Special EDge
December 2018 FCPS Special EDge Hot Sheet
Special Education Bundle
Special Education has provided a Special Edition Bundle for December.
The bundle link is below entitled Meet Google Drive. It is organized in folders by month.
There are critically important documents in this bundle, including memos and technical assistance bulletins that area mandated for circulation. Please ensure you read this information carefully.
Thank you for all you do for FCPS staff, students, and families.
Please take time to enjoy your break; time to rest, relax, and rejuvenate.
Happy New Year to everyone.
See you next year!
When Should Parents Receive the Procedural Safeguards Handbook?
Other times when the Procedural Safeguard Handbook must be provided:
- A copy must be provided upon initial referral or parental request for evaluation--at the screening IEP meeting
- A copy must be provided upon the first occurrence of filing a complaint for due process in a school year (this copy will come from Central Office Staff)
- A copy must be provided upon request by a parent.
The procedural safeguard may be sent home with the notification, but signing for receipt of the procedural safeguard must happen at the IEP meeting. The last page of the Procedural Safeguard must be signed by the parent. The procedural safeguard can be presented to the parents at the IEP meeting. This signed receipt of the Procedural Safeguard Notice must be filed in the student blue folder annually.
If the parent does NOT attend the meeting the procedural safeguard receipt page must be signed and returned to be filed in the student blue folder to acknowledge the parent's receipt of the Procedural Rights Notice.
- If the parent has signed the receipt of the Procedural Safeguards Notice once in the school year then at each additional meeting the IEP team can offer the Safeguards Notice and have the parent date and initial the already signed receipt page.
The procedural safeguards are available in multiple languages. Parents must be able to receive notices in the parent’s native language, to the extent feasible. Multiple language versions of the Procedural Safeguards Notice are linked below.
Maryland Procedural Safeguards Notice
Maryland Procedural Safeguards Notice - Effective July 1, 2017
Amharic | Arabic | Bengali | Burmese | Chinese | French | Gujarati | Haitian Creole | Hebrew | Hindi | Korean | Nepali | Polish | Portuguese | Russian | Spanish | Tagalog | Turkish | Urdu | Vietnamese
What Should the School Team Do When a Parent Requests Assessment for Their Child?
If a parent requests assessment, the Screening IEP team is required to convene in a timely manner (within 30 calendar days) and use data to make informed decisions regarding if assessments are warranted.
In the circumstance of parent request for assessment, implementation of an SST meeting does not supersede scheduling the screening meeting. It is important to have all relevant, comprehensive data about the student's access of learning compiled and prepared to discuss at the screening IEP team meeting.
The team is not automatically required to assess upon the parent(s)' request, but are required to convene a screening IEP meeting to consider the parent(s)' request.
However, school teams are obligated to Child Find. Child Find requires school districts to have a process for identifying and evaluating children who may need special education and related services when a student is suspected of a disabling condition.
If there is a disagreement in the screening IEP meeting, document the disagreement and data to inform the school’s position. Keep in mind that if the disagreement goes to an informal appeal or due process/mediation, it is most likely the decision will be that the school team should assess to rule in our rule out the need for specialized instruction.
Expectations of Special Educators/Related Service Providers for Make Up of Missed IEP Services
This communication serves as clarification and guidance regarding the need for special educators and related service providers to make up missed IEP services during upcoming testing windows, as well as field trips, or when the service provider is absent.
**The unavailability or absence of an individual student or the closure of the school for all students is the only acceptable reasons for not making up missed services.**
A student’s IEP team determines the amount, frequency and duration of services needed to provide FAPE to children with disabilities. It is the responsibility of each school to ensure that students with disabilities continue to receive the services outlined on their IEP during upcoming testing windows, field trips, or when the provider of the service is absent. This includes services provided by special education teachers and related service providers.
Special educators and related service providers should implement the following options when planning for making up missed sessions due to upcoming test windows, field trips, or service provider absence:
Front load services prior to, and/or after the time sessions are missed.
Group students differently to accommodate the modified school schedule due to testing, field trips, etc.
Consider using support funds to hire a qualified substitute service provider.
It is also worth reiterating that special education services can be delivered by the special educator, general educator, interventionists, specialists, etc., if documented as such through a student’s IEP services.
On a related note, because of the need for IEP services to be implemented and on occasion made up, please make an exerted effort to avoid scheduling responsibilities for related service providers and special educators, such as lunch, bus and/or recess duties and proctoring during state assessments, whenever possible.
Rochelle's Special Education Legal Tips
(Rochelle Eisenberg is a Maryland Special Education School System Attorney. These are her legal advice based upon her experiences in cases around the state.)
Groundhog Day: Reliving the Same IEP Team Issues
All of us like to think we do not make the same mistakes twice. Maybe you do not repeat your errors, but some of our IEP teams do. In the last two weeks, the following has occurred:
- 5-day documents have not been sent home in a timely manner.
- The Assistant Principal has tried to serve as the general educator, who is an essential team member. Bulletin: The Assistant Principal is not the general educator unless the Assistant Principal teaches a class.
- The IEP chair has not distributed timely submitted private assessment reports to the other team members prior to the IEP team meeting.
- Someone said and/or wrote in the Prior Written Notice/Minutes of the Meeting that “we do not usually provide this service.”
- The parent/advocate/attorney has repeated her point so many times that you have finally given in just to be done with the conversation.
- There is such a long list of Supplementary Aids and Accommodations that no human being could possibly implement all that is promised.
Then there are the good things that occurred:
- The school based members of the team declined to review a private report submitted minutes before the meeting or to review private reports submitted only 2 days before the meeting as there was not sufficient time to read, understand and consider them prior to the IEP meeting. The reports will be reviewed at the next meeting.
- The attorney for the parents was asked why a private report completed in May was not given to the team until 2 days before the meeting in September and the PWN noted her “non-answer.” The attorney also said it was “disrespectful” to the parents to even ask the question! Really!
- School-based team members read the private reports prior to the IEP team meeting and questioned the whereabouts of documents referenced in the reports but never provided by the parents to the IEP team.
- Team members were willing to state that the student is not making the progress he could make because he keeps using his cell phone in class. The parent was asked to give permission to have the cell phone turned into the office when the student arrives at school.
- Team members were willing to state that a reason the student could be sleeping in class is because the student stays up at night on his laptop or cell phone.
- The IEP team insisted on conducting its own assessments after reviewing a private assessment despite a grandparent’s insistence that the private report already contained the kitchen sink. The team still had questions after reviewing the private assessment and wanted an opportunity to fill in the blanks.
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