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Spotlight On Practice:

Overview

• Legal Overview • Legal Requirements for Writing IEPs • Documenting Parent Agreement/Disagreement • Best Practices when Writing IEP Meeting Notes

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Introduction

Purpose

The purpose of this presentation is to learn to write legally compliant, succinct, and helpful IEP team meeting notes

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Introduction

The Balance

• Enough writing – shows compliance • Too much writing – complicates & compromises

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Legal Overview

A free appropriate public education (FAPE) is comprised of substantive and procedural components

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Legal Overview

What is written on an IEP is typically considered a procedural component of FAPE

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Legal Overview

Most IEP forms provide for all required elements … So why IEP Notes?

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cont.

Legal Overview

• IEP notes are mandated when they add required content too complicated for the form • IEP notes are helpful where they document compliance with mandatory procedures … that’s why!

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cont.

Legal Overview

• •

Statutes and Regulations

Procedural violations can amount to a loss of FAPE

Case Law

In Union v. Smith

,

the court ruled that the IDEA requires a formal, written offer to create a clear record

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPS

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

Members Not Present

• If a required IEP team member is not present and has not been properly excused from attending, then the district is committing a procedural violation

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Practice Pointer

Attach the written excusal agreement to the IEP

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

Meeting Without Parents

• Only if the district is unable to convince the parents that they should attend • Record the district’s attempts to arrange a mutually agreed upon time and place • Typically, districts document this information in the student’s file and not in the IEP meeting comments

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Practice Pointer

If the district makes a final effort to reach the parents immediately before and/or during the IEP meeting, describe in detail the district’s efforts to convince the parent to attend the IEP meeting in the meeting notes

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

When Parents Leave Meeting

• If the student’s parent wants to leave the IEP meeting before it is completed, encourage the parent to stay • If the parent refuses to do so, the IEP team may continue to meet but document  Efforts to persuade parent to stay  Note time parent left

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

Eligibility

Document • Which eligibility categories were considered • Why or why not student found eligible in each category considered

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

Assessment Reports and IEEs

For each evaluation, including IEEs, document: • that the IEP team reviewed and discussed the report, and • whether the IEP team members agreed or disagreed with the report

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

IEE Recommendations

For an IEE • Must consider but need not agree with, or implement • If the IEP team does agree with the IEE and/or implement its recommendations, it does not obligate the school district to pay for the IEE

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

Goal Progress

• Goal progress is generally recorded on the annual goal page, periodic progress reports and/or report cards

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

Placement

• Reflect which placement options were considered. Do not make multiple placement offers • If the IEP placement offer is not complete, correct this offer by sending a clarifying letter to the parent

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

Services

• Indicate the start and end date of services, frequency, duration and location • If the IEP form does not fully describe the services, do so in the notes

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

Stay Put

Clarify in the comments: • If the IEP team wants to identify what a student’s stay put placement is or is not • Agreement to provide placement and/or services for a limited amount of time

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What is NOT or MAY NOT be Required to be Included in IEP Meeting Comments

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

Methodology

If a particular methodology is not necessary for a student to receive a FAPE, then it does not need to be addressed in the IEP

vs.

If methodology is an essential part of the student’s program, it does need to be discussed and incorporated in the student’s IEP

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

Qualifications of Providers

School districts are not required to document in the IEP the particular qualifications of teachers and staff

vs.

Document the qualifications of teachers and/or staff where necessary to demonstrate the IEP meets the unique needs of the student

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Legal Requirements For Writing IEPs

Redundant Information

Do not include in the IEP meeting comments information found in another portion of the IEP

vs.

Writing more detailed comments in order to show compliance with the procedural requirements (such as parent participation, the IEP was not predetermined and prior written notice),

OR

When the matter is contentious and/or may become a potential due process case

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Documenting Parent Agreement/Disagreement

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Documenting Parent Agreement/Disagreement

Parent Signature

Parent shows necessary informed consent for: – Initial assessments – Reassessments – Initial provision of special education and related services – Subsequent IEPs

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Practice Pointer

If a parent refuses to consent to the IEP, document in the IEP meeting comments the reason for the refusal if stated and any attempts made to address the parent’s concerns

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Documenting Parent Agreement/Disagreement

Prior Written Notice

Prior written notice required: • When District proposes to change the program; or • If Parent revokes consent, in writing, to child’s continued receipt of special education and related service; or • On IEP; or • On a separate notice ~See

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Documenting Parent Agreement/Disagreement

Disagreement

Document the parent’s disagreement: • Attach the parent’s written disagreement to the IEP document (either written during or after the IEP meeting); and/or • Write the parent’s disagreement into the IEP meeting comments

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Practice Pointer

Even if the parent refuses to sign IEP, the district should ask the parent to sign the IEP to indicate attendance at the meeting, but not agreement

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Best Practices When Writing IEP Meeting Comments

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Best Practices Selecting the Scribe

• IEP team member, an employee and selected by the school district • The school district’s attorney or parent should NOT write the IEP meeting comments • The scribe should not also be the facilitator of the meeting

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Best Practices Role of Scribe

• Generally  State which topics were discussed and whether the IEP team reached consensus as to each topic • Elaborate on services/placement offer if form inadequate

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Best Practices Contemporaneous & Non-inflammatory

• Write notes contemporaneously with what is stated during the meeting • Avoid using inflammatory or accusatory language that may aggravate what already may be a contentious situation

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Best Practices Documenting IEP Participation

• Include an IEP team member’s recommendations, questions, consent and disagreement • Document IEP team member participation or lack thereof

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Best Practices Documenting Non-Participation

Document the school district’s efforts to encourage participation – Especially important when the school district is trying to include a parent in the IEP discussion but he/she is reluctant to do so

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cont.

Best Practices Documenting Non-Participation

For example: The student’s 5 th grade teacher reported that Mike was making progress in Science. When asked if his mother and attorney agreed, the student’s attorney replied, “No comment.”

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Best Practices Following Up • Identifying parking lot, follow-up and implementation issues • Ensure that items are followed up as promised

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Best Practices CASEMIS codes

If the CASEMIS codes do not provide sufficient detail concerning the school district’s offer and/or may not be easily understood by a parent, the IEP meeting comments should clarify the codes

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Best Practices Proofread IEP Meeting Comments

• Proofread the IEP meeting comments • Ensure what is written is consistent with the other portions of the IEP

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Best Practices Disagreements over Comments

• If the team members do not agree with the comments, the district representative decides if the comments should be changed • If the parent is the only one disagreeing with the IEP meeting comments, add the parent’s perspective or suggest that parent attach a dissent to the comments

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Best Practices Difficult IEP Meetings

When a due process hearing is either pending or inevitable, take copious notes of what was said during the meeting

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Practice Pointer

Don’t say… • "The program you are requesting for your child is too expensive." • "We do not have enough RSP teachers so kids at your son’s school only get 1 hour a week of RSP support." • "Your son’s teacher said Chuck will never be welcomed back in his classroom."

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Best Practices Settlement Issues

• Best practice is not to discuss settlement issues during an IEP team meeting • If the IEP is pursuant to an agreement, write the needed language in advance

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Conclusion The Rule of Three

1. Use notes where necessary to provide required IEP content 2. Use notes to document compliance with IEP procedures 3. Stay factual & non inflammatory

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Thank you!