I have a 10th grade student whose IEP meeting was recently held. He has not been successful this year, so the IEP team looked at alternatives regarding his program. The team decided to try adding time to his current special ed. program where he would stay in his self-contained English and math classes, his mainstream science class (that he likes) and add a self-contained science (the “carrot”) and 2 periods with our “transition”/EBD teacher to work on social skills. This student appears to have little to no self-control, is extremely impulsive, has great difficulty focusing, seems to crave attention (either positive or negative), completes very little work, etc. We think he does not have ADHD, and are concerned about depression in addition to his learning disabilities in math and writing. He passed almost nothing first semester; same thing so far this semester.
At the meeting, the IEP team decided to change the student’s schedule to what I described above. The student was excited about trying something new, parents were in agreement, etc. One of the principals signed the IEP the next day, and the other signed the schedule change form. The student went to new schedule for about a week; he said he thought it was helping, he liked the smaller group and higher level of individual attention and the chance to recoup some credit.
Then, out of the blue, the principal sent me an email saying that he decided we were “way out of compliance”, that there wasn’t a “full IEP” (because he didn’t show up to the meeting and the school psychologist wasn’t there) and ordered (“a rare principal’s directive”) that the student’s schedule be changed back that day. HE did not contact the parents or talk with the student. Instead, he left it to the counselor. This student has no idea why his schedule was changed back, understandably so. I was…umm…a bit more than upset.
I can’t imagine that this was legal. In effect, the principal overturned the IEP. The new schedule/placement was clearly addressed on the IEP (the annual review meeting) and all were in agreement.
I promised my student that I would do my best to “fix” this…but where do I go, who do I talk to? We were told that, even if a member does not show up to the meeting, to go ahead and have the meeting. Most of our IEP meetings are just us and the parents/student.
I would love to have some feedback to …hopefully…take to the dept. and the administration. I am just stunned, as this has never happened before and I have, heretofore, had great respect for this administrator.
Bottom line…program wasn’t working, so IEP team decided to try something else. Immediate results were promising; it seemed like we needed to do “something”. The student had a happy week, and was upset this morning that his schedule was changed back.
CAn anyone help? Thanks so much
Sharon
Re: Legal question about IEP and placement/schedule
Give the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction a call or E-mail.
Their number is (360) 725-6075 or [email protected] .They are pretty good at answering questions and letting you know who you need to talk to about the situation. Also you might want to look at Washington law site for special education laws apps.legwa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=392-172 .Good luck-
Re: Legal question about IEP and placement/schedule
Thanks for the responses. I have the info for OSPI (thanks, auditory mom) and will contact them. Sue, we did not have an administrator at the actual meeting, but…like I said…we rarely do and we were told to go ahead and meet, anyway. I know that might be considered a “technicality”.
It really is bizarre and getting more so. Even though I told this principal (we actually have two principals and two asst. principals) that he could not legally overturn the IEP, he said he would not change his decision (of course, if the parents threatened legal action, I wonder what would happen then…hmm). He claims the issue is “very complex”, so now I have to call another meeting. Here’s what I think the bottom line is…just my opinion. I did not invite the school psych to the first meeting (for reasons too long to go into here), he got mad and went to the principal. that’s it…we have to reconvene so the psych can be there. I spoke with this principal (the other one signed the IEP,but this one signed the schedule change form) and he said he will support making the changes, but he won’t agree to put the student back into new schedule until after the meeting…it’s all about “procedures”.
I’ve been in this state for 5 years and am still learning the resources here. I have been around this website since the beginning, but have not posted much in recent years. Sue, you and I know each other from Virginia and the early days of LD Online.
I posted this question to Matt Cohen; it will be interesting to see if he replies and what he says. I have just never had anything like this happen before and am completely at a loss.
I’ll look forward to seeing any other responses I get. Thanks so much for your responses.
Sharon McLaughlin, M.Ed., NBCT
Re: Legal question about IEP and placement/schedule
It is not following the law to have an IEP team meeting with only teachers and parents present. We are absolutely not allowed to do that. So the principal should be concerned and should start attending meetings or assign an assistant principal to do so. If the psychologist has been involved with this student, then he or she probably should have been invited as well. It does sound like that was the root of this problem.
In this case, the hing to do to correct the problem is to call another IEP team meeting immediately so that the placement can be discussed again with the required team members. I do not agree with changing the child’s schedule back before meeting again, however. They should be walking on eggshells with those parents with the way this has been handled.
Re: Legal question about IEP and placement/schedule
Oh, hi :-) I remember, despite the fact that I’ve slept a few times since the last century~ That would have been right when I had left Va. for South Carolina.
If the psych wasn’t there, then it wasn’t a legal meeting. (If the v.p. wasn’t there - but signed it - then technically it’s legal because signing it means he’s saying he was there.) Looks like it’s time for some damage control: patching things up with the psych or learning to work over & around. It stinks when the students get caught in the middle!
Re: Legal question about IEP and placement/schedule
The psychologist didn’t technically have to attend but should have been invited if he or she had something to do with this child. But an LEA rep, which is usually an administator at the school must attend any IEP team meeting.
It sounds just a bit bizarre (is there a chance somebody - another teacher, or perhaps a parent of a child who is afraid of this student - collared the principal?).
If there was a technicality - such as no representative of the administration, though it’s my experience (not speaking as a lawyer here!) that it doesn’t *have* to be the principal - then there was, legally speaking, no IEP meeting and therefore any changes in it not legal. HOWEVER, since you have an administrative signature, it’s probably a legal document that he can NOT legally, singlehandedly, undo.
(Gosh, when I think of how many IEPs we signed where the admins said “pretend I was there & I”ll sign it tomorrow”…)
I’d compose a letter to the principal, and the parent, and the IEP team, and the head of special education, and oh, anybody further up the chain of command you can think of that might be annoyed at the principal for making waves, stating that you had this meeting in good faith, with the required attendees and signatures and feel that the IEP team made the best decision for the student, and that the student’s confidence and attitude (and therefore, his chances of being a successful graduate) have been adversely affected by this action, and that *his* actions have meant the school is no longer in compliance with this new legal document. I’d try to be careful in every word (and probably start examining my employment options - b ut I’ll bet those higher higher ups know how hard it is to replace “highly qualified” folks).
This really bites… ‘cause unfortuantely the next person the principal will land on would be the assistant principal who signed…