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I'll preface this with unfortunately, I don't have time to look up the law and department of education guidelines in NC right now, but wanted to respond in general. It's never "too early" to schedule an IEP meeting. It may be too early to schedule the annual meeting, but parents can request an IEP meeting at any time. Yes, it should be in writing. Also, it should not just be a request to the special education teacher (that might be construed as just requesting a "regular" meeting with a teacher). It should be a request to the entire IEP team. If the parent doesn't know the entire team members, copy the principal on the request and ask that the request to forwarded to all IEP team members. I would also advise having her put in the request for a meeting specifics as to why she wants to change the IEP to a less restrictive environment. If she's wanting to make changes to the IEP document, she needs to have data supporting this request - even if the data is just observations of the ABA case manager, etc. However, an evaluation would hold more weight. If it has been more than a year since the last school evaluation, she can request another one because she feels her son has improved. If it hasn't been a year yet, she can request an IEE.

If an IHP is attached to an IEP, you might need the whole IEP team to make changes to it. I hate IHPs. There is no agency to oversee that they are followed. Is there a way to put some of the accommodations in the IHP into the IEP? You could write a parent letter of concern that you didn't get a copy of the IHP to review. You can also mention that your concern is the IHP not being followed since it doesn't seem to be as accessible as the IEP. Sending a PWN with a draft IEP sounds like predetermination...

Also, when a school district says things like "based on the principles for practice guidance provided by the national association of school nurses" and "per other sources," ASK FOR SPECIFICS. Can you send me a link to those guidelines? What other sources?

I'll start with a general answer to your last question. It appears in Minnesota that parents do not have to sign off on any IEP's (with the exception of the initial IEP that begins the special education services). So if that's what you mean by "sign off on the new proposal," the school district can implement the IEP without you "signing off." However, I'm a little confused. You state you received a "draft IEP" and "proposed IEP," but also a PWN. How can there be a PWN if the IEP is only in draft form at this point? Is this for an annual IEP revision? Has a meeting been schedule? If not, you need to request one. You have the right to participate in the drafting of revisions to the IEP before implementation and receive a PWN detailing what you asked for at that meeting that was denied. As far as the IHP, I have included a link below to a website that addresses these in detail. I only did a quick review, but one thing I saw that stood out was that the IHP should be included in the related services section of the IEP because it contains school-related nursing and health services. Since most of the requirements related to IHP's are left to the states, I have also included a link specific to Minnesota law and policies. https://undivided.io/resources/individualized-health-plan-ihp-in-an-iep-1380 https://arcminnesota.org/resource/arc-guide-to-individualized-health-care-plan/