EmilyM

This is to determine eligibility for evaluation. I'm just the gen ed teacher so I'm not sure what categories they'll be looking at. It was basically Mom saying "Kid has bad grades, we have some personal worries about ability, can we look into getting evaluated?" The school is not through a district but through the state. Parents picked it because their work schedules interfere with drop-off/pick-up for neighborhood school.

I have a student with an evaluation meeting coming up. I am somewhat worried that the team might decide, however, that this kid simply has not had enough access to education to not rule out that factor. It's an online school chosen by the parents. However, both parents work and the kid is meeting the bare minimum for attending classes and schoolwork. And I mean the barest minimum and they are somewhat in the trouble zone with the school and state for not doing more. So, yeah, I am worried this meeting might turn into "but Kid also hasn't been regularly practicing such-n-such or attending these required classes." How would the law looking at an IEP approach how much schoolwork a student did?

He's said texting is the best way, but admits he doesn't always check. I'll see if he does have help.

I want to hear this from the advocacy and legal side of the matter. I'm just a teacher. One of my students has a parent who is autistic himself and is affected to the point he can't work, so this puts me in the position of wanting to help extra (not to be patronizing, just saying, I get it, guy probably needs all the reminders he can get). Anyway, he almost always is significantly late to IEP meetings if doesn't forget them altogether. To top it off, this is an online school. We send reminders on all forms. We call and text before the meeting and when it is starting. It doesn't always help. The meeting this week, we closed out the Zoom room after so long. About 15 minutes later, Dad texts me to let me know he was ready to enter the room. I let the rest of the team know, but we were all in the same position: we had moved on to other things on our schedules and no one was available and we'd have to reschedule. Dad was understanding but I think also frustrated, which is understandable. Did we do wrong? Does the law say anything about being late for meetings and ways to accommodate that? Should we be booking longer timeslots to accommodate Dad forgetting about the meeting until late into it? Any other clever hacks for reminders?

Speaking from my state, no. If he's not required to be in kindergarten, there shouldn't be a DCFS case for educational neglect. This should be nothing more than farewell and good luck.

Eh... I don't know if that'll prove anything. Virtual schools have as default parents providing 1:1 support.

I'm a teacher for a virtual school, and I have two kids getting evaluated for spectrum education. I'm fairly confident IEPs will be put in place for both, not to count chickens early. However, it's virtual school with no in-person option. Based on interactions so far, I think some regular parent training on how to work with their kids beyond the standard school training might be in order. But I'm not sure what that would look like. Any ideas or resources.

I don't know if it's a real strategy, per day, but firmness. I have really had to dig in my own heels.

This is going to depend largely on state law and how that's written. Does law specify how many hours/days for subjects? If the state doesn't teach it more than your grandson needs, likely the IEP solution will be extra minutes of reading for him outside of class.

I agree with getting more specific wording on what the check-in means. Google Classroom and the like are quite common now, does the school use such a system? This could be as easy as reinforcement of an already existing district tool. Immediate notification, if you're meaning that literally, of something not turned in might be an unreasonable expectation, though. I don't know many teachers that could realistically have the time to do that right then and there. Could you get a day or two for a homework extension to give reasonable time for the teachers to notify you and your son of the missing work with time to complete it?

I think it would be worth trying for at an IEP meeting. She might want to start gathering data proving FAPE is best met at School B so even if the IEP isn't properly recommending School B at this time there will be a good argument to make it so. Getting transportation in the IEP is also a good idea because if I'm understanding this correctly she will be in the same situation come next year/whenever the school is rebuilt and the bus program ends.

In the US, all charter schools are public, so FAPE and all ought to apply.

Is there any alternatives to this class she can take to fulfill the same general learning? I ask because in my area credit recovery is outside the typical school day (I'm was a similar situation here as it's summer) and that is likely going to be difficult to staff for in-person. I agree with sharing the evidence of how in-person learning would improve the situation. Be prepared to address what went wrong the first time with in-person learning in the classroom. It might also help to do a little digging: is anyone else offering in-person credit recovery, like a private school or another district?

Is dyslexia the only issue of concern? I don't think NY recognizes it. But obviously that's no reason to ban your child from school.

I believe "school of choice" is not an official term, either, so yeah, it's up to local rules. In my state, it simply means a non-district school that you choose to attend and adhere to said rules and policies.