A Letter From Our Founder: Special Education Has Not Changed
To the Parents of Exceptional Children,
As we begin to navigate the upcoming school year, it is important to remember that special education has not changed. This means that your child's public school must provide the services that are on his/her IEP, regardless of the educational setting you have chosen for this school year (i.e., district virtual platform, modified day scheduling, or face to face learning). I have tips and recommendations to share with you that will support your child and your family in being as prepared as possible.
Please pull out your child’s IEP and review it. It is important to note the "related services" section of the IEP and the goals.
On your child’s IEP, please note the annual review date, as that is the earliest date you will be having an IEP meeting for this school year unless you decide you'd like to meet with the team at any other time.
If you have any uncertainties about how the school will accommodate your child's IEP, schedule an IEP meeting.
Ensure that your child is receiving their related services by maintaining open, written lines of communication with your child’s teacher, ESE team, and administrative staff.
For any families who have chosen virtual learning - document everything such as missed services, difficulties with learning, etc.
You should be receiving IEP progress reports every 9 weeks (or less if stated on your IEP) along with their typical, academic progress report. Ensure you are receiving these reports. The ESE progress report is a SEPARATE report. Please keep them on file.
Do not consent to any changes of your child's IEP over the phone. Even the slightest change "over the phone without a meeting" can result in BIG changes for your child.
Many IEP's have very specific data collection timelines, etc. If your child's IEP has verbiage such as "every 4 and a half weeks," teacher documents and keeps a checklist, etc., please write these down to ensure that your school is sending you the proper data collection within the proper time frames.
Please feel free to reach out to any of our Panelists at Collaborative Corner if you need more assistance moving forward. We will be here with you every step of the way!
Sincerely,
Jessica Barisano
Founder of Collaborative Corner for Exceptional Children
Special Education Advocate
www.collaborativecorner.org