessment conducted by the school district, you have the right to obtain an IEE at public expense.

So parents are not required to explain why they disagree with the district’s assessment, but the district may ask for a reason. Yeah, the district might ask for it. You don’t have to say specifically why. You can. It may be helpful. But you don’t have to. And if you ask for it, the district can only provide, say yes, here is what’s required for the IEE. They can either fund it or they file for due process.

The parent is entitled to only one IEE at public expense each time the public agency conducts an evaluation with which the parent disagrees. Parent requests an IEE at public expense. School district must without unnecessary delay, either ensure that the IEE is provided at public expense or file for due process hearing if the district believes the assessment was appropriate and disagrees that the IEE is necessary. This is sometimes called fund or file.

If the district says, “Oh, we did a excellent job on our evaluation. “We identified the needs. “We gave wonderful recommendations. “We did a really good job,” and you ask for an IEE, then they can file for due process, and they can take their information to the hearing and show that they did a wonderful job in their evaluation process and each assessments were appropriate. And the judge will decide whether or not you can get the IEE. Or they can say: “I agree. “We didn’t do well on that assessment.” And they can fund the assessment.

So they can either fund it, let you know, yes here are the requirements for the assessors. There are specific requirements, which can include costs, the credentials of the assessment assessor. Sometimes they even have, the assessors can only be so many miles away from the school. But here are the requirements. We will fund it, or we will file. They cannot just say no and leave it at that. They cannot make the no decision. Having a hearing, the judge will make that decision.

The school district also has a right to establish the standards or the criteria, including cost and location for the IEE at public expense. But the parent may choose the assessor who meets reasonable criteria set by the district. So if the school did it for the evaluation, so for the assessment, so if the school came in and observed the student for three or four days in the classroom, then your outside assessor can come in and observe the student for three or four days in the classroom as well.

So if the school did it for theirs… your assessor can do that too. The school also should provide you a list of assessors, right, that you can choose from. Sometimes finding assessors can be a challenge, right? So you could definitely use what the school offers, but you don’t have to. If you have your own assessors that you know of, you wanna try somebody outside of the list that the district provides, you can use them as well.

If you come to them and maybe the cost is off or maybe the location, some areas it’s really hard to find people, you can ask for exceptions, but it’s really safe to stay within the parameters of what the school is, the district is requesting. And I want to mention too, with an IEE… With the IEE, I want to mention the school has a first right to do their evaluation.

If it’s time for a tri-annual, then you can ask the school to move up the tri-annual because the school gets to do it first, right? So if it’s time for, every three years, you get an evaluation. If it’s about maybe close to those three years, then you can ask for that. If it’s under two years or closer to the one year and you’re not in agreement with the assessment, then you can ask for that IEE.

So dispute resolution. Alternative dispute resolution in California, the special education local plan areas have state funding to resolve disputes at the local level. We try as much to resolve disputes at the local level. And that can mean you can contact special education director and request an ADR, or alternative dispute resolution. And that can be the parent, the education rights holder and a special education director. And you can share, you can really discuss what the concerns are and how you would like to have it resolved. And at that time they can really… Some people have been able to get some issues resolved at the ADR level.

Facilitate IEP meetings. You can have somebody from the SELPA. This neutral outside party who will come in and lead the IEP meeting. Sometimes meetings can get very emotionally charged, and a facilitator allows each person to say their part and share their concerns. And so it helps the communication, and it helps everybody to be able to really hear each other and come to a positive result for the child.

Collaborative conference. It’s informal mediation without any attorneys in the room, but with a trained neutral mediator. Mediators may be attorneys from a local bar association or SELPA administrator who is not part of or never employed by the school district. So, you can come to the table with your information, they can share and hopefully come with a decision that can be… that can be made to resolve your issues.

There are formal complaints that’s available. Compliance complaints and there are state complaints. You file with the State Department of Education. If you find that they’re not following the special education process, if the IEP is not developed in FAPE, or if they’re not implementing the IEP appropriately, if they’re failure to provide a prior written notice or violations of timelines, you can make a complaint to the state. And it’s important to be familiar with the California ed code and to say on what is being violated, right? So you really need to be very specific on what it is because they’re going to look only at that. If your complaint is about timeline violation, that is what they’re going to look at.

Due process mediation only. That’s filed with state administrative courts. It’s voluntary mediation with a neutral administrative law judge. So, if you come and bring all your information, that information cannot be used against you. However, this is where you start showing, okay, this is where hopefully you could share your issues, they will share theirs, and the mediator, which is a law judge but acting in a different capacity at that moment, and you can come to an agreed resolution.

There’s no attorneys in that mediation, only due process hearing. And then there’s a due process hearing. The parent represents themselves or hires an attorney. So if you are in disagreement with what goes in the IEP, let’s say you’ve been asking for occupational service hours, maybe increase occupational service hours, and you have not received, they’re saying, “No, we don’t feel like that is appropriate or necessary.” And so you can go to, if you and the team is now at a complete disagreement, what goes in the IEP? What is that? What is FAPE? Then you can go to the due process hearing.

You share your information. You share why you believe he needs more occupational hours, OT hours, right? What things are you seeing that’s needed? Is it… are they, is he having difficulty writing or, is there a sensory issue? What are the things that you are noticing that’s requiring more additional occupational hours? Are they not making progress on the current goals with the hours that they have? So you bring your information, and they’re gonna bring theirs, right? They’re gonna have their attorneys. So you can go and represent yourself, but as I said, they’re gonna have their attorneys. And so you can choose to have your attorneys.

There are some attorneys will work on contingency. If they win, if they know there’s something that they will win, they will take on the case, and the school district will pay. So it all depends on what you’re asking for, what’s needed. But due process is if you are in disagreement what goes into the IEP. Complaint with allegations filed with state administration courts. The required resolution session and pre-hearing conference. And we talked a little bit about those already.

If there’s no settlement, a formal hearing with the witness and evidence before administrative law judge. So this is… and this is where the decision will be made, right? And the judge may hear both sides and says, “No, we’re not going to increase those hours.” Or you may have brought enough information that says, yeah, he needs this. And in addition to that, you went, how much time without this additional hours? And maybe he needs compensatory education as well.

So anyway, these are some of the formal complaint processes that are available if you’re in disagreement with what goes into the IEP. Once again, I reiterate as a parent, you are a very important member and you do have say. If you don’t agree with something, you don’t have to just sign it. You really can advocate strongly for what would be the, not the best ’cause you’re not gonna get what’s the best, but what’s the most appropriate for your child to access this education.

So some advocacy strategies. Get a copy of the contact list and organizational chart from the district that you’re working with. This is really important. Know the chain of command. We receive a lot of calls where the parent is trying really hard and they’re speaking to the wrong person. So, they’re talking with a teacher maybe, or might be talking to somebody in the front office. But know the organization chart. Yes, you could start with the teacher. Then there’s a case manager, right? And then there is special education director. Like, there are a specific chain of command and being aware of that, once you’ve tried with the teacher or the case manager, then you go up the chain, right? And keeping them informed.

Review the family student handbook. Know the handbook. Are they following their own policies? Can I observe the classroom? No. We don’t let you. You can’t come, it’s confidential. You can’t come into the classroom. Well, do they let other people whose students are not disabled into the classroom to volunteer? Do they come into the classroom on other occasions? So what’s specific here? And take a look at the handbook. Does the handbook say you cannot come into the classroom? Right? And so if they say that you cannot, then ask to see the policy, right? Are they following their own policy? And then once again, if they’re not, then now you know the chain of command with where to go next, right? Are there additional resources in the district you can access? As we talked about, the ADR and collaborative conference.

The decision does not stop there at that IEP team. As we discussed, there are other things that you can do, other steps, other meetings. Assume the best intentions of the staff and ask questions. Sometimes it can feel so frustrating that the staff is just saying no to you and targeting you. Well, sometimes, but as you start off, do your best to assume the best intentions. That allows you to have being in a more collaborative space and be willing to hear what they have to share, especially receiving those prior written notices or having that discussion of why they’re denying it.

And then you can go back to those assessments and pull out some more information to understand what they’re saying or maybe even disprove what they’re saying, right? Keep it centered to the child. Try your best not to get into that emotional tug of war with the person delivering the message, right?

Learn the policies and California ed code. Very important. Are they following their school policies? Are they following California ed code? And are they following IDEA? And remember that IDEA, ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act are all federal laws. They supersede state and local codes and school district policies.

So if the school has a policy that they don’t do. They have a policy that the students cannot leave the classroom. The students cannot leave the classroom in the middle of class. Once the class started, students must stay in the classroom. They cannot leave the classroom unless they’re going to the bathroom, and they have to stay there until the classes end, right? That’s the school policy, right?

However, IDEA says you have the right to create a plan, an independent education plan specific to the unique needs of your child. So maybe your child requires to be able to move to a different space and come back and, take breaks. Maybe that’s something that allows your child to be able to get up, walk out, come back in.

Sometimes if you go into a different environment, you’re able to… Sometimes if you’re upset about something, you get fixated on it, you can’t let that go. You may need to move into another environment, and then you can come back in and regain and get reengaged into the assignment or the classroom. That might be something that, it might be a unique need of your student, right?

So the school policy is one, but IDEA is a federal law that supersedes, right? And so now you can create an individual plan to support your child.

And remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Navigating special education takes patience, persistence, time, and lots of documentation. If you didn’t put it in writing, it didn’t happen. So I think many places who rely heavily on documentation emphasizes that.

Create a journal to document the good and the bad each week. Sometimes you can have a journal that goes back and forth between you and the school, maybe a Google Doc back and forth, that you’re able to kind of see what is going on. But even outside of that, you can have your own journal of notes of what’s happening.

If your child is being suspended or there’s a whole process of suspension, right? But if your child is being suspended or they’re calling you and saying, “Your child can’t sit still. “He’s being disruptive. “Come pick him up early.” And you’re thinking, “Are they suspending him?” And they said, “No, no, no. “We just want you to come pick them up early.” But he’s being asked to leave the placement, right? And so that can be suspension.

If you’re documenting these things, I’m getting these calls repeatedly, now you have this log of how many of these unofficial suspension is really going on because there is a process. Child with special education cannot be suspended more than 10 days in a school year or five days in a row. So what’s happening with these unofficial pickup times? Or maybe the child keeps being sent out into another classroom or the office. What is happening? Because it’s a place of education. It’s in one spot, and they come and tell you, right? Or however you find out.

These are things that you can document ’cause you can start to see a pattern and say, “This is not just a one-time instance. “This is an area of need. “This is an area that we need, “’cause he is being removed out of his space of education. “This is a area that we might need a goal. “This is a area that we might need services “to allow him to continue to remain receiving education.” So create a journal.

Over-communicate with all members of the team. Request all student records in five business days, including incident reports, Some incident reports you do need to, as the incident occurs a BER, B-E-R, you could ask for a BER report when there’s an incident of the child had to be emergency restrained or secluded. Those BER reports, you can ask for them because you will need to ask for those specific reports so that you can receive a copy of ’em.

Request IEP meetings in writing as soon as the IEP concerns arise. We noticed, as we just talked about, maybe you keep having to pick up your child or the child keeps going to another classroom. This has happened three days in a row. So you can say, “what’s going on? We need an IEP meeting.” So you can request an IEP meeting in writing as soon as possible. They have 30 days to provide that meeting.

Email the school that the parent guardian would audio record the IEP meeting for at least 24 hours notice. Having the recording allows you to play that back. Sometimes you’re emotional and you, did not quite hear all of it. Or maybe there’s some things that you would like to hold the district accountable to follow through on. And you have that recording.

Keep a hard copy of the IEP assessment forms, et cetera, in labeled folders. And then label the documents on the computer the same way. Keep all the information in a folder and documentation.

How to ask the school staff so the school staff can answer. Can you please help me understand? These are not only, sometimes you may have an understanding of what they’re asking, but to have the words from them and sharing, okay, specifically why are they asking for this, right? Why are they telling you, your child, they may come to you and say, “you know what, I believe your child needs speech. You said, well, my child speaks fine. Why would they need speech?” There may be some other areas where they’re having difficulty processing information.

You can ask, please help me understand. Why are you asking for speech? And they don’t have problems saying their words. But also the reverse, right? If they’re trying to remove services, once again, this allows you to have the words and documentation from them, and you can go back to the assessments to either agree or dispute what the changes are.

Why are you proposing that service? As you go down these questions to bring that conversation out from them, to have that documentation from them saying specifically what they’re looking for, specifically why they’re asking for it.

So have we considered X as an area of need of services? Why or why not? This is truly allowing you to be an active participant in the IEP meeting. If you’re asking for additional support, asking, have we considered additional OT hours, right? To just say, “No, we can’t have it,” that’s not enough. That’s not enough documentation to show they’re really hearing what you’re asking for. They’re really considering your request.

So asking why or why not, it allows them to really document that, allows you to really document the information, especially if you’re recording that IEP meeting. And now you’ve got documentation of, well, okay, they considered my request and maybe they believe that additional OT hours is not necessary, or they are just not hearing me. They’re not taking into consideration the difficulty in holding the pencil, the poor penmanship not being able to, they’re not hearing my concerns.

These are ways that you can get them to respond in a way that you’re engaging in conversation, focusing on the child, and hearing them express what they’ve looked at, the information they’re using to determine why they need the supports and services, or why they’re refusing.

How does this service help my child meet their goals? This, once again, is a very important part of understanding FAPE. Not the only thing, but part is, are they making progress in their goals? So there’s a goal. What related service or what supports are being offered to help them meet those goals?

Can you please show me a copy of the policy? We talked about that. And what are we doing to address this concern that I have or the teacher therapists have raised? So if you notice during the meeting, a lot happens. A lot of people say things. If there’s a concern that was voiced and you hear it get raised over or not addressed, bring that back to the front and say, “Okay, so how are we gonna address this? “This is an issue. “What is being done to address this need? “Please send that to me in writing after the meeting “and please send me timely prior written notice “in response to my request.”

Once again, prior written notice, that is that documentation that they have thoroughly thought about your requests and made a decision.

I think that ends part two. I hope you get a chance to take a look at the part three and continue on to all 10 parts of the Special Education Academy. Once again, thank you for coming. If you have any specific questions, please give us a call. We are available to support you and help you through this process.

Thank you. Have a good day.

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