The lies the school tells you at IEP meetings

[Anonymous]

Dear OP and Others.

Please keep us posted on the result of any complaints filed with the state, DOJ or Dept of Education.
Budgets are short and I strongly believe the only way special needs kids - and general education students - will get adequate support is if it costs more to fight and loose multiple claims then it costs to provide services up front.

We are not at the point of fighting the school - not because it is not well deserved - but because we are focusing rather intently on interventions we provide and only have so much bandwidth in any given week.

Good luck. For every parent who files a complaint there are hundreds who should but lack the sophistication.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP who mentioned that admin led our meetings. We have had 2 meetings where the assistant principal led the meeting. Another meeting was led by someone from central office.

I didn't know that was strange. I just assumed it was bc my child was nearing the max number of service hours for mainstream and I was asking for different placement. I don't think they wanted to place my child in another setting despite evidence that we needed it. So, we pulled our child and we are doing great in a SN school! No regrets... except money. :/ But we were really forced to either watch our child fail for another year or pay for private.

So I'm totally sympathetic to the level of frustration OP has with the system. Schools like to put on paper that the child is making progress whether there is any progress or not. They just kick the can down the road... and it's really short-sighted and damaging to the child and family... and ultimately society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember, you never need to sign an IEP at the meeting. If you disagree with it, or need more time to consider it, tell the team that you want to look it over for a while and are not able to sign it at the meeting. Then take it to your consultant, send it to your sister who is a special ed teacher, etc. I've had many parents later ask to make specific changes to an IEP -- add accommodations, question goals or present levels, etc. -- and I am happy to make those changes. A parent should only sign an IEP that he or she agrees with. I always tell parents at the IEP meetings that THEY are the most important members of the IEP team as they know their child best. And by the way, I always lead the meeting (the special ed teacher). Who are the administrators who lead your meetings? I find that strange.

If you don't sign an IEP, the current IEP remains in force.

I'm OP. We must be in different states. Only the initial IEP needs to be signed. After that the institute them without your signagure -- you only sign to show that you came to the meeting.

And we have IEP facilitators who run the meeting. Before that, in elementary school, it was the social worker. The special ed teacher in many ways was a minor player at most of our past IEP meetings.

I'm done accommodating these people's incompetence. I have an advocate at the meetings, and state and federal civil rights complaints in the pipeline. Several parents have come together to file a joint complaint, in fact.

OP, in what state do you reside? IEPs need to be signed by the parents in every state of which I am aware.

[Anonymous]

Sadly in Maryland the only IEP that the parents have to sign is the initial one. Parents and advocates are trying to change this.

[Anonymous]

That is strange. In Virginia, the parents must sign the annual IEPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember, you never need to sign an IEP at the meeting. If you disagree with it, or need more time to consider it, tell the team that you want to look it over for a while and are not able to sign it at the meeting. Then take it to your consultant, send it to your sister who is a special ed teacher, etc. I've had many parents later ask to make specific changes to an IEP -- add accommodations, question goals or present levels, etc. -- and I am happy to make those changes. A parent should only sign an IEP that he or she agrees with. I always tell parents at the IEP meetings that THEY are the most important members of the IEP team as they know their child best. And by the way, I always lead the meeting (the special ed teacher). Who are the administrators who lead your meetings? I find that strange.

If you don't sign an IEP, the current IEP remains in force.

I'm OP. We must be in different states. Only the initial IEP needs to be signed. After that the institute them without your signagure -- you only sign to show that you came to the meeting.

And we have IEP facilitators who run the meeting. Before that, in elementary school, it was the social worker. The special ed teacher in many ways was a minor player at most of our past IEP meetings.

I'm done accommodating these people's incompetence. I have an advocate at the meetings, and state and federal civil rights complaints in the pipeline. Several parents have come together to file a joint complaint, in fact.

OP, in what state do you reside? IEPs need to be signed by the parents in every state of which I am aware.

By federal law only the initial IEP needs a parent signature. Some states require it, but neither DC nor MD do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear OP and Others.

Please keep us posted on the result of any complaints filed with the state, DOJ or Dept of Education.
Budgets are short and I strongly believe the only way special needs kids - and general education students - will get adequate support is if it costs more to fight and loose multiple claims then it costs to provide services up front.

We are not at the point of fighting the school - not because it is not well deserved - but because we are focusing rather intently on interventions we provide and only have so much bandwidth in any given week.

Good luck. For every parent who files a complaint there are hundreds who should but lack the sophistication.

Thanks! I will keep you posted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's all smoke and mirrors and lies. All of it. And no one will ever be held accountable. Get tutors and do as much as you can at home because public education will not accommodate your child, despite the law. There is too much testing and ass covering to deal with children who learn "differently".

- signed a parent who has no faith in any system anymore

that's what we did, at $85 an hour mind you. By that point DS had fallen too far behind so we moved to private this year. And no it's not a walk in the park to pay the tuition but if we don't do it, by the time he's 18 he won't have a chance in hell of having a good, happy and meaningful life. I'm not talking graduating from an Ivy, public university would be fine. Then a job in a field that he's passionate about. I want him to be content, have friends, travel, explore etc. Keeping DS at our public middle school would have doomed him.

Yes, we are the same.we pay $90 an hour for tutoring and sometimes need to have multiple sessions if an essay is due. We are cautiously optimistic about Deal, but are prepared to jump if needed. Are you in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, I just saw that he was in pull-out classes. What was added to ensure his math remediation?

8:12 here. He stayed after school twice a week for 45 minute sessions with his math special ed teacher. The after school session was open for her other students but there were usually only 1-4 students at the sessions. He also had 2 math classes. One class pre-taught the material and then he was taught again in the special ed classroom. He was in a 6 week school sponsored program for 2 summers (between 6th and 7th and then between 7th and 8th).

[Anonymous]

Op- how are you unaware of the PLOP or your sons actual reading level?

And class size has nothing to do with your issue. That is across the system.

I'll say it again- parents beg for inclusion (anything but self contained!!) then are amazed that your students are not having their needs met in a gen edu classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op- how are you unaware of the PLOP or your sons actual reading level?

And class size has nothing to do with your issue. That is across the system.

I'll say it again- parents beg for inclusion (anything but self contained!!) then are amazed that your students are not having their needs met in a gen edu .

It sounds as though OP is aware.of her child's reading level, which is how she recognized the error on the PLOP. She then brought it up at IEP which is the appropriate to bring up errors in an IEP.

By law schools need to provide services in inclusive settings, because research says that is where kids learn best.

[Anonymous]

"Learning," however, means different things to different people. To some, it means passing a state-mandated test. To others, it might mean learning social skills that are essential to the workplace. In my experience, it's easier to teach academic concepts in a small group. However, kids who are pulled out may miss social opportunities. It's a balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Learning," however, means different things to different people. To some, it means passing a state-mandated test. To others, it might mean learning social skills that are essential to the workplace. In my experience, it's easier to teach academic concepts in a small group. However, kids who are pulled out may miss social opportunities. It's a balance.

I am the PP directly above you. I am also a special educator who has taught in inclusive and self contained settings. I agree 100% that self contained is easier for the teacher. Fortunately, I enjoy a challenge, because the law prioritizes what is best for students over what is easy for teachers.

[Anonymous]

For me, it was the lies of omission. Never ever suggesting services that were available, we had to figure it out and bring it up ourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For me, it was the lies of omission. Never ever suggesting services that were available, we had to figure it out and bring it up ourselves.

The other was that once we had a great IEP, it wasn't the end- we still had to monitor to make sure it was being followed correctly.