Is a school in compliance if a service is not provided because of lack of therapist?

Question

Music therapy should be provided as a service agreed on the annual ARD meeting. The school has not been able to find a license therapist to provide the service. They only advertise the position for a couple of weeks.

Answer 1

is the school in compliance simple answer NO! They have to pay for this and if they can not find one then they are in default of ARD or IEP which ever one you have you do have the right to pick your own and they will have to pay for it you can contact an attorney in your area that specializes in this area their are groups that will help with this also you have to stay on them or they will drop it I deal with this every day people just don't care about children with special needs and it is our jobs as parents of these children to make them start caring your child deserves better than being shoved back in the back and forgotten about just stay on them until they do the right thing

Answer 2

The school MUST pay for music therapy with a private therapist if they agreed to it. Do not remove it it is something everyone agreed the child needs.

Answer 3

I'm really surprised the school district personnel agreed to music therapy when they didn't have the staff or position.   We don't use the acronym ARD in our area, so I'm not sure what it is, but if it is binding you're correct, the school is out of compliance, and they should be advertising for a therapist, whether private or through the school system.

However, if everything else is going well and you are pleased with the school and district, think about cutting them some slack.  There aren't many people certified in music therapy, and if the school has made a good faith effort to find someone and there is no one available, the team might need to sit down and re-evaluate whether or not another therapy can have the same effect for your child.

This isn't to say that schools don't have to provide services if they don't have the personnel, but the fact of the matter is that they can't magically produce someone certified in music therapy, and they can't force anyone to take the job, so if there isn't a warm body, they can't provide the service.

When they do find someone to provide the service, your child should get make up time for all the weeks the service was not provided.

If, however, they haven't really tried to find someone, you may need to talk to somone at the district level, then decide what to do based on their answers and information.  A parent advocate may be able to help in this situation.  

Good luck!

Answer 4

Absolutely out of compliance. Call the Special Ed director, then the Superintendent and finally, the Department of Education. You have to increase their level of concern.

Answer 5

If another ARD meeting is not scheduled and the service taken off, than they will owe your child visit for visit.  If the ARD requires music therapy 3x a week for 30 minutes  for a of total 20 weeks and it is not provide for five weeks, then when it starts again the school must increase to 4x a week to make up the difference pr provide the service in the summer to make ammends.  Only an ARD meeting can suspend the service.

Answer 6

If your ARD is like our ARC then it is legally binding.  The school is not in compliance and can be found liable.   I don't know the liability issues of a Special Education teacher or a counselor doing the therapy.  You should check on that. If not you need to have another meeting ASAP and take that out until you have a license music therapist.  The parents can file a suit.  

What is the D?