Nacho

After hunting around a bunch yesterday, I discovered that 300.347 was axed in the last reauthorization 20 years ago, but the same-ish wording is in the one that replaced it, 300.320 (a)(3)(ii), (ii) When periodic reports on the progress the child is making toward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issuance of report cards) will be provided; And I live in the state of Vermont, which has: SBE Rule 2363.7(b) Measurable annual goals related to the child's present levels of academic and functional performance which shall: (4) Be accompanied by a method of reporting the child's progress to the parents at least as often as other parents in the school receive progress reports. So at least in my state, yes, they are required to report a child’s progress on their IEP goals at the same time as other parents of non-disabled kids get report cards. I’m writing a state complaint to address this, because the SPED director for our entire district was at our annual meeting to create this IEP. She just confirmed via email that the first progress report isn’t until June. She seems unaware that progress reports for IEPs are supposed to go out at the same time as regular report cards. It is literally her job to know these rules! This means our entire district could have non-compliant IEPs when it comes to progress reporting requirements. Sigh.

My kid’s IEP was developed in January/February. The progress reports section says the first one will be provided to us in June. However, our district sends out report cards for all students at the end of March — so doesn’t that mean we should get an iep progress report at the same time as other parents get regular report cards? When I went to look it up, I found language like this: “Be regularly informed (by such means as periodic report cards), as specified in their child’s IEP, at least as often as parents are informed of their nondisabled children’s progress, of their child’s progress toward the annual goals in the IEP and the extent to which that progress is sufficient to enable the child to achieve the goals by the end of the year (Sec. 300.347(a)(7))” But 300.347 doesn’t appear to exist anymore. Did that language get moved to a different section? Thanks!

I requested my child’s records. I was given what I know is only a fraction of what exists, even though the list I sent of what types of records I wanted was pretty comprehensive. One of the things that wasn’t provided was service logs. I asked where they were, and the principal said that none of their providers keep service logs for any of the children in the school, not just my child. This is a title I school with a large percentage of kids having IEPS/receiving services/billing Medicaid. It’s my understanding that providers have to keep track of services provided so there is a record of if/when a child receives the service minutes that are outlined in their IEP. My child told me that one entire week they didn’t receive their reading/writing intervention minutes, because the time instead was spent 1:1 with the interventionist administering a school-wide assessment to them, not the reading/writing SDI. The interventionist says my child received all of their service minutes that week, but provided no data to back it up. What can I do to address this? If they really don’t keep service logs, is this a complaint I should send somewhere? Do I ask again but with different words? Is there a specific piece of statute/case law that addresses this?

TL:DR — My son’s behavior is impeding his education and the LEA denied an FBA. What now? The school denied my request for an FBA this spring and they plan on denying the one I asked for in writing last week/in person last night. This is an example of the circles we went in: “Heather, it's (LEA). My understanding, like (child’s SPED case manager) said, is after talking with (SPED district director), because I asked for clarification around what an FBA entails too, is that it really is determining the function of the behavior, and if test avoidance is the function and the concern, then an FBA really wouldn't be helpful. So I think, and even according to the team, I think our what we're thinking is denying the FBA and then encouraging the new BCBA to do some observations that actually might be more useful.” I explained that refusal is a symptom of a problem, just like a fever is a symptom of a problem — and that neither of those is the root cause of the problem. My son is refusing to do assessments, and is refusing to go to school if there will be assessments. For context, my son has missed 4 days/36% of the school year so far due to his school refusal. I haven’t counted the days he missed due to school refusal in the spring (when I last requested an FBA for the same school refusal), but it was a lot. I’m open to the possibility that I’m completely misunderstanding what an FBA is for. After all, how can everyone from the district SPED director, my son’s SPED case manager, and the Principal acting as LEA be wrong in their interpretation of what an FBA is for? Any advice appreciate on how to get my kid an FBA, get the district to understand what an FBA is for, etc. - Do I just jump straight to due process and let the state explain FBAs to the school? - Do I ask for a manifestation determination first? (My child’s eligibility categories are autistic and dyslexic) - Do I file an administrative complaint first?