The start of a new school year brings lots of excitement but also uncertainty for parents of a student with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or Section 504 plan. Will your student with a disability get the right teacher? Will their speech language pathologist change? Will there be a new case manager? Will my student be in the right classes with special education supports and 504 accommodations? Learn more about how to best prepare your student with an IEP or 504 Plan (and you!) for a successful start to the school year.
Why the Start of the School Year is Critical for IEPs and 504s
Starting a new school year can be stressful for any parent or guardian. But when your student has special needs or mental health challenges, or especially if you are moving into a new school district, it can get overwhelming. Will this new team care for your student the way the last one did? If your student had disciplinary challenges last year, how will those impact this year? How do you register your student with an IEP or 504 plan?
Getting ahead of these challenges may seem daunting, but with preparation and proactive communication, you can get your concerns addressed prior to the start of the new school year.
Reviewing and Updating Your Student’s IEP or 504
First, find your student’s current IEP or Section 504 Plan. Reread it yourself so you’re familiar with the IEP goals, accommodations, behavior intervention plan and special education services that should be in place. Did you sign consent to the IEP in whole or part to your student’s last IEP? Did you sign consent to the 504 plan? Did you have Independent Educational Evaluations completed over the summer? Were there outstanding IEP or 504 evaluations from last school year?
Second, look at their progress at the end of the last school year. What were your student’s grades? Were they at grade level? Were there any behavior concerns? What was the advice the teacher gave as to what you should work on over the summer? If your student has an IEP, look at the special education progress reports on goals. What progress on the IEP goals had your student made at the end of the year? Have you seen regression over the summer or have things stayed the same?
Third, take a moment to write down your goals for your student for the upcoming year as far as their academic progress is concerned. What strengths do you see in your student? Have there been any changes to your household (ie moving) might impact your student and their ability to access their educational programming? What concerns do you have for the upcoming school year?
Completing these three simple steps will allow you to come into the new school year with a good idea of where your student is starting, while focusing on where you hope your student will go. Having your concerns written down ahead of time will allow you to share them with your 504 team and IEP team providers quickly and coherently.
Communicating with New Teachers and Staff
Proactively reach out to your student’s school site.
Elementary Students: Reach out to the principal, special education case manager and, if you know it, the classroom teacher. Share your positives from the summer and proactively outline the concerns you identified in step three above. Send the classroom teacher and any new designated instructional service providers (DIS) a copy of the current IEP or 504. Why when the case manager is supposed to take care of it? Because you will do it faster and you may have a whole new team working with your student due to special education staff changes or budget cuts.
Secondary (Middle and High School): Reach out to the alphabet assistant principal and counselor, the special education case manager and any special education DIS providers (ie speech language pathologist (SLP), occupational therapist (OT), etc). If your student’s schedule is available, reach out to those teachers. Just as with elementary students, let them know of your student’s growth over the summer and your concerns. Provide a copy of the current IEP or 504.
Regardless of grade level, make sure you ask for a 30-45 day IEP or 504 review meeting. Do this in writing, email is fine. You should send this request to the case manager and administrator (ie. principal, alphabet assistant principal). Make sure when the meeting is scheduled that you let them know (again, in writing) that you will be audio recording the meeting.
Some parents like to create an “about me” or “cheat sheet” for their student if they are in elementary school or particularly complex. Make sure you keep these positive and simple: there’s plenty of time to provide more of an oral or written narrative about your student. This is just to get your student and teacher on the right foot the first day of school. The internet has plenty of free templates available.
Red Flags to Watch for in the First Weeks
Your gut will likely tell you when something is going wrong for your student with an IEP or 504 plan. Watch out for these signs:
- School refusal- not just complaining about going to school in the morning or when they come home, but really not going to school.
- Aide support not in place: if your student has a 1:1 aide in the IEP or Section 504 plan, that service and support must be provided.
- “We don’t do that here”- The IDEA provides for a continuum of services and Section 504 allows for a variety of reasonable accommodations. If you’re being told by school staff that your student on an IEP or Section 504 can’t have something because they don’t do it, it’s time to get support.
- “We don’t have staffing for that…”- Especially now, you may hear that your student’s IEP or 504 plan cannot be implemented due to staffing shortages or budget cuts. That is not a valid reason to violate your student’s special education plan/IEP or 504 plan.
- Excessive emotionality- it’s normal for students on IEPs or 504 plans to be anxious, excited or experience a variety of emotions about starting school. When it becomes excessive or doesn’t fade away in a few days to a week is when there is cause for concern.
- Schedule doesn’t match the IEP or 504 plan- When your student’s schedule is carefully outlined in the IEP or 504 plan but the school isn’t following it, especially if the school counselor is refusing to change the schedule, that is a red flag.
- Disciplinary action- Students are getting back into the groove of school rules, but if there are multiple disciplinary incidents including suspension or suspension pending expulsion, that is a red flag for your student with an IEP or 504.
- Pull out or push in services not provided- Services from designated instructional providers such as the school counselor, school psychologist, speech language pathologist, etc, should not take more than two weeks to start. If your student with an IEP or 504 plan has not seen their special education provider or counselor, that is a red flag as well.
How AdvocacySD Can Help
If you need help drafting communication to your student’s special education case manager or 504 plan coordinator, we can help! Our qualified team of veteran educators can assist with drafting, editing or just giving you ideas. Getting pushback on registration? Let our specialized team take the lead in compelling school staff to appropriately register and schedule your student with disabilities. Are you already seeing warning signs and not sure how to move forward? Reach out to our office to schedule a 30 minute complimentary consultation so we can develop a meaningful plan that will achieve results for your student with disabilities.
Quick Back-to-School Checklist for Parents
- Review the current special education IEP or Section 504 plan.
- Come up with a list of your concerns for the new year.
- Proactively reach out to the special education case manager or 504 plan coordinator to schedule a 30 day special education IEP or Section 504 Plan meeting.
Final Thoughts
The start of a new school year can bring excitement and anxiety. By following the steps above, you can alleviate some of that stress by being prepared and organized. If you need help with that process or just need to determine next steps, reach out to our office to schedule a complimentary consultation. Our office is here to help launch your student toward success this year.