I have a crazy question?

Question

My son got an IEP on Jan 28 for LD in reading and writing. His school is now saying that they may have been mistaken and that he didn't qualify for help in reading and writing so they may have to take one of his services back. Can a school take back an IEP after it's signed and agreed upon? I thought that it was a legally binding contract.

Answer 1

Agreed is agreed. Send them a letter saying so much. Perhaps they can restart the procedure, but they can not use their errors to amend the finished procedure.

Answer 2

You are right, apparently they were hoping you didn't know your rights. Keep a record of all communications between yourself and the school. Sounds as though you aren't going to have a smooth ride.

Answer 3

I agree: if you have clinical support for the new services provided by the IEP, and in your view it was not an error to put them in place, send the school a letter stating this, and that you see no reason to reconvene to remove services. Then immediately consult with a "Protection and Advocacy" or special education attorney in your area (COPAA.org has a useful list of referrals, as does wrightslaw.org). The attorney may be able to bring an impartial hearing that will hold the status quo and keep the new IEP in place while the issue is decided by a hearign officer. This is called pendency.

Answer 4

I was an IEP student in from 2nd to 7th grade for speech. If i would have been taken out of those classes without the feeling of graduating and having to change my school day I would have been depressed. Do not let the school take him out. That is illegal........it is a legally binding contract. Get a lawyer! Hope I helped!! = )

Answer 5

its not up to the skool its up to you if he should go to iep in the first place but if u signed it they cant take him out

Answer 6

wrightslaw.com has alot of good awnsers about ieps...

Answer 7

what a heck, that school sucks, IEP is such a important matter, they should double check it before realising it, log on to ldonline.com seek some help there

Answer 8

It sounds like they did not follow your state's procedures for determining eligibility and now they are trying to correct that before the state pops in and finds out during an audit.

There have been many changes to federal law in the past year and our state dept of education is just now telling local school districts what they expect. One of the areas that has just changed in the past 2 weeks in my district is eligibility for LD. The district must now prove eligibility for LD in math or reading, etc. by showing 6 data points of a targeted intervention to improve a student's skills. This data must show a trend line that is significantly discrepant from the student's peers.

There is now a new eligibility sheet where each box of 6 different descriptions must be checked, before LD can be determined. If there is not sufficient data, then a student cannot be found to have a LD or they can't receive help in a specific area, like math or reading.

When we found out about these new requirements, our team was 2 weeks away from eligibility meetings on 2 students. We all knew that these students had been struggling for more than a year and were significantly behind their peers. Even with help they were not catching up. The team had to comb over student work/ tests to find the data to prove that theses students were not progressing well. Thankfully the teachers had kept all student work, because there must also be a comparison to peers. Even so, one of our administrators heavily questioned one of the staff, because they didn't feel there was enough data to prove that the student needed help in one area an therefore shouldn't qualify for services, which was completely ridiculous!

The IEP is a legally binding document and the school must abide by it for the next year. They cannot drop services without your permission. If you believe that your son really does need help in these areas, stick to your guns. Politely but firmly tell them that you would hate to have to contact the state department of education with your concerns. Also, make sure they have given you a copy of your parent rights. They are required to give you this at your meeting and explain it to you. Read them. An excellent website for parents is wrightslaw.com . Learn what your rights are and what the law says so you can advocate for what your son needs.

Your school can reconvene with you to revisit eligibility if they feel a mistake was made, but I would be shocked if they forced your hand on this. You can request an advocate from the state dept of ed to attend the meeting with you. Just mentioning that you might do this and also contact your attorney will usually make a district back off. The last thing they want is legal fees.

Answer 9

It's rare, but I think Appleseed is right.  An IEP is legal and binding, assuming the child really qualifies for special education.  If it's reviewed (by the state or otherwise) the child didn't really meet eligibility, then they didn't qualify for services, and everything becomes null and void, no matter what's agree upon.  

My district is going through a state audit now, and the state can look at an evaluation report on paper and decide the child shouldn't receive services, and fine the district per child- thus effectively cutting special education services.  The individual school is in a  damned if you do and damned if you don't position.    

The state doesn't have to talk to the parent or anyone else to do this.  It's funny, the state sets the guidelines, and will punish schools.  If you need help with getting the school to enforce rules, you have to go to the state for due process.  Argh.  Everybody loses.

On the other side, if they are honestly trying to correct a mistake and not give more service than is needed, it may be a good thing.  I've seen kids who weren't special ed in a certain area become so because they weren't exposed to the regular curriculum.  For example, a child with average math skills and poor reading skills who is placed in a full time special education room may leave school with both poor reading and math skills.

Answer 10

NO they can not. Here is the legal process for this situation-

1. Write to district special ed director and request 'prior written notice' for their decision for taking away this service. They have to have LEGAL reasons for doing this and put these reasons to you in writing in this notice.

If they do not have legal reasons they can't do this.

2. THey have to do a full educational evaluation before they can do this. AND, they have to have your written permission in order to do this eval.  

3. If they DO take these services away, you file formal state complaints with the state dept of education for violations of

no prior written notice and no evaluation done before they did this.

If you need help email me   [e-mail]

Answer 11

Find a psychiatrist outside the school to evaluate them, and he or she will have the power to change the IEP if you feel he needs it.

Answer 12

I have submitted a link to some of the statues regarding IEPs. I have worked in Special Education for many years, they are really feeding you a bowl of c**p.  There are federal laws and guidelines that must be followed.  There is also timelines that must be followed to change/modify an IEP.  Tell the school that you will consult an attorney.  Do not allow them to take away your child's rights. Get everything in writing. Document every telephone call......Peace