If my child attends private school, should I still do triennials with the public school district?

If your child attends a private school instead of a public school, you may wonder whether you need to have any relationship with the public school district or whether it's worth having a public school IEP.

Lisa M. Carey, Undivided Non-Attorney Education Advocate, says that it depends on your personal preference. If your child is preschool age, you can decline the district's recommended IEP placement and still get occupational and speech therapy services if they were recommended in the IEP.

If your child is in kindergarten or older, you may choose to do your child's triennial IEPs with the school district. You won't receive services from the school district, but the district will perform a full set of assessments every three years, and that information can be useful in understanding your child's development. For example, when the school assesses a child at 5 years old and later at 8 years old, there are things they look for at 8 years old that weren’t evident at 5.

For more information, see our article Private School 101.