504 meeting - requesting specific teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For my kid's last 504 meeting (HS) they included his PE teacher. Nice woman, but really had no insight to his dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, etc. We asked for core teacher input before we signed.

This is exactly how schools hide data - teachers who do not know your student and/or who do not have any knowledge in the area of disability are selected for the meeting to fulfill the letter but evade the purpose of the law.

The purpose of the presence of relevant teachers at the meeting is to assess the classroom or educational impact of the disability. A PE teacher cannot assess whether diagnosed dyslexia is a substantial limitation (504 standard) or has an adverse impact on education (IEP standard). If the family cannot prove limitation or adverse impact, even though the student is diagnosed, the student cannot be determined eligible for services.

This doesn't sound like an eligibility meeting.

[Anonymous]

I always feel bad for those PE teachers being dragged into these meetings where they really have no value to add and are bored, bored, bored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Describe the desired qualities not the desired person.

Also, you can't say who you do want but you can say who you don’t want and why. Again, make it about desired qualities and that the person you want to avoid is “not a good” fit.

I misread and thought you were describing asking for daily teacher for your child.

You are asking for someone to participate on the 504 meeting. By law, under IDEA, you are a full and equal member of the IEP team - I know you are asking about 504, which is guided by federal law, but many states use some of the similar principles to guide parent participation. Being a full and equal member of the team means having the right to invite whomever you want to the meeting. You should ask in writing and by name for any teacher or administrator you want to participate in the meeting and explain how you think their knowledge will contribute to a better understanding of your child & situation.

If that person does not attend, ask why they are not present. You may be able to get what you want by alternate means (following up with the teacher by email to get her view on the record). “Can’t find coverage” is a choice by the school not a reason - worst case scenario a principal or other administration can cover for 1/2 hour to have some participation. You want to document that failure to provide the teacher’s participation should the meeting outcome go wrong. You can do this by polite email or clear statement during the (recorded) meeting.

Schools have a ChildFind (even in the IEP process) obligation and that means examining all relevant data about a child.

You can put it the request, but there is no obligation for the school to follow through. There are a whole host of reasons why a teacher cannot attend a 504/IEP meeting that does not concern you.

No, sorry, attending special ed meetings is part of a teacher’s professional responsibility. While it may be true that on any given day there is a legitimate reason why a teacher might not be able to perform her professional tasks - sick, on leave, scheduled coverage fell through, unique class activity, etc. & the prent doesn’t have a right to know why - the meeting should be scheduled or rescheduled to allow the requested teacher to attend. A teacher who regularly refuses to attend special ed meetings is discriminating against disabled students by refusing to fulfill her professional responsibilities to that segment of the population. A school system which refuses to provide classroom coverage to facilitate teacher attendance under any circumstances is not fulfilling the Child Find duty to gather data and evaluate in all areas.

I am guessing this is middle or high school level. An IEP or 504 team at this level is required to include 1 general education teacher. The school system can spread the meetings among multiple staff members, and most high schools have a system in place to ensure that the responsibility to attend meetings is equitably distributed. A teacher who isn't the one assigned to a specific meeting, and who doesn't have coverage, isn't "failing to fulfill professional responsibilities".

That doesn't mean that OP can't ask to have a specific teacher in attendance. Most teams will try to accommodate that request, but they aren't required to.

+1 I'm a HS teacher, and many parents request the gen ed participant to be a math or english teacher as those are the subjects where the deficits tend to be the most common. It would be unfair for those teachers to be the only ones ever pulled for IEP/504 meetings.