Despite the drastic number of teacher vacancies, school staff positions are being cut due to budget shortages across the country. Even students with Individualized Education Plans (“IEPs”) or Individualized Family Service Plans (“IFSP”s) are facing special education teacher shortages, special education aide cuts and a lack of special education designated instructional service providers. This could mean higher special education class sizes such as in special day classes, resource classes or in learning centers. But what if the school tells you that your student’s IEP program needs to be changed or that special education services won’t be provided because there are no staff to provide the special education service? Does your student on a Section 504 Plan still receive their accommodations? Read on to find out more about some common scenarios and your special education rights.
Will My Student On A 504 Plan Still Receive Their Accommodations?
Short answer: absolutely. If your student has ADHD, Autism, or a medical diagnosis that is requiring them to have accommodations in the school setting but doesn’t need an IEP, they likely have a 504 Plan already in place. If not, click here to read more.
Staff shortages cannot impact your student’s ability to receive accommodations through their Section 504 Plan. Even if your student has counseling through a special education school psychologist, the school cannot use a staffing shortage or budget cuts to deny your student the 504 accommodations on a 504 Plan. Remember, a 504 Plan is a legal document. It obligates the District to provide the 504 accommodations which you agreed to for your student. Staffing shortages are a district problem and cannot become your student’s challenge.
If you’re being told your student’s Section 504 Plan is not being implemented due to staffing shortages or any other reason, click here to contact our highly trained educational advocates.
My Student Was Supposed To Have A Special Education Assessment To Determine If She Needs An IEP And Special Education Services. The District Says There Are No Staff To Do It.
Let’s say you’ve been going through the Student Study Team (“SST”) process for the prior school year (you can read more about the SST process here) Like will happen so many times, a school year ends with you signing a special education assessment plan or the school agreeing to conduct an IEP assessment in the fall of the new school year. Now, there’s no school psychologist, no special education teacher and you’re being told the evaluation will have to wait until the school has hired staff in order for the special education assessment to begin.
Remember what I said above: staffing shortages are a district problem and cannot become your student’s challenge. The District is not allowed to deny nor delay a special education or IEP evaluation (nor a Section 504 assessment) due to staffing shortages. Even if they are a very small school district, they cannot delay an evaluation, especially if you already signed consent to a special education assessment plan.
Even if the school site does not have the specific personnel to conduct the assessments (school psychologist, resource specialist, occupational therapist, speech language pathologist, etc.), they must complete the special education or 504 assessment within the timeline stated on the special education or Section 504 assessment plan. If you didn’t sign consent to a special education assessment plan but have a document from a Student Study Team meeting stating the District will assess your student for a 504 plan or special education services, the District must complete the assessment (you can read more about how to obtain a special education assessment here. They can “borrow” staff from elsewhere in the District. They can hire private providers to conduct the assessments. Be wary of the District bringing in an assessor to conduct a special education or 504 assessment virtually.
If you are hearing any of this from your District, contact our office to talk with our experienced special education advocates to learn more about your options.
The District Is Holding An Emergency IEP To Move My Student Into A More Restrictive Setting Because There Is No Teacher For My Student’s Class.
Yes, this is a real scenario. Yes, this is happening. No, it is not allowed. A District cannot use staffing shortages to move your student to a more restrictive setting. Even if your student is placed in a mild/moderate special day class through their IEP, the District cannot move your student to a moderate/severe special education SDC class due to staff shortages. You are not required to sign consent to the change of placement at any time, but especially due to staffing shortages.
In order for a District to even consider proposing a change of placement in your student’s special education setting, it is required to conduct a full special education re-evaluation. Even if the District continues to recommend a change of placement, that does not happen without your consent generally speaking. Keep an eye out on our blog for more on this in the upcoming months.
If your student’s special education class, resource room or learning center does not have a credentialed teacher, just as in a general education classroom, the District is required to place a substitute teacher in the classroom until they can hire someone to fill the position. They cannot reduce services, they cannot push forward a change of placement. Not without your consent.
If this scenario sounds familiar to you, click here to learn more about your options from one of our specialized educational advocates.
My Student Isn’t Receiving Services In Their IEP Because There Are No Staff.
If your student has special education services from a special education teacher or designated instructional services provider (ie. speech language pathologist (SLP), occupational therapist (OT), mental health therapist, school psychologist, etc.) but there is no one filling those positions at your student’s school, the school is still responsible to provide those services. They cannot simply say your student won’t receive their special education services, not without some form of compensatory education.
Keep track of the minutes of service your student is not being provided. Because your student hasn’t been receiving services, they will likely be entitled to compensatory education, essentially a make up of the minutes your student on an IEP did not receive due to the staff shortages. Let’s say Johnny has Autism and has 60 minutes a week of speech services. The District doesn’t have a speech therapist on staff so Johnny does not receive speech services for a month. Johnny may be entitled to 240 minutes of compensatory education in speech therapy. This could be extra minutes embedded within the school day or even the District privately paying a SLP to provide the compensatory education services outside of the school day. Even if the District brings in a virtual provider, keep track of the special education minutes being provided to your student and make sure the provider is actually credentialed or licensed in your state of residence.
If this sounds like something you’ve been experiencing, contact our office to have one of our educational advocates determine if your student is entitled to compensatory education and how you might get it.
My Student Is Receiving All Of Their Special Education Services But Does Not Have The 1:1 Aide That’s In Their IEP.
Even if there is no one acting as a 1:1 aide for your student, the District still is responsible for providing your student the 1:1 aide you agreed to have added to their IEP. This could mean that an aide from another classroom is placed with your student, an aide from somewhere else in the District is provided, or even that the District contracts with a private staffing agency to hire special education aides.
When I was a district-level coordinator for a central California school district, I was responsible for overseeing the hiring, retention and release of all of the District’s 226 paraeducators (or special education aides). We were experiencing staffing shortages as well; but, we moved special education aides to schools with the greatest level of need, and we hired an outside agency to provide us with aides who went through the same background checks as our District employees. It costs more money, yes, but it is just one workable solution when faced with special education aide shortages.
If you need help coming up with a solution for your student not having their 1:1 aide as you agreed to in their IEP, contact our office to get support.
My Student Has Special Education Transportation In Their IEP But There’s No Special Education Bus.
Unfortunately, even when a District’s special education transportation department is fully staffed, it can take a week or two for the special education bus routes to be set up and working. This is completely frustrating for you as a parent of a student with an IEP and with special education transportation.
But what happens when there isn’t transportation for three weeks? A month? More? Just like in our conversation about compensatory education above, keep track of the days no special education transportation was provided to your student on an IEP. If you are driving your student to school yourself, keep track of the dates you drove and the mileage from your front door to the school and back. The District should reimburse you for the miles you drove your student with an IEP to school (usually at the going federal or state rate of mileage reimbursement) because they were not providing your student with special education transportation.
Need advice from an expert to find out if you should be receiving mileage reimbursement? Reach out to talk with one of our educational advocates today.
As you can see, there are many ways that staff shortages may impact your student on an IEP or Section 504 Plan’s accommodations and special education services. The bottom line is that the District may not use staffing shortages as a reason to cut, change or otherwise alter your student’s Section 504 Plan nor IEP for special education services. If you suspect this is happening to your student, our experienced special education advocates are here to walk you through your options. Contact our office to learn more.