IEP Compliance: Be a Watchdog for Your Child

It happens more often than you think. You attend the Individualized Education Program meeting, discuss your child's goals and evaluations, talk with teachers and therapists, come up with a workable plan, and politely thank everyone for their hard work. You leave with the expectation that the course of action decided in the meeting is the course of action that will take place. Then, months later, you find out this isn't exactly so. You find out, if you're lucky.

The purpose of this article is not to point the finger at school districts or frighten parents into believing their child's teachers are trying to dodge responsibilities. Special Education teachers have an extremely heavy workload, more so than mainstream teachers. Above and beyond teaching individualized curriculum, they are behavioral analysts, data collectors, safety care specialists, technician and therapies coordinators, and bearers of mountains of paperwork. They may have ten to twenty students on their caseload, each of which has an individualized program. Rather, the purpose is to inform parents of the possibility of a slip in the administration of services.

It tends to happen with therapies. If your child is an elementary special education student, most likely he/she also receives speech therapy, occupational therapy, and/or physical therapy. At the secondary level, this may also include instructional one-on-one time and/or social work. Since the IEP team has decided these therapies are necessary to the success of your child's education, it is important that your child receives the time designated by his IEP.

The slip in services usually is a result of an injury/illness or other unforeseen event for which the therapist is absent from work. One or two days out is no reason for alarm. However, if the therapist is out for weeks at a time, and the school district does not find a suitable replacement, then they are out of compliance with your child's IEP. And unfortunately, in many circumstances a suitable replacement will not be made unless parents become aware of the lack of services and make the first move.

Therefore, it is important to keep the lines of communication open between you and your child's special education teacher. Make email contact at least once every two weeks, if not every week. This takes about five minutes and can make the world of difference in your child's education. Once this email contact is established, request email addresses for the therapists listed in your child's IEP. Sending therapists and counselors a bi-weekly email asking how your child is progressing is a great way to ensure there is no slip of services. If you happen to discover that one of these professionals is on a long-term absence, do not allow the school district to sweep that service under the carpet. By law, they are legally bound to provide services to your child as designated in the IEP. Call your school district's Superintendent's Office and ask to speak to the head of Special Education.

Remember, the most important issue at stake is your child's education.