Transfered IEP from VA to MD. Please help:

[Anonymous]

Hi - I have a 3-year-old Dd with developmental delays and speech delays. We had an IEP meeting in April of 2010 and she qualified for services in Alexandria, VA. In June we moved to Bethesda, MD, and transferred her IEP to Montgomery County. We had the IEP meeting on July 27th. We received a notice today to call the program to enroll. There was no school assignment in the documents. We live in the Bonnockburn Elementary district (Brookmont neighborhood).

Questions:

1. Who assigns the school? It seems that Ashburn would be the closest to us for the PEP Classic.
2. After reading through this forum on the subject, I see that the closest school isn't necessarily going to be the assignment. Is that common?
3. If we are assigned to Ashburn, anyone have any comments about the program/teachers?

Thanks so much for reading.

[Anonymous]

OP here: Sorry, Ashburton, not Ashburn!

[Anonymous]

They should have discussed program/school placement at your MCPS IEP meeting. Do you have the notes or IEP? It should be listed there. If not, you need to contact your home school ASAP--like Monday--and inquire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should have discussed program/school placement at your MCPS IEP meeting. Do you have the notes or IEP? It should be listed there. If not, you need to contact your home school ASAP--like Monday--and inquire.

They didn't discuss school placement at all, only to say that they would mail me a copy of her IEP and let me know the rest of the details. In the letter I received today:

Please contact the Preschool Education Program office to enroll your child.

I'll call them on Monday morning, but I'm freaking out after reading some of these posts about having accessibility in visiting schools. We had to rush this whole process, so I went in without knowing much. I also assumed it would be much like Alexandria where we'd be assigned to the school closest to us.

I'm now reading that some people hire a consultant to help them navigate the IEP process in this county because it's too intense for parents to do it alone. Is that true or am I misreading?

Thanks so much for responding!

[Anonymous]

Are you sure it was the IEP meeting you had in June? You should have received a program assignment. They may do the school assignment later. Is your child in PEP Classic? Or another special program. They have PEP classic at many schools and the school you are assigned to has a lot to do with bus routes. I am no expert, my child will be walking to our special needs school, so bus route did not come into it.

They should have at least talked about which program your child qualifies for.

We did not use an educational consultant, although I understand some people do. I think the whole process can be confusing for a first timer(which we are).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure it was the IEP meeting you had in June? You should have received a program assignment. They may do the school assignment later. Is your child in PEP Classic? Or another special program. They have PEP classic at many schools and the school you are assigned to has a lot to do with bus routes. I am no expert, my child will be walking to our special needs school, so bus route did not come into it.

They should have at least talked about which program your child qualifies for.

We did not use an educational consultant, although I understand some people do. I think the whole process can be confusing for a first timer(which we are).

Yep, it was the IEP meeting. They explained to me that they were assigning my daughter 4 days a week for 2.5 hours daily. They didn't tell me which school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure it was the IEP meeting you had in June? You should have received a program assignment. They may do the school assignment later. Is your child in PEP Classic? Or another special program. They have PEP classic at many schools and the school you are assigned to has a lot to do with bus routes. I am no expert, my child will be walking to our special needs school, so bus route did not come into it.

They should have at least talked about which program your child qualifies for.

We did not use an educational consultant, although I understand some people do. I think the whole process can be confusing for a first timer(which we are).

P.S. The paperwork they sent today (copy of IEP) does not specifically say "Classic" or "Pilot." I only know it's Classic because of how many hours they assigned her.

[Anonymous]

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/pep/locations.shtm

You should call the office. I think they will probably assign you to closest school. If you live in Ashburton, probably Ashburton, which has a Classic program. You should know very soon, because I think this is when they choose schools after everyone has their IEPs in and they can divide up the students among the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/pep/locations.shtm

You should call the office. I think they will probably assign you to closest school. If you live in Ashburton, probably Ashburton, which has a Classic program. You should know very soon, because I think this is when they choose schools after everyone has their IEPs in and they can divide up the students among the schools.

Thanks very much. I don't live in Ashburton - I live in Brookmont ... I believe Ashburton is the closest school, but I'm not sure. I believed the process was much like Virginia where you're assigned to the closest school. From what I'm reading here, that's not exactly the case. I'll call the office Monday, of course, and sort it out. Meanwhile, was wondering if anyone had any info. on the Ashburton teachers/school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks very much. I don't live in Ashburton - I live in Brookmont ... I believe Ashburton is the closest school, but I'm not sure. I believed the process was much like Virginia where you're assigned to the closest school. From what I'm reading here, that's not exactly the case. I'll call the office Monday, of course, and sort it out. Meanwhile, was wondering if anyone had any info. on the Ashburton teachers/school.

Just to clarify, in FFX, you don't always get the closest school. It depends on what the needs of the child and if the school has space. If the local school has a program but doesn't have space, your child will be sent to a school that has space. In Virginia (and I'm assuming MD but could be wrong), unless specified in the IEP, the location (eg the school) can be changed by the school as long as the parents are notified. Consent is not required to change schools unless the school is specified in the IEP.