don't know what to do next!

Have you called the person who did the outside eval??? If the school is paying, I would have them call the person also. If the disagreement is placement, you can refuse and have her continue in her prior placement until an IEP meeting, just make sure you tell the school this in writing. The school is not obligated to accept the results of the outside evaluation…although they certainly owe you a meeting.

I am in disagreement with placement. I have called the doctors office and told them I need this report before school starts and I have talked to the director of special education and she is suppose to call them as well. The diagnosis from the private evaluation is the same as the schools diagnoses. I just don’t agree with the placement.

I do not understand why the school is not obligated to accept the outside evaluation whether its at the schools expense or privately paid.

I know this is true, I’m just having a hard time coming up with a reasonable explanation for this? Any info on this?

Wendy,

Follow-up all your requests in writing. Do this for both the doctors office and the school.
I made many calls and didn’t get a response. They always responded to me when I dropped them a note that I kept a copy of.

One other thing. Stay on a professional level. Anything you write can get into your child’s file. (I think I read that here)

The letter is not the time to vent. Just ask for what you want giving as many specifics as you can. Don’t leave room for interpretation that this is not a request it is something that you require. CC all the decision makers.

The diagnosis in this case is the same. It is a matter of opinion what placement and services are appropriate and that can only be decided by an IEP team. An outside evaluation as well as any other information can be considered, but only the team can make recommendations for services.

Janis

Wendy,

You say this is a resource room. How much time would she be in there? Where would she be the rest of the day? What placement are you seeking instead?

Janis

Wendy,
Did you give consent for this change in placement? Is this an intial placement decision?

I agree I would write the school a letter. I would request your written notice. This is something they should have given you prior to initiating a change in placement,and if you did not sign consent for this placement, and it was the initial placement,then it would be a violation for the school to follow through with this placement without filing due process to try and proceed without your signature.
300.505 Parental consent.

(a) General.

(1) Subject to paragraphs (a)(3), (b) and (c) of this section, informed parent consent must be obtained before—

(i) Conducting an initial evaluation or reevaluation; and

(ii) Initial provision of special education and related services to a child with a disability.

§300.503 Prior notice by the public agency; content of notice.

(a) Notice.

(1) Written notice that meets the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section must be given to the parents of a child with a disability a reasonable time before the public agency—

(i) Proposes to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the child; or

(ii) Refuses to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the child.

(2) If the notice described under paragraph (a)(1) of this section relates to an action proposed by the public agency that also requires parental consent under §300.505, the agency may give notice at the same time it requests parent consent.

(b) Content of notice. The notice required under paragraph (a) of this section must include—

(1) A description of the action proposed or refused by the agency;

(2) An explanation of why the agency proposes or refuses to take the action;

(3) A description of any other options that the agency considered and the reasons why those options were rejected;

(4) A description of each evaluation procedure, test, record, or report the agency used as a basis for the proposed or refused action;

(5) A description of any other factors that are relevant to the agency’s proposal or refusal;

(6) A statement that the parents of a child with a disability have protection under the procedural safeguards of this part and, if this notice is not an initial referral for evaluation, the means by which a copy of a description of the procedural safeguards can be obtained; and

(7) Sources for parents to contact to obtain assistance in understanding the provisions of this part.

These are sections of the procedural safeguards given to parents under IDEA to protect their right to be an equal and informed participant in any decision being made about their child. They should have given you a copy of these rights when you met for the IEP,and placement. Hope this helps.

This resource room is a living skills resource room. She is in this classroom all the time, everyday. She won’t be around her same age peers at all. She will be the highest functioning child in the class.
I am asking for her to be put back into regular classroom with modifications and accomodations and resource room for reading and math. My daughter done well before the 4th grade. I feel that we had a teacher problem. The special ed teacher told me that my daughter was having a hard time doing math and that she had totally given up on teaching it to her because she will never learn it anyways. The teacher moved her to the back of the classroom by herself because she depended on the teacher and classmates to much to do her work. This teacher is gone from our school now, she retired at the end of the school year.
I haven’t signed anything except for giving them permission to retest her. I told them I wasn’t signing anything until I got the results of the IEE back . I have written a letter to the director of special education and the IEP team that I want my daughter to stay in her home school until we have the IEP meeting. They should be getting them in a day or two.

Okay, so they are calling it a resource room but it is really a self-contained class with children who have greater cognitive delays than your daughter. You are in a very difficult position. There really is no great placement for children like your daughter in many schools. Most will not be able to keep pace with the regular curriculum, but a life skills class that abandons academics is not appropriate for an EMH child either.

I will say that beginning in the fourth grade there is a significant increase in the difficulty of classwork. Children have to be able to read and write fairly well to be successful in the curriculum. There is more text in the books and fewer pictures. So children who have slipped by until then usually show up with big problems in fourth.

I think your plan is reasonable as long as you have modifications (and I do not mean just accommodations) for the science and social studies in the regular classroom. This is pretty much how EMH students are served in my county until high school. Then they go into the Occupational Diploma program.

Janis