JSD24

No suggestions. With magnet schools like this, the rules vary a lot - often by state. You'd need someone who knows the rules in your area to answer this and you didn't provide any info about where you are (and it might not be info you want to share). I have a feeling they could kick her out if attendance is an issue and there's a waitlist for her seat in this school.

To get a speech to text software program, the 1s step is an AT eval. This is where the school matches your child with the right program/devise. Parent needs to give written permission for this evaluation. The school then has 60 days (this varies by state) to do the eval. After this is put into the IEP, the school has ~10 days to implement what's in the IEP. Yes, the school's IT dept would need to do this and they might need to get a software license & get school board approval to add this to a school ipad. My district has a BYOT policy but many don't. There is a liability issue too as I've seen where these things end up damaged & they are expensive to repair/replace when they get broken. You need to follow their rules on this & it will take a fairly long time.

Yes, to receive special instruction - which is what the class you requested falls under if it is a sp ed class - your child would need to have an IEP (a 504 might also be something that could get your child into this class but it's the school's decision). As far as outside tutoring for dyslexia (not sure if this is what you're looking for) The Scottish Rite provides free services. There are also homeschool programs that cost less than an hour of a sp ed attorney's time. Executive functioning is hard to teach. You end up explicitly teaching each skill - how to organize homework, how to organize time to do homework, how to remember to bring homework to class A, B, C... (prompting for this is a good accommodation), how to bring what's needed home so you have what's needed to do homework - you get the picture with teaching each skill. With an IEP meeting, it's always good to summarize what was gone over & email the summary: During the meeting on 4/8, I had asked how the school would address the executive functioning issues that are causing homework not to be handed in so my child can get credit for work done. Mrs. XX said that the school will not be doing that. ... Please confirm that this is correct. https://adayinourshoes.com/after-iep-meeting/

If they never brought up the topic, why are they saying: “The accommodations that are in place were mutually determined and agreed upon, at the time of our team meeting."? If you had a 504 meeting, the accommodations should apply to all testing including PSSAs. Also with PSSAs, they can read directions & math problems but not a whole lot on the ELA part. Not signing & returning the NOREP puts the IEP into place after 10 days/means you agree to terminate sp ed it that was what the NOREP said. https://adayinourshoes.com/sign-the-iep/ It doesn't hurt your child to 'fail' a PSSA. PA doesn't retain kids who fail in 3rd grade like other states do. There is no reason for her to ever see the grade. Also, under FERPA, you are allowed to clarify what's in your child's records. You can write a note that says XX took PSSAs in 2023 w/o accommodations despite a 504 which provided accommodations - see attached.

I believe the difference is with a POA, the parent still controls the IEP process. With an educational surrogate, the surrogate has full control of the process - the surrogate replaces the parent. I did find one for VA. POA wording tends to be state specific: https://www.dlcv.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Educational-Power-of-Attorney.pdf I do have a POA for education but this was done as part of a more comprehensive POA when they turned 18 so I could advocate. This was written by a lawyer.

It sounds like, in your area, there are magnet schools that a student needs to apply to go to and have a certain GPA to stay & this is where he currently goes. I've been told that an IEP trumps school policy (this is how my child was allowed a water bottle when it was against school rules). So the answer is yes, the IEP could put school X as the placement & then they would need to follow the IEP. What happens after HS graduation? Will your child go to college or a trade school? Does it make sense to transition him now? IMO, if the IEP team refuses to put 'placement at school X' as an accommodation in the IEP, you need to come up with a plan to ease the transition. This would include tours of the school over the summer, meeting school staff before the 1st day, etc. (And keep in mind this could be a fight at every IEP meeting to keep 'placement at school X' in the IEP until he graduates or ages out.)

The school needs to see that an eval is needed. Assessing in all areas of suspected disability is the wording - or close to it. If they don't see a disability, they don't need to assess.

Spelling issues can be due to executive function. There are lots of rules to remember so poor EF can cause a student to forget rules. Can also be due to dyslexia where the sound/letter connections aren't sticking or issues with working memory or processing speed where the capacity isn't there or he's rushing. With your younger son, was a social skills eval like the SSIS done? Was pragmatic language assessed? What happens with a different teacher in 1st grade? Will they accommodate w/o documentation like his current teacher? Can you get the current teacher to list out the accommodations she provides so he can continue to have success at school? (The accommodations could go on a 504.)

Absolutely not. The school needs to provide instruction for students who are opted out. Plus, PSSAs generally take 2-3 hours. Your child could go in late but, under no circumstances, should they miss a full day. Have her take the test w/o accommodations. If she can't answer a question, she can guess. She could make a nice pattern with filling in scantron bubbles if she wants. It sounds like the school spent time going over the PSSA accommodations at the meeting you had. Did you put anything in writing on this? There is a saying in education: if it's not in writing, it didn't happen. You need to document soon after the meeting if you don't agree. IMO, PSSA accommodations should mirror the accommodations given on other tests. Or they could have added accommodations with it being a longer test.

I'd wait. But in the meantime, reach out to people who do IEE evals. Get costs and timelines - expect a wait. Then you are better prepared if the school comes back with OK but keep it under $XXX. You can quickly come back with: I wanted for XX to do the eval and their cost is higher. Of the 3 people I contacted, only one can do it & they don't have a background with XX which is needed to evaluate my child.

It's the school party with holding an IEP meeting so they control who is invited. You want people who know the child, know the disability or know what the school can do for the child so these folks do fit the bill. Yes, it is intimidating sometimes to both parents & school staff.

If you do not sign an annual IEP renewal, the revised IEP goes into effect in 10 days in PA unless you check 'Due Process' on the NOREP. If you are in Due Process with the school district, the old IEP (the one you agreed to a year+ ago) should be followed. Since PSSAs start in 3rd, and last year's IEP was for 2nd (my assumption), the box on the IEP for accommodations wasn't checked. Given this situation, I'd contact the Consult Line (https://odr-pa.org/consultline-contact/) as this puts accommodations into a gray area. (This does sound a bit like retaliation for Due Process rather than doing what is best for your child/their student.) You are right that with a speech only IEP, accommodations would go on a 504. Since parents are not required members of the 504 team, the school can do as they please with making changes to the 504. The 504 should be followed but it's not like it has a check box the the PA IEP has for PSSA accommodations. No reason you can't request a no-meet revision to the 504 and put accommodations for PSSAs on that. (This is what the school would do if they wanted to help your child.) The other thing is that PSSA scores aren't all that meaningful. They are supposed to reflect how good a job the school is doing with teaching your child - not how well your child is doing with learning. Religious opt out is always an option. It's a 3-step process. Templates here for opt out letters: https://parentsunitedphila.com/opt-out/

My school district will not use the term dyslexia in an eval report. Most don't. Neuropsychologists tend to use the terms dyslexia and dyscalculia. You can ask for a neuropsych eval but they are expensive as most school don't have one on their payroll. Do document what this teacher is doing as proof of what your child needs to make progress. IMO, progress is more important than a diagnosis.

I think this looks like discrimination based on a disability. Schools are supposed to support every student so they have assess to what the rest of their classmates have access to. He shouldn't be denied a field trip because the school failed to child find and write up an IEP with the needed supports so the child's misbehavior is accommodated.

For the issues that you requested services to address, did the school do an evaluation? The way IEPs work is the services are based on baseline data. That data comes from the eval report the school prepared. If there is no mention of an issue in the report, it's like the issue doesn't exist. You might need to be requesting an eval for the issues you see so there is baseline data on which to base the services you see are needed. In other words, look at the eval. If you don't see the issues you want addressed mentioned as issues, the eval was not in 'all areas of suspected disability' as required by IDEA. You need more evals if the school didn't assess an area of need. You can ask for an IEE at school expense if they missed an area that should have been assessed. https://adayinourshoes.com/iee-independent-education-evaluation/

As a new teacher, you might need to do as you are told so you can become an 'old', tenured teacher. IMO, the present levels are the present levels no matter if they are at home or at school. Also, attributing a statement to the parent makes it clear that this is the parent's observation but I can see where the unwritten policy at your school is school related info only and that needs to be followed. I've also seen in my own child's IEP that services were being provided without a baseline evaluation ever being done so is was based on teacher observation that the services were needed. They eventually did an eval but that was after the IEP was in place for a year and a half. (The results were worse than I imagined.)

My school district goes over the RR and then transitions into an IEP meeting. It's one big, long meeting - same people needed for both so that's what they do. Look at the Invite. It will probably say that the RR will be reviewed and the IEP updated.

He is owed compensatory educational services given the school's delay in finding him an appropriate placement. I'm not sure what type of school has no aides. My district has close to 200 aides with ~12,000 students. No aides makes no sense. (In my state, you would be involved with the truancy officer. What's funny is they would help you advocate for an appropriate placement.)

Your child is not receiving FAPE which is required. IMO, homebound or cyber school might be appropriate for his placement. Schools in the US are not allowed to ignore the issues that have resulted in his truancy and lack of instruction. I feel a lawyer should be involved given how inept the school seems to be at determining your child's needs and meeting them. I'm not sure if an IEP goal to get a GED is a possibility. His autism and trauma are not being appropriately addressed by the school. Also, the pain he feels is real. The mind/body connection can cause pain to exist when there are emotional issues.

Your volunteer friend may have violated FERPA by telling you that your son eloped from the classroom. I would tread lightly with moving forward. I think you need to write to the teacher & cc the principal as well as the sp ed director/supervisor. Mention your concern for his safety. Reiterate that you feel a 504 plan might be a good interim way to put a plan in place while the school looks at determining if your child qualifies for an IEP. A student needs to have a disability to qualify for either an IEP or a 504 and from what you've written, he may qualify. He is not being adequately supported at school if he's eloping. He needs more than the school currently is providing him.

The "60 days to do an eval" varies by state. I'm in PA and it is 60 calendar days. Most states do no count summer break - not part of the calendar for the purpose of 60 calendar days in PA. Yes, it is confusing and a huge learning curve to climb but we are here to help. Putting things in writing - on paper or via email - creates a paper trail so you can count the days from your request as well as having documentation of the school's response...in case there is a question in the future. Do write your request ASAP so you get the clock ticking. The last page of this has a template for your written request: https://www.elc-pa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/getting-a-special-education-evaluation.pdf This format should work in any state.

My daughter is 2E and stayed for an extra year after she met her graduation requirements. She spent the year on a college campus and took a class per semester. There was a sp ed teacher overseeing this - I think there were 6 in her group doing this. The class & other on-campus services was 3 days per week. The other days, she did a job shadowing program. Her main area of need was social skills. She was measured to be in the ~2nd percentile in 10th grade the one time they evaluated her social skills. It's an IEP team decision about staying until age 21. The program she was in was designed for students with autism but there are lots of other programs out there. You need to have a need for the extra IEP services. Again, it based on if the IEP team feels it's needed.

IQ tests are known to be less accurate if given before the age of 8. What age was your child with these 2 tests? 16 points is one standard deviation. I can see a little variance (5 points) but not this much. Why didn't they do the same test as they did last time?

This is a duplicate posting. Not sure why the same thing was posted twice. Actually this same post is in this forum 3 times.

Everyone in school is spread thin so I think they wanted to to try to get you to be creating less work for the therapists. IDEA does require progress monitoring. In my state, these are done when report cards come out. If you feel you need info more often, you can ask for an IEP meeting & request more frequent progress reports s an accommodation. You'll need to justify why you need this more often than other parents. You can also request parent training so you can better assist your child at home with the speech & OT she gets at school.