Including Parents in IEP Meetings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who said anything about "at the last minute"? It sounds like OP's school scheduled a meeting time without checking with her first, and mailed a letter stating that time without calling or emailing first to run it by her. That is antithetical to a "team" approach.

Op here. I gave them notice and rationale of why I couldn't be at the meeting within 5 minutes of opening the invitation letters. I could have told them sooner if they called or emailed me.

I think the MCPS system sounds crazy. They just mail out letters with a date and time without checking with the parents first? That seems so inefficient.

[Anonymous]

Next meeting, OP should mail a letter to the school first stating the exact date and time the meeting will be held.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who said anything about "at the last minute"? It sounds like OP's school scheduled a meeting time without checking with her first, and mailed a letter stating that time without calling or emailing first to run it by her. That is antithetical to a "team" approach.

Op here. I gave them notice and rationale of why I couldn't be at the meeting within 5 minutes of opening the invitation letters. I could have told them sooner if they called or emailed me.

I think the MCPS system sounds crazy. They just mail out letters with a date and time without checking with the parents first? That seems so inefficient.

I get a letter but that is just the official record. By the time I get the letter - I've already had an email scheduling the time to make sure I am available. I suppose it varies by MCPS school though.

[Anonymous]

I've never had an elementary, middle school, or high school in MCPS call or email me to check my availability for an IEP meeting prior to mailing out the official letter. If your school is doing it, you probably just have a better coordinator that has skills that other schools do not have. I would hope your coordinator would share insight of why she coordinates with parents prior to the mailing of the official letter to the powers that be at the Carver Center so such practices can be replicated throughout the county. Honestly, it is just a good, respectable, business practice that makes scheduling meetings easier for the school staff and parents.

[Anonymous]

Yikes. I have a middle schooler in FCPS who has had an IEP since he was 3 and a meeting has never, ever been scheduled without checking our availability first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The school DOES do things the way you say. 90% of meetings are scheduled perfectly during planning periods, months in advance, with parents and other specialists in attendance. The trouble with classroom coverage comes when the parent cancels at the last minute, is late, reschedules the day before, etc--then the school has to scramble to get us all in the room at the same time.

I have stayed at school until 6 pm multiple times to hold these meetings, arranging alternate child care for my own children so that I could be present at an important IEP that we could not schedule during the school day. For a parent willing to work with the school, who physically could not get to school between 7-3 pm, we will move mountains to make something work.

For a parent who just responds with, "Can't do 10:00 tomorrow, important meeting came up, I'll be there at noon", then yes, I'm going to be ticked off that I had to leave my entire class (filled with other children who have IEPs just as valid as your child's).

Life happens. People die unexpectedly. People get sick unexpectedly. People have last minute work meetings they have to attend or risk losing their job. If your school hasn't figured out a systematic way to cope with this, it's their own fault. Are you really telling me in the whole school, there's not one person to cover a class in an emergency? What happens if a teacher gets ill during the day?

And, I'm not exactly sympathetic to your anger about having to stay until 6pm for meetings and having to find alternate child care. For many of us that is a frequent reality of life.

Again, your anger speaks volumes about how you feel about special ed parents and children -- we are demanding more than is "fair", in your opinion.

What school in MCPS stays till 6pm for an IEP meeting? I have requested an afterhours meetings because of my work situation and the school refused and held the meeting without me.

Same question from me. I've been dealing with IEP meetings for over a decade and only at one school did they ever agree to meetings outside of school hours and they only ever offered 1/2 hour before the school start time and immediately after school. Other schools, no way. All meetings were during school hours.

We have agreed to "start" the iep meeting by the deadline. I showed up without dh and signed that I was present. We completed the meeting the following week. I don't have a problem doing this when the team has worked with me through the year and isn't chronically late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am with the school, for once. Both parents don't need to be there. Charge "personal leave" for once. I am a defense contractor with strict core hours. However, I always go to my DS' IEP no matter what. I just give at least a week's notice to my government POC. I've been with the company for 7 years and this client for 5. Not once did I get in trouble. Yes, I charge PTO and if I can, I make up the hours.

This issue is a red herring. The school needs to work with the parents to come up with a time that works for both parties. Op was given few options and short notice. Your personal experience has no bearing on op.

Also I would never attend an IEP meeting without my spouse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Fairfax, the special ed teacher emails us with a few dates/times that the team is available, and I choose one that works for us or I ask for alternate dates. This seems much more efficient than sitting around waiting for a letter.

The parents are equal members of the IEP team and their availability should be considered before scheduling the meeting. Anything else is just really an inefficient waste of everyone's time.

We always dismiss the general ed teacher from our meeting at the beginning so I can't comment on the above, except that if I overheard a teacher saying that out loud, I would be pretty shocked and disappointed.

Sorry for hijacking op, but pp why on earth do you do this? The gen ed teacher often has the most valuable insight in our IEP meetings and it would never be acceptable for this to happen. It is important for the gen ed teacher to provide input. You do not have a valid IEP team together if you are doing this.

[Anonymous]

Our sp Ed coordinator at our DC charter emails us and everyone else on the IEP team possible dates at least 2 months in advance. We usually bring our Ed consultant who will do an observation before the meeting and our kid's neuropsych or developmental pediatrician so the dates are usually for them more than anyone else. Finding a date is always done through email. After we find a date that'll work then we get an official letter about the upcoming IEP meeting.


DH and I always attend (we're both lawyers). If a service provider, like OT or SLP cannot attend, they usually call in. The general Ed teachers and sp Ed teacher always attend as does the school counselor. Luckily, we've never had issues with coordinating and finding dates that'll work for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Maybe her child is in a self contained class or school and the general Ed teacher has no contact with the child?

We had a series of summer IEP meetings when we were arguing over placement and FCPS just sent random general Ed teachers as placeholders to the meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe her child is in a self contained class or school and the general Ed teacher has no contact with the child?

We had a series of summer IEP meetings when we were arguing over placement and FCPS just sent random general Ed teachers as placeholders to the meetings.

Was there anyone at the meeting who had experience working with your child on a day to day basis?

[Anonymous]

I agree with others who recommend being more proactive about scheduling. I've never been contacted by the team first. My schedule is inflexible and requires lots of juggling in advance. I call or email a month out to ask general guidelines of when the team typically meets. Then I give them several options that work for me via email. The letter is only a confirmation. I can't imagine scheduling an official meeting without prior communication with the parents. But I also can't imagine waiting for that letter and hoping for the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe her child is in a self contained class or school and the general Ed teacher has no contact with the child?

We had a series of summer IEP meetings when we were arguing over placement and FCPS just sent random general Ed teachers as placeholders to the meetings.

Was there anyone at the meeting who had experience working with your child on a day to day basis?

No. Even the special ed (preschool) teacher did not show up-they had someone there who was "token". No one at any of the several summer meetings had even met my child. Not surprisingly, they were unproductive.

[Anonymous]

My son's annual IEP is due in November. I email in September to get a date on my calendar. My schedule fills quickly and once it is full, it is not particularly flexible. So far that system has worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe her child is in a self contained class or school and the general Ed teacher has no contact with the child?

We had a series of summer IEP meetings when we were arguing over placement and FCPS just sent random general Ed teachers as placeholders to the meetings.

Was there anyone at the meeting who had experience working with your child on a day to day basis?

No. Even the special ed (preschool) teacher did not show up-they had someone there who was "token". No one at any of the several summer meetings had even met my child. Not surprisingly, they were unproductive.

Does anyone know if that is legal? I thought the whole point of having a general ed teacher at the meeting is to have someone who is knowledgeable about your child's performance in the classroom. If they could just have anyone fill those shoes then they could have the same general educator at all IEP meetings throughout the year and not have to have coverage for your child's teacher.