School does not have the "unit" my child requires

[Anonymous]

At DD's last IEP meeting, it was determined that she needs more pull out time in the special education environment and she struggles in general education without adult support. We were told that she needs to be in a specialized "bridging unit" for the amount of special education time she requires and that unit is not offered at the school she currently attends, but there are other schools in the district that she would need to switch to in order to access that support. We like the school she attends and would prefer to keep her there, do schools have an obligation to meet IEPs and provide the amount of support that is determined by the team? I was always under the impression that an IEP should be created based on the individual student's need not what the school has resources for but I may be misinterpreting the law.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

They cannot offer her all the services she needs. They are proposing another school. Would you rather accept that she has less than she needs where she is, and the school approve her staying there, or would you rather transfer?

[Anonymous]

If you're asking if every school needs to have all the services and programs that any child might need so that no child ever needs to go to a different school to get services, then the answer is no.

[Anonymous]

I think you are misinterpreting the law. Otherwise every single school would be required to create an ED unit, an autism unit, a profound disabilities unit, and every single other special program in every single school if even one child at that school needed it. They clearly do not have to do this and are allowed to bus children to different service locations that have these programs.

[Anonymous]

They are not obligated to meet her defined needs at the specific school.

[Anonymous]

Do you like the school without the bridging unit, or do you like the bridging unit?

[Anonymous]

This is very common. All schools have "general" special education teachers who serve students who spend most of their time in gen ed (called resource teachers, cross-category, mild/mod depending on the district) or do not have more specialized or intensive needs. Then, there are programs focused on specific needs that are located in different schools. You are right that schools are obligated to write IEPs based on the students needs and not the school's resources. This is what your team has done. And based on the child-focused, need-driven IEP that was not limited by your home school's resources, your child's IEP will be implemented at a different school that has the programming/resources to implement it.

[Anonymous]

The LEA/school district has the obligation to implement the IEP, not any particular school. The LEA is free to assign a different school as the location of service.

[Anonymous]

The school identified a gap and offered a solution within the County. You can accept the services or not. If you choose to stay at the current school, you will not receive the additional services because they are not available at that location. You can supplement at home or through tutoring on your own dime.

Many people want to have the option to move for additional services. They actively fight for that access because it is limited and they know it is what their child needs.