Crowd-sourcing help with DCPS terminating IEP services
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Anonymous
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We just had an IEP meeting to discuss triennial evaluation, and DCPS unilaterally terminated services effective immediately. The evaluation was done by the school SLP who gave themselves an A+ and recommended that my child go from 120 min/month to 0 starting Monday. Our arguments about the validity of the evaluation were dismissed as well as plenty of evidence as to why speech should continue, and we were told to go ahead and pay for our own evaluation. No option for IEE at public cost. We invoked our right to stay put until the dispute is resolved but were told we have no such right. We were also told parents are not equal members of the team.
Aside from hire an attorney (recommendations are welcome), any advice on how to proceed with the school on Monday? Do we ask for PWN first thing Monday morning? Do we even try mediation or go straight to due process hearing? |
Anonymous
| Why was it terminated, and why do you feel it's still needed? Instead of hiring a lawyer to fight DCPS, wouldn't it be money better spent on private speech therapy for your child? |
Anonymous
| They are right that you can't just invoke stay put by saying so. It's a right that attaches to filing for due process. Which it sounds like you should. |
Anonymous
| OP here-- the school evaluation found my child ineligible for speech therapy since in their view my child has met all the IEP goals, which is complete BS. There is plenty of evidence that my child still presents with articulation errors and they impact the ability to communicate effectively in the classroom. The school IEP claims that my child has made a tremendous progress in 4 months' time (at that time there was yet another push to reduce services but I successfully fought back) and no longer needs support in the classroom to self-correct, so from 120 min/month to 0. I asked for 60 min/month in-class observation/debrief by the SLP to help with the transition but they terminated because parents' input is not considered in the evaluation as they are not part of the team in DC. The school was very selective in their data and testimonials. Kangaroo court at its best. |
Anonymous
I don’t know who is telling you parents aren’t part of the IEP team, but they are wrong. Federal law (IDEA) states that parents are members of the IEP team, and must be invited to meetings and allowed to participate. Parents also have the right to ask others (family members, babysitters, tutors private therapists, etc.) to participate and the IEP team must allow it. Finally, even DC OSSE, “This document will be created by your child’s IEP team. As a parent, you are an equal member of this team.” https://osse.dc.gov/page/special-education-resource-hub-what-families-students-need-know-3 Did you tape the IEP meeting? Do you have it in writing that you were told you are not a team member? Forward by email whatever proof you have and/or restate what you have been told. Send it to the principal with a copy to someone outside the building, asking that the staffer(s) saying parents are not team members can receive processional training on their legal obligations in the IEP process and that meeting can be reconvened so you can participate as an equal team member. Bring more people and data to the meeting and make sure that you state clearly what you’re asking for - cut in services w/ goal of transition? assessment of meeting goals via some kind of evaluation? No end to the IEP because you disagree that goals have been met? If school is saying goals have been met, you have the right to see the underlying data that indicates that - what data did school collect to show that? |
Anonymous
| Email the director of special education and your school board member. Include the facts. |
Anonymous
| Nigel Atwell is a great lawyer. |
Anonymous
| Yes, I do have a recording of the whole meeting. The principal also said that they can consider only school data, not home data, which is the only type of data we have access to as parents. There were several very problematic opinions presented as "that's how things are done here" voiced at the meeting. So, since IEP services for my kid were terminated effective immediately on Friday, what grounds do I use to reconvene the meeting? |
Anonymous
| Spend the money on private vs. an attorney. Most schools don't help with just articulation. |
Anonymous
| Was speech the only service your child qualified for? I have not found school speech therapy enough to move the needle on articulation issues. I would spend the money on more intensive speech therapy for a few months. You are far more likely to end up with the result that you want - a child without a speech issue - than fighting the school on this. |
Anonymous
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I was in a similar situation.
Send an email with your meeting notes and a recording of the meeting that you are disagreeing to the decision to eliminate services that occurred as a part of the AED meeting. You believe at this point in time that as a part of the triennial, your child needs to be evaluated in all areas of suspected disability and that a speech is an evaluation that needs to be done as a part of the triennial. Did they tell you it was triennial AED? If yes, send an email to the Principal stating that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss what testing needed to be done - you did not receive a draft IEP ahead of time and as such you are disagreeing with the changes to the IEP. (This is procedural but you can at least drag it out until you get a lawyer). Read procedural safeguards and quote them in your email. https://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/publication/attachments/Part%20B%20Procedural%20Safeguards%20Update_%20August%202018-ENG.pdf I have used this line in my emails: We do not believe that this is what OSSE envisioned when they stated that “… as a parent, you are an equal member of this team”. https://osse.dc.gov/page/special-education-resource-hub-what-families-students-need-know-3 |
Anonymous
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For a lawyer, I would reach out to Kimberly Glassman
https://bkgpc.com/kimberly-glassman/ |
Anonymous
Presenting with articulation errors in the classroom is not enough to need or qualify for school speech therapy. There also has to be a need for specialized instruction, i.e. an SLP. "Support in the classroom to self-correct" is not speech therapy. That is not specialized instruction. Anybody can remind them to pay attention to their sound production and monitor themselves--it's not inability to produce the sounds, it's inattention to them at this point (which is totally normal). They have been taught how to make the sounds and know how to do so, they just aren't consistently monitoring themselves for 100% conversational accuracy yet. Continued specialized instruction and observation from an SLP is not needed for that. Honestly, it sounds like the school said stupid things in the meeting but that their ultimate conclusion was probably correct. Artic is a squishy area and students often stop qualifying before parents think they should because it's not "perfect." Perfect is not the goal or the requirement. Perfect=private speech. |
Anonymous
| It's not only presenting with articulation errors that is the issue here; it's actually impacting my child's ability to access education. They had to give in-class presentations twice this year and both times we practiced extensively at home at ease public speaking anxiety. Both presentations ended up very frustrating with my child reporting that the other students didn't understand them and didn't ask questions, and the second time the substitute teacher didn't understand that my child was only 1/3 into the presentation and told them to sit down. So, it's discouraging to hear stories like that at pick-up and DCPS making up data to terminate services and refusing to consider parental input. |
Anonymous
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