IEP Meeting Statements that Can Land a School District in
Legal “Hot Water” Julie J. Weatherly, Esq.
Attorney & Founder Resolutions in Special Education, Inc. Alabama’s Spring IEP season is almost here, which makes it time to re-visit some avoidable procedural mistakes that can land a school district in special education legal “hot water.” Some of these procedural IEP statements, in and of themselves, can constitute a denial of free appropriate public education (FAPE) notwithstanding how appropriate the IEP’s content may be. School leaders should remind their staff to avoid the following kinds of statements in developing IEPs.
“Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. To save time, we “We’d like to be able to offer two hours of special have already completed the IEP, so all we really need for education services per day, but our Special Education you to do is read over and sign it.” Coordinator has already told us that we can only offer While it is acceptable to prepare draft IEPs and other one hour per day.” documents prior to an IEP meeting, a draft IEP cannot be presented at the beginning of a meeting to the parents as a final document. As IDEA clearly sets out, parents are to be provided the opportunity to jointly and fully participate in the development of the IEP and in all educational decisionmaking. To present a document that has been completed prior to the IEP meeting as a final document can be procedurally dangerous and may be considered, under the law, to be a “predetermination of placement,” which is considered to be “FAPE fatal.”
As stated before, a final IEP or placement decision cannot be made before the meeting and cannot be made by someone who is not part of the IEP Team. Only the IEP Team can make final placement decisions based upon the needs of the student, regardless of what the Special Education Coordinator may have predetermined.
preparatory activities before IEP meetings, no final educational or placement decisions should be made during preparation. Certainly, meetings may be held to prepare for IEP meetings or to discuss possible options for consideration at the upcoming IEP meeting. However, school personnel should be clear during preparation that no final placement determinations are to be made.
Even in time of crisis and personnel shortages due to COVID circumstances, IEP recommendations must be based upon the individual educational needs of a student rather than what services are or are not available within the school district. If an IEP cannot be implemented because of lack of staff, the IEP Team will need to discuss the fact that compensatory services may need to be determined for
“Oh, how I wish we could offer 30 minutes per day of Occupational Therapy to Anna because she really needs “We have already met and decided that Mary will be in it, but we can’t provide that much. We are short on staff because of COVID and we’re lucky to be able to offer the separate special education class next year.” Although school personnel can meet and engage in 30 minutes per week.”
12
Winter Issue 2022
