Welcome to the new way of life of shelter in place. For those of you with kids at home, bless you! For those of you with kids with special needs at home, bless you! A nationwide school closure has never happened in our lifetimes. As far as IEP meetings go, "states and school districts cannot rely upon past experiences to decide what they should and should not do. When schools re-open, you should assume that school staff are unlikely to remember what they told you and will be confused about how to proceed," (Wrightslaw).
My suggestion, please write everything down that occurred with your child before the shutdown. Gather old emails, review old report cards, benchmarks, etc. You and the staff at your child's school may be communicating about how the school can meet some of your child's needs now. You may even have attended an online IEP meeting or two. Or you may have had no contact with your child's team or teachers because school administrators decided not to provide any educational services to any students. This option does not feel right to me. I recall my kids' school district acting very quickly about the virtual setting, but not being super clear on the information presented. Emailing the administrators for clarification on this is always a good thing. These following tips may help you...
"Are school districts required to hold annual IEPs, triennials, and initial IEP meetings with schools closed? Can IEP meetings be postponed until schools re-open?"
In March 2020, COVID-19 forced States to close K-12 schools. These schools are unlikely to re-open for several months, leading to questions about how to proceed. School administrators considered how to deal with timelines for IEP meetings. The idea of postponing IEP meetings until schools re-opened was floated.
Should schools postpone IEP meetings until after schools re-open? Let's think about this question. How would postponing IEP meetings actually work? Who will benefit from a decision to postpone IEP meetings? Who will be harmed?
We are living in difficult, unpredictable times. People are experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety. Expect team members to be confused about how to deal with the new reality. This response is normal and predictable. IEP team members - parents and school staff - need to be patient and helpful. Your goal is to work together creatively to develop the child’s IEP.
IEP teams need to start scheduling IEP meetings ASAP. Although IEP team members can’t meet face-to-face, they can can use video conferencing or calling services like Zoom, Google Duo, FaceTime or Skype. We have heard positive reports from attorneys, advocates and parents about online IEP meetings.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, last revised in 2004 provides alternative ways to hold IEP meetings: “School meetings do not have to be face-to-face. IEP and placement meetings, mediation meetings, and due process (IEP) resolution sessions may be convened by conference calls or video conferences.” See page 107 in Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition.) Bottom line: Assume you will attend online IEP meetings. To help you prepare for an online IEP meeting, I personally have sat in over 100 IEP meetings via Zoom. Please expect a tutorial on how to approach those IEP meetings, but for now...
"If it is not in writing, it was not said. If it is not in writing, it did not happen." - Pete Wright
You need to create a paper trail that documents your child's special education during the school closure. You can use low-tech tools - journals, logs, calendars, and letters to create your paper trail.
When you train yourself to write things down, you are protecting your child's interests.
If you have a dispute with the school later, your paper trail is independent evidence that will support your memory. Documents that support your position will help you resolve disputes early.
The more you know...