6 minute read
Special Education Update
The Importance of Training LEA Representatives
Julie J. Weatherly, Esq., Resolutions in Special Education
This article was published by ALA-CASE for the CLAS School Leader magazine.
WHO CAN SERVE AND WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES?
In Alabama, it is common that local school leaders serve as LEA Representatives (“LEA Reps”) at IEP meetings. For that reason, my law firm has been active in the provision of LEA Representative training and other resources to Alabama’s school leaders. Such activities have included the annual “LEArn & LEAd Training Program for LEA Representatives” through CLAS-sponsored sessions or with individual school districts, as well as significant input into the development of the ALSDE’s “2019 HELP Guide for School Administrators.”1
It is vital that those who serve as LEA Reps are specifically trained to appropriately fulfill their roles and responsibilities. This article will provide basic information about who can serve and what it means to serve, so that those designated to do so may have a better understanding of what being an LEA Representative is all about.
Legal Criteria for Serving as an LEA Representative in Alabama
I often hear the following questions—usually from a newly appointed Assistant Principal who has been designated by the Principal to serve as the school’s LEA Rep. at IEP meetings:
“What am I supposed to do at an IEP meeting and why am I the LEA representative? I am asking this because I don’t do special education!”
My answer to these questions begins with the Alabama Administrative Code (“AAC”). Under the AAC, the LEA Rep. is defined as a representative of the “local education agency” who meets the following criteria:
Is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities;
Is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum;
Is knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the public agency; and
Has the authority to commit agency resources and be able to ensure that IEP services will be provided.
Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9.05(3)(d). Based upon the above criteria, all designees serving as LEA Reps must be trained to understand these qualifications to ensure that they are confident and knowledgeable about meeting and fulfilling all of them.
What the LEA Representative Criteria Mean
In my work with LEA Reps, I often see a bit of confusion and concern about criteria 1 and 4 above, as reflected in the statement referenced previously—“but I don’t do special education!” Nothing in these criteria requires someone who is an expert in the provision of special education services to serve as the LEA Rep. Rather, the language in the first criterion requires qualification in the provision or supervision of special education services. In addition, the authority to “commit agency resources” means only that the LEA Rep. has facilitated the meeting process and actively listened to the databased recommendations of the IEP content experts about services needed to meet the special education needs of the student. Once those recommendations are made, the LEA commits that the school will implement the IEP Team’s recommended services.
The Role and Responsibilities of the LEA Representative
It is because of long-standing ALSDE guidance that Principals and Assistant Principals often serve as LEA Reps. In fact, in its HELP Guide, ALSDE notes that the school’s Principal, as its instructional leader and sitebased manager, has the overall responsibility for— monitoring and supervising school staff in such a way to ensure that appropriate instruction and support are provided to all students at the school....[T]he principal and/or other school administrator designee typically participates in and serves as the LEA Representative at IEP meetings. The LEA is responsible for ensuring that the services set forth in every student’s IEP are provided. In carrying out this responsibility, it is critical that the principal communicate closely with the school district’s Special Education Coordinator for problem-solving, collaboration and compliance, which will demonstrate a unity of effort throughout the entire district. Effective procedures for monitoring the delivery of services to students with disabilities must be developed and implemented locally.”2
While Alabama’s local school administrators often serve as LEA Reps, anyone who meets the legally required criteria can serve. While having some background in special education can be helpful, it is not legally required that the LEA Rep. actually “does” special education. Rather, it is required that those who serve can effectively meet the criteria for doing so.
It is important that all LEA Reps understand that one of their most important roles is to support the IEP Team as its “process leader,” so that the special education teacher and other “content leaders” (such as the student’s general education teachers and other service providers) can focus on important IEP content considerations during the IEP meeting and not be consumed by all of the meeting’s process and content considerations. In other words, the LEA Rep. primarily manages and leads the process of the IEP meeting itself, so that the content experts can focus on IEP content during the meeting.
As we emphasize in our LEArn & LEAd training and by way of example, the LEA Rep. as the “meeting’s process leader” can ensure that the process of the meeting flows in a way that is organized and efficient through the use of strategies and visual aids such as meeting agendas and norms. Similarly, the LEA Rep. can support the meeting’s process by exercising the use of appropriate communication skills and other strategies for managing and preventing potential conflict during the meeting, while also encouraging appropriate participation, involvement, and input on the part of all IEP Team members, including the parents of the student. The LEA Rep. can also support the important process of consensus-building throughout the meeting in an effort to assist the IEP Team in reaching a general agreement as to what services are appropriate for the student, as well as ensuring that the entire process of the meeting remains focused on the individual educational needs of the student.
Whether it is the school’s Principal or someone else appropriately designated to serve as the LEA Rep. at an IEP meeting, Alabama’s school leaders must ensure that whoever is serving is adequately trained, knowledgeable, and comfortable about it. Too many times, it is evident at IEP meetings that the LEA Rep. is not actively involved in the meeting, primarily because he or she has been placed in the position of serving in a role and taking on responsibilities for which no training has been provided. Not only is it unfair to put someone in this vulnerable position, it can also lead to procedural mistakes and other errors that may likely cause parents to call upon an advocate or an attorney for legal support.
I am honored that my firm has continued to partner with CLAS to provide the LEArn & LEAd training program for LEA Representatives during the 2023-24 school year and that the program continues to be approved for earning a PLU. More information can be found on the CLAS website at https://clasleaders.org/professional-learning/plu-programs/clas-pluacld956. The ALSDE HELP Guide is also very helpful to Alabama’s school administrators and is at https://www.alabamaachieves.org/wpcontent/uploads/2021/04/Help-for-Administrators-2019.pdf
ALSDE HELP Guide, page 35.
