For your MCPS child with disabilities, how well is your school implementing IEP / 504?

[Anonymous]

I’m always amazed at how much time MCPS puts into writing an IEP or 504 plan, then the time to meet periodically and annually, only to have students discriminated against when their IEPs / 504 plans are not implemented.

[Anonymous]

My child did not receive any accommodations or services during online learning. Now that school is back in person, he receives some accommodations (not all) and he is not receiving the required special education services. Then there was the discussion of compensatory services - no teacher reports or data to explain how the school was calculating the number of hours offered. There was no consideration of the severe decline in my child’s abilities to meet where he is now and what it will take to get him back to where he would be had accommodations and services been provided.

MCPS is greatly broken and is blatantly ignoring the needs of students with disabilities. Promises for compensatory services were made initially at the beginning of the pandemic. Now those promises have been forgotten despite the extra funding MCPS received to address the regression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Students with disabilities were denied access to the curriculum during online learning because MCPS was quick to restrict accommodations and services. Now that school is in person, is your child receiving the accommodations and services formalized on an IEP or 504 plan?

I think this is their top priority. They spend something like 6X more on these students than anyone else and although they aren't perfect, if you don't have a 504/IEP you can expect to be ignored completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m always amazed at how much time MCPS puts into writing an IEP or 504 plan, then the time to meet periodically and annually, only to have students discriminated against when their IEPs / 504 plans are not implemented.

+ here. DC has an IEP and is in MCPS middle school. Unlike others who post here and in the Special Needs Forum, MCPS did not fight eligibility because we are fortunate to have the means to have had a private neuropsychological done at age 5. On paper, his IEP is great. Lots of time by MCPS and us writing the IEP, modifying the IEP, meeting several times each year in person, then virtually, now back to in person. No point in talking about the horror that was virtual school -- skip to the present day in-person. Is the IEP implemented? The easy to implement parts are, most of the time. But anything in the gen ed classes that requires foresight and planning -- as simple as keeping a stack of lined paper at hand when the work requires handwriting -- no until we see the illegible work product that he brings home and we helicopter in. And the special education paras pushed in to the gen ed classes focus much of the time on disruptive behavior -- by other kids, not DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Students with disabilities were denied access to the curriculum during online learning because MCPS was quick to restrict accommodations and services. Now that school is in person, is your child receiving the accommodations and services formalized on an IEP or 504 plan?

I think this is their top priority. They spend something like 6X more on these students than anyone else and although they aren't perfect, if you don't have a 504/IEP you can expect to be ignored completely.

You obviously are not a parent of a child with a disability.

Students with 504 plans only receive accommodations. These students are not receiving any extra services so no where near the 6 times amount you are quoting without a reference for your belief.

MCPS actually receive federal and state grants to educate students with disabilities in addition to funds from these agencies tied to laws that protect students from discrimination. When MCPS discriminates, they risk enforcement action that can include withholding of state and federal funding. It’s in the interest of all children for MCPS to be compliant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m always amazed at how much time MCPS puts into writing an IEP or 504 plan, then the time to meet periodically and annually, only to have students discriminated against when their IEPs / 504 plans are not implemented.

+ here. DC has an IEP and is in MCPS middle school. Unlike others who post here and in the Special Needs Forum, MCPS did not fight eligibility because we are fortunate to have the means to have had a private neuropsychological done at age 5. On paper, his IEP is great. Lots of time by MCPS and us writing the IEP, modifying the IEP, meeting several times each year in person, then virtually, now back to in person. No point in talking about the horror that was virtual school -- skip to the present day in-person. Is the IEP implemented? The easy to implement parts are, most of the time. But anything in the gen ed classes that requires foresight and planning -- as simple as keeping a stack of lined paper at hand when the work requires handwriting -- no until we see the illegible work product that he brings home and we helicopter in. And the special education paras pushed in to the gen ed classes focus much of the time on disruptive behavior -- by other kids, not DC.

Without special ed support, is your child making progress towards goals and objectives on the IEP? Or is the school just saying he is making progress without any data to support claims?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Students with disabilities were denied access to the curriculum during online learning because MCPS was quick to restrict accommodations and services. Now that school is in person, is your child receiving the accommodations and services formalized on an IEP or 504 plan?

I think this is their top priority. They spend something like 6X more on these students than anyone else and although they aren't perfect, if you don't have a 504/IEP you can expect to be ignored completely.

You obviously are not a parent of a child with a disability.

Students with 504 plans only receive accommodations. These students are not receiving any extra services so no where near the 6 times amount you are quoting without a reference for your belief.

MCPS actually receive federal and state grants to educate students with disabilities in addition to funds from these agencies tied to laws that protect students from discrimination. When MCPS discriminates, they risk enforcement action that can include withholding of state and federal funding. It’s in the interest of all children for MCPS to be compliant.

504 is not funded at all. There are two instructional specialists at central office and that's it. Anything else related to 504 is just added to various staff members' plates as an "other duty as assigned."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Students with disabilities were denied access to the curriculum during online learning because MCPS was quick to restrict accommodations and services. Now that school is in person, is your child receiving the accommodations and services formalized on an IEP or 504 plan?

I think this is their top priority. They spend something like 6X more on these students than anyone else and although they aren't perfect, if you don't have a 504/IEP you can expect to be ignored completely.

You obviously are not a parent of a child with a disability.

Students with 504 plans only receive accommodations. These students are not receiving any extra services so no where near the 6 times amount you are quoting without a reference for your belief.

MCPS actually receive federal and state grants to educate students with disabilities in addition to funds from these agencies tied to laws that protect students from discrimination. When MCPS discriminates, they risk enforcement action that can include withholding of state and federal funding. It’s in the interest of all children for MCPS to be compliant.

504 is not funded at all. There are two instructional specialists at central office and that's it. Anything else related to 504 is just added to various staff members' plates as an "other duty as assigned."

All students benefit from US Department of Education grants. These grants can be withdrawn if school systems violate Section 504 or the ADA.