The first month of a new school year is always a bit unnerving as we work to make sure our kids are receiving all the supports they need, but this year it feels like the potential barriers and stakes are higher than ever, with the added stress of potential statewide budget cuts and uncertain federal changes. How do we make sure our kids’ rights are protected and their IEPs are being implemented?
For answers and guidance, we sat down with Dina Kaplan, education attorney with over thirty years of experience in special education law, partner at Vanaman German, executive director of the K.E.N. Project, and parent of a child with multiple disabilities. She helped us understand how we can ensure our children's IEPs are being implemented in the middle of and in spite of what might be happening outside of their schools.
Looking to listen to our full conversation on the go? Download this episode of the Undivided Voices podcast!
Kaplan reiterates what Denise Marshal, CEO of COPAA, told us during a previous event: our kids’ rights to education are protected under federal law and state law, and IDEA hasn’t been overturned. However, the current president has made substantial cuts to the Department of Education staff and some federal grants under IDEA. Kaplan says, “Right now, what has happened is our president has asked Congress to cut the funding for a lot of services, and so far, Congress has pushed back and said, ‘No, we're not going to do that.’ I don't know if they will continue to say, ‘No, we're not going to do that,’ or if they will go ahead and cut the funding. The big thing that they're looking at cutting the funding for is the university-affiliated programs, the family resource centers, the things that really help support our families and our children….There's a lot of moving parts right now that we're just sort of trying to keep an eye on and follow along and see where they're going.”
You can see this article for more information about the programs under threat and their impact on families, and see this article for tips on how to contact your representatives in Congress about protecting important programs for your child.
Kaplan says, “I do think that ‘inclusion’ is a word that we have to talk around. We have to find out another way to describe inclusion, only because I am not sure what's going to happen if we keep saying we want our kids included, and there's that diversity, equity, and inclusion piece that the government is trying to do away with….The way to talk around it is to say, ‘We want our child to be educated in a regular education program with appropriate services and supports so that he or she can participate in general education with his or her peers.’ That basically is what the law describes as full inclusion.”
If you’re committed to inclusion for your child and you get pushback from the district, for behavior or another reason, Kaplan recommends looking at whether your child is getting appropriate support:
She says, “Was there an assessment done that showed that your child had a need? If so, and the district is saying, ‘No, we can't do that,’ or ‘We won't do that,’ then the response is, ‘How do we get this done? If it's not something you do, who does it? How do we get it?’”
Kaplan says one area where she expects to see more cuts in school districts is agreeing to reimburse families for private school tuition: “What I'm talking about are children who have been placed by their parents in private school because the district has failed to provide their child with an appropriate educational program.” (This is separate from when an IEP team agrees to place a child at a non-public school paid for by the school district.)
For Kaplan’s advice for parents seeking private school reimbursement, see the full video recording starting at 51:45.
Some parents are concerned that with widespread staffing shortages, their children are receiving services from SLP assistants or OT assistants. Kaplan says, “They are acceptable service providers as long as they're being appropriately monitored and supervised.”
A shortage of 1:1 aides is also a common concern. Kaplan says that although each school district handles the process differently, parents need to “look at what assessments have been done to determine the child's need for an aide….If the assessment's been done by the school district and they say your child doesn't need an aide, and you disagree, you have the right to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE).”
How do you know if you need an IEE? Kaplan answers in this clip:
She also recommends that you keep an eye on your child’s progress reports (which usually come out around the same time as report cards) to see how your child is progressing toward their goals. The IEP should state when and how goal progress is being measured.
If you notice something off, should you call an emergency IEP meeting? Kaplan says, “There's nothing in the law that says what an emergency IEP is. What it says is that if you're requesting an IEP and there are no new assessments that need to be done, the IEP should be held within 30 days. If there's new assessments, it’s within 60 days of your signing the assessment plan. So sometimes it's faster to have a quick meeting with a teacher if it's something that needs just a little tweaking and is not going to result in a change to the IEP.”
One of our top tips for parents preparing for an IEP meeting is to request that the district give them a draft a week ahead of time that they can review to prepare for the meeting. However, some districts say they aren’t allowed to provide a draft before the meeting. Kaplan says that technically districts aren’t required to provide a draft, “but if you say to the IEP team, ‘We really would like to have a draft so we can participate in the discussion when the IEP meeting happens,’ they can provide you with a draft IEP or just a draft of the goals. They can provide you with copies of the assessment reports prior to the IEP meeting.”
Kaplan continues, “Predetermination happens when a parent goes to an IEP meeting and the IEP team does not want to even discuss any changes to an IEP,” so as long as your IEP team is open to your input, they shouldn’t refuse your request for at least the assessment reports and a draft of the proposed goals. Kaplan also recommends that you audio record the IEP meeting, if allowed in your state given advance notice (in California, you need to provide at least 24 hours’ notice). If there are any disputes down the line, a recording can help clarify who said what.
If you have a disagreement with your IEP team, you have the option of informal or alternative dispute resolution before filing for due process. Kaplan says that if parents choose to decline the informal dispute resolution, that can’t be held against them during due process proceedings. However, she recommends that parents do not go to due process without an attorney: “If you request due process, the district is going to get their lawyers on board, and I do not recommend that parents go to due process without their own attorneys.”
How do you know when it’s time to get legal help? Here’s what Kaplan recommends: “After you have an IEP with an offer that you disagree with, and you've tried to resolve those informally, or you just feel like you need some more advice before you try to resolve it informally.” She recommends signing up for a free consultation with an attorney to go over whether you have a case and have explored all your other options.
One potential outcome is that the district may offer compensatory services. Kaplan explains, “What that looks like for each child is based on his or her circumstances and what the district failed to do with regard to that child. It's always negotiated to try to come up with an agreed-upon amount. So what that looks like is if a family has been paying for out-of-pocket tutoring, speech therapy, occupational therapy, things of that nature, we can ask the district to reimburse for those things, or we can ask the district to pay for a block of hours of some of those things.”
Thank you to Dina Kaplan for sharing her insights and answering parent questions during the live event! Check out the full recording (with transcript available) here in our resource library.
We have more live Q&As with special education experts coming up soon. To stay updated on upcoming events and other helpful resources, join our free weekly newsletter list and our private Facebook group for parents!
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