Experience going from DC Charter to DCPS with IEP?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have experience going from a charter school to a DCPS school for a child with an IEP? Do we just lottery into a DCPS and they follow the IEP already established? Is there a process to find out what DCPS school would be offered to us, similar to when first getting an IEP via Early Stages?

I have found some posts on the forum about going the other direction (DCPS to charter), but not making the move from a charter to DCPS.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I'm a special ed lawyer who frequently has clients making this move. If your IEP has less than 20 hours, they'll implement it pretty much as written. Whenever your annual review is scheduled, they might propose changes then, but they are too understaffed to do evaluations in the first 30 days and rewrite it.

More than 20 hours they will want to put you in a self contained classroom and then it's more complicated.

[Anonymous]

If you provide a list of specific DCPS schools you are looking to lottery for, either here or in the DC public school forum, you can get feedback from parents who have worked with their sped services. It can vary from school to school, even though in theory all the schools are following the same policies. But personnel make a big difference, especially the principal.

[Anonymous]

They'll do a 30 day review after you get there.

My DCPS spouse says the charter IEP goals are always terrible and she has to rewrite them all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you provide a list of specific DCPS schools you are looking to lottery for, either here or in the DC public school forum, you can get feedback from parents who have worked with their sped services. It can vary from school to school, even though in theory all the schools are following the same policies. But personnel make a big difference, especially the principal.

This is an interesting perspective. I have always found that the principal had very little to do with my kid's day to day experiences. Both my kid w and IEP and the ones without.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a special ed lawyer who frequently has clients making this move. If your IEP has less than 20 hours, they'll implement it pretty much as written. Whenever your annual review is scheduled, they might propose changes then, but they are too understaffed to do evaluations in the first 30 days and rewrite it.

More than 20 hours they will want to put you in a self contained classroom and then it's more complicated.

Appreciate the response! He currently has 19 hours on his IEP (mostly push in rather than outside general education), but we know is also getting a lot of additional support that is not being captured and that he is spending a lot of time outside his classroom (mix of elopement and needing breaks to regulate). I am not sure if DCPS would recommend self-contained, and if we would even want that? But we also seem to be pushing up against the limits of what his charter is able to provide with an inclusion model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a special ed lawyer who frequently has clients making this move. If your IEP has less than 20 hours, they'll implement it pretty much as written. Whenever your annual review is scheduled, they might propose changes then, but they are too understaffed to do evaluations in the first 30 days and rewrite it.

More than 20 hours they will want to put you in a self contained classroom and then it's more complicated.

Appreciate the response! He currently has 19 hours on his IEP (mostly push in rather than outside general education), but we know is also getting a lot of additional support that is not being captured and that he is spending a lot of time outside his classroom (mix of elopement and needing breaks to regulate). I am not sure if DCPS would recommend self-contained, and if we would even want that? But we also seem to be pushing up against the limits of what his charter is able to provide with an inclusion model.

If DCPS pushes self contained, you will lose the ability to choose which school.

I of course don't know your son or his needs, but I would vastly prefer to push the charter school to refer for a nonpublic over a DCPS self contained classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a special ed lawyer who frequently has clients making this move. If your IEP has less than 20 hours, they'll implement it pretty much as written. Whenever your annual review is scheduled, they might propose changes then, but they are too understaffed to do evaluations in the first 30 days and rewrite it.

More than 20 hours they will want to put you in a self contained classroom and then it's more complicated.

Appreciate the response! He currently has 19 hours on his IEP (mostly push in rather than outside general education), but we know is also getting a lot of additional support that is not being captured and that he is spending a lot of time outside his classroom (mix of elopement and needing breaks to regulate). I am not sure if DCPS would recommend self-contained, and if we would even want that? But we also seem to be pushing up against the limits of what his charter is able to provide with an inclusion model.

If DCPS pushes self contained, you will lose the ability to choose which school.

I of course don't know your son or his needs, but I would vastly prefer to push the charter school to refer for a nonpublic over a DCPS self contained classroom.

We have also thought about this route. It is so hard to know the right choice. We don't want to leave him struggling in hopes of a nonpublic placement, but also we could move him to new school that is no better or even worse. He has a complex mix of learning and behavioral needs so finding the right place is hard (maybe an argument for nonpublic...).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a special ed lawyer who frequently has clients making this move. If your IEP has less than 20 hours, they'll implement it pretty much as written. Whenever your annual review is scheduled, they might propose changes then, but they are too understaffed to do evaluations in the first 30 days and rewrite it.

More than 20 hours they will want to put you in a self contained classroom and then it's more complicated.

Appreciate the response! He currently has 19 hours on his IEP (mostly push in rather than outside general education), but we know is also getting a lot of additional support that is not being captured and that he is spending a lot of time outside his classroom (mix of elopement and needing breaks to regulate). I am not sure if DCPS would recommend self-contained, and if we would even want that? But we also seem to be pushing up against the limits of what his charter is able to provide with an inclusion model.

If DCPS pushes self contained, you will lose the ability to choose which school.

I of course don't know your son or his needs, but I would vastly prefer to push the charter school to refer for a nonpublic over a DCPS self contained classroom.

We have also thought about this route. It is so hard to know the right choice. We don't want to leave him struggling in hopes of a nonpublic placement, but also we could move him to new school that is no better or even worse. He has a complex mix of learning and behavioral needs so finding the right place is hard (maybe an argument for nonpublic...).

Your chances of getting a nonpublic without due process is much higher at a charter than dcps, so think about this carefully before you switch schools.