Should I call an IEP meeting if my child is failing their classes?

If your child has low grades in one or more classes and could fail a required class, you may wonder whether it will prevent your child from moving on to the next grade level.

Retaining students rarely happens anymore, especially if a student has an IEP. Holding a child back a grade level is frowned upon and hard to do in most situations. However, if your child is having trouble passing their required classes, it could indicate that they need more or different supports and services in their IEP. You may want to request an IEP meeting to meet with your team and discuss what supports are needed to help your child access their education.

Even if a class is not required, such as an elective, you can ask for more support if your student is failing. Start with the teacher in this situation. Reach out and explain that the student cares about their grades or that you want to find out what can be done to help the student. You could ask, “Which accommodations seem to be helpful/which are not helpful?” The teacher could say, “I don’t know,” but at least this prompts them to start talking about accommodations.