Form question

[pipsqueak]

In ds's school bag today was a form titled

[school district] Special Education Division
Notice of Individualized Family Service Plan or Individualized Education Program Team Meeting.
First Notification

It then lists the student's name, student number, and DOB, parents names and the date of notice.  The notice is dated March 1, 2018.

It then gives the date and time of the meeting (April 12 at noon) and the location.

Then it goes on to list who has been invited by the achsch district.  In this case it says: Gen Ed teacher, SpEd teacher, LEA, I of R, and appropriate therapists for ds.

At the bottom is has a section for us to respond: will attend, prefer a telephone condconfer, request to reschedule and then sign and date.

This form was received on April 11, 2018.  Isn't there a deadline for delivery of this notice?  Does contact by email/in person (not documented on the form even though there is space) count?

What does "I of R" mean (role of one of the attendees)

[pipsqueak]

I sent a picture of the form to a classmate who used to work in the school district and asked her what I of R was and she had to ask another friend and here is her response "This is what my psychologist friend sent me back and then went on to say that she has never seen that on a form either and we should not expect parents to know who that is! She has been in the district a long time...shame on them for sending it home like that.
"I would say they put that on the form to indicate Interpreter of Results, required for an IEP team but I've never seen it included as a separate role and no one signs as that role for an MDT.""

[freezorburn]

I'm just underwhelmed by the service you have been receiving from your school district.

[waverly]

Our school is supposed to give us 10 days notice. They would mail and send home. If we scheduled prior to the 10 days than I had to sign that I waived the 10 day notice.

No idea in the I and R part.

[pipsqueak]

Apr 11, 2018 19:05:43 GMT -5 waverly said:

Our school is supposed to give us 10 days notice. They would mail and send home. If we scheduled prior to the 10 days than I had to sign that I waived the 10 day notice.

No idea in the I and R part.

I think I kind of expected the form would have either been sent home sooner or with a notation that the meeting was confirmed by email or by face to face conversation on whatever date we had talked about it briefly during drop off at the end of March - beginning of April.

freezorburn, yeah, how much more can they not do correctly in the remaining 27 days of school?

[funchicken]

I'm just starting to learn the process, but most of the time I receive notification in the mail. At our initial Child Study meeting, we set the date for the eligibility meeting, so I've known when that was for two months. As it happens our meeting is next week, and I hadn't received a time yet, but I emailed the Special Education Coordinator, and she let me know when it was. I'm sorry you're getting poor communication from your school.

[auntie]

You are supposed to get a 10 Day Notification. As a parent, you can waive the 10 Day requirement if you reopen the IEP but they can not. If there has been additional testing, you should have gotten that information days ago.

That said, in the interest of collaboration, I would attend if DH and I could but make known that you are unhappy you were not informed within the usual timeframe. Going forward to next year, reach out to the head of the CSE/CST about a month before the IEP expires to touch base.

[pipsqueak]

We attended the IEP meeting today. Actually went better than I hoped - possibly because for dh and I, doing the IEP today is just in case we decide to go with the local public school option - which at this time is unlikely.

Summer school will be the school district's last chance to convince us that we should continue allowing the local school district to provide ds's education.

I feel like dh and I are the prime contractor in the project of ds's education. We sub-contracted out the work of educating ds to the local school district and they destroyed our trust in them and provided poor service and now it's time to renew the contract and dh and I aren't so sure we're willing to do that.

[pipsqueak]

Then, of course, my brain went to wondering - who signed off as the general Ed teacher? The meeting was attended by a supervisor (placement advisor?) from the school district, the principal, the SLP, the OT, and the PreK teacher (aka SpEd teacher). The PT and I covered the PT portion of the IEP by email (mutually agreed upon due to PT schedule conflict).

I think, IF we decide to send Pip to school in August, I'm requesting an IEP meeting with the kindergarten school at the end of summer school.

[auntie]

Apr 14, 2018 11:41:20 GMT -5 pipsqueak said:

Then, of course, my brain went to wondering - who signed off as the general Ed teacher? The meeting was attended by a supervisor* (placement advisor?) from the school district, the principal*, the SLP, the OT, and the PreK teacher (aka SpEd teacher). The PT and I covered the PT portion of the IEP by email (mutually agreed upon due to PT schedule conflict).


The * individuals might be able to sign off as a gen ed teacher assuming they are certified by the state as such for his "grade level". The Child Study Team Leader role at DS's elementary was filled by a gen ed teacher. She was generally pretty good at coming up with ways in which kids with special needs could access and be supported in the mainstream. IME, mainstream inclusion and accommodations are something most districts do pretty well at in the k-2nd primary years. 

I think, IF we decide to send Pip to school in August, I'm requesting an IEP meeting with the kindergarten school at the end of summer school.

We always had an IEP at the very end of the year which meant DS's gen ed representative in elementary would be his teacher for the next year. For a younger child, it makes sense to revisit details/placement ahead of the transition even if it isn't a full scale IEP meeting. 

[pipsqueak]

Apr 15, 2018 8:04:54 GMT -5 auntie said:

Apr 14, 2018 11:41:20 GMT -5 pipsqueak said:

Then, of course, my brain went to wondering - who signed off as the general Ed teacher? The meeting was attended by a supervisor* (placement advisor?) from the school district, the principal*, the SLP, the OT, and the PreK teacher (aka SpEd teacher). The PT and I covered the PT portion of the IEP by email (mutually agreed upon due to PT schedule conflict).


The * individuals might be able to sign off as a gen ed teacher assuming they are certified by the state as such for his "grade level". The Child Study Team Leader role at DS's elementary was filled by a gen ed teacher. She was generally pretty good at coming up with ways in which kids with special needs could access and be supported in the mainstream. IME, mainstream inclusion and accommodations are something most districts do pretty well at in the k-2nd primary years. 

I think, IF we decide to send Pip to school in August, I'm requesting an IEP meeting with the kindergarten school at the end of summer school.

We always had an IEP at the very end of the year which meant DS's gen ed representative in elementary would be his teacher for the next year. For a younger child, it makes sense to revisit details/placement ahead of the transition even if it isn't a full scale IEP meeting. 

Almost to the end of the IEP meeting, the "supervisor" person asked about Pip's ability to eat with utensils and carry an empty/full tray at lunchtime. None of the team, including us (parents), had thought about the difference in the school day schedule - full day (9-4)for kindergarten vs 3 hours (845-1145) for PreK and the accommodations and modifications he would need as a result - like lunch. It just makes me wonder if there are any other differences that a kindergarten classroom teacher would have brought up that weren't brought up for discussion for not having a kindergarten classroom teacher present.

[auntie]

pipsqueak,

Can you observe the day in kindie?

[funchicken]

My middle DD was in half-day kindergarten last year, and the addition of lunch and specials are the biggest differences between last year and this year. And one thing that my kids didn't do much of in preschool but do a ton of in kindergarten is cutting. They are constantly cutting and gluing things. DD1 (4th grade) had a fine motor delay, and all of the cutting was hard for her.

Would you be able to schedule a time to meet with one of the kindergarten teachers at your school and have your son screened by her/him? That would give you a chance to meet a kindergarten teacher from the school your son would be attending and ask any questions that you might have. At our school, when you register your child for kindergarten, you schedule an appointment for a screening and meet with a couple of teachers from the kindergarten staff.

[pipsqueak]

auntie, I might find out if I can observe a little of the classes (both ACP and regular classes) after I get a copy of the working draft of the IEP. I feel like going in without a copy of the Kindergarten IEP would not be helpful.

I let them know, in no uncertain terms, that they will provide me a copy of the working draft within 5 school days and then a final copy as soon as it is available. District has a history of not providing the parents with copies of the IEP, claiming that the draft copy handed out at the beginning of the meeting that the IEP was written from is sufficient. We finally received the final copy of the 2/14/18 IEP in late March, but only after dh called district administration for a copy.

[pipsqueak]

As an update of sorts to this thread. We received the final copy of the IEP the last week of school in late May. Included in the copy was a "prior written notice for change of placement" dated March 12, 2018. The copy included in the IEP was the first dh or I had ever seen of the form. (I was out of town for the end of May beginning of June so just addressing now)

We have contacted special education supervision to request a new IEP meeting be scheduled. We spoke with one of the supervisors on the phone today. She started asking questions - did we discuss X, Y, or Z during the PLAAFP (No, what is in the IEP was read and that is pretty much the extent of what was covered) and similar questions. She was caught off guard that we don't even know why they're only giving Pip maybe 1.5 hours of a 7 hour school day with general education peers. When I pointed out the procedural violations she was less than happy sounding. (About the violations not me pointing them out)

She said she is going to round up the necessary people and schedule a new IEP meeting for the teacher work days leading up to the first day of school.

For the first time since the 2017-2018 school year began, I am feeling hopeful that we can work with the local school for the 2018-2019 school year. I'm not changing my plan for homeschooling until after the IEP meeting though - but I will go into the meeting with an open mind to consider what is best for Pip.