IEP meeting for my oldest, school did not notify.

[30 and searching]

Hi everyone. I posted a thread about this in another section of this forum and thought it would be good to ask here in general also, as I have recieved no responses.

First a little info. I do not have custody of my oldest son. His grandmother, (paternal), does. It's a long story I don't really want to get into too much detail now, but it was a long court battle which I lost. I still have parental rights, and it is part of the court order that I am to be notified of school meetings, and I need to be consulted about medication changes, among other things as well. I have attended every IEP meeting for my son, except for the last one, which I was given no notice.

Myself, my mom, and my son's therapist have always been invited to IEP meetings, always. Why would that change now? I have no idea. I am extremely upset, especially after talking to the social worker yesterday. I will get to that in a bit.

I found out about this meeting taking place, the following day when my mom and I were visiting my son. His grandmother told us about it. My mom said, "Oh, he had an IEP? We were not informed about that!" Grandmother told us she was not happy about the meeting, because they shortened his day from 4 hrs to 3. (She does not question the school about anything.)

I spoke to the social worker yesterday about this, and asked her if she was at the meeting. She said she was and it was awful, also she was given 2 hours notice prior to this meeting taking place. Being very upset about the short notice, she let the school know that was unnacceptable. Anyhow, she told me that they were shortening his day due to increased aggression towards teachers, staff, and other students, saying things like, "what worked last year is no longer working," and didn't try to come up with- any other strategies to try and help decrease the aggression.

I am wondering, because I no longer have guardianship, can they shut me out of IEP meetings like this? I am still his mother, I still have rights! I asked his social worker about this and she seemed pretty clueless. She told me that recently she spoke with- her supervisor about everyone in the department getting extra training in inderstanding IEP laws and regulations. Unbelievable.

I'm sorry, I don't post a whole lot here, I am extremely depressed, and do not want to bring my negativity to the board. I just was wondering if anyone had any advice for me right now. Is it against the law for a school to not inform parent of an IEP meeting? I would greatly appreciate any thoughts on this! Thanks!

 

[Ropefree]

The iep team might be able to met on a dime to deal with a crisis, which the teachers seem to be saying is afoot. However the IEP meetings do require proper notifications and two hours is not enough time to do that. Generally the schools are well aware of the legal time spans as they are more than happy to streach to the limits and beyond to avoid helping students in a school.
Actually someone needs to act for this child as the free appropriate education is the obligation of the school and if they are unwilling to provide it (ie hire appropriate staff who CAN teach the child) then the DOE has to fund the alternative. The IEP establishes the school does know the child qualifies for Special Education and the fact they want him in school in shorter incriments than is the regular schedule show that they are at this time not providing or attempting to provide the child.
The next step might just be the education lawyer or their advocate to shape this IEP to match the childs needs, which may not even be properly assessed, and to press the district into compliance to the federal rules (like notification of meetings)
and meeting the childs education needs.

 

[Janna]

If you have educational rights, it's illegal for them to NOT notify you, OR for them to make ANY changes to the IEP without your signature. Period.

My son was in foster care for 4 years, and I still had educational rights. ONE TIME they made a change without me, and let me tell you, they kissed my rear end for a very long time over the mistake they made.

I'm sorry they did that to you. Not sure what course of action you could take. Did they make changes?

 

[Sheila]

I responded to your thread in Sp Ed 101.

 

[30 and searching]

Thankyou for all your responses. I am going to look into this further, and see if I have documentation of the court order. If not, I am thinking about calling social worker again, she seems to be on the same page as me with feeling that this was not right. Oh, and it does not help matters much that the school district my son is in recently laid off 30 teachers! Saw this on the news a few nights ago.

My oldest has been through 3 different teachers in the past 3 years, (same Special Education class), and a new principal this year. I was told by the social worker that it was brought up by her that his aggression has increased due to all these transitions. Principal disagreed by saying that his current teacher was an aide her has worked with- him on and off in the past few years, so he is not unfamiliar with- her, and doesn't feel that's an issue! Okay, I do not agree with- that at all. My son is extremely sensitive to even the slightest changes! Now, I'm just getting upset and angry, and rambling. Sorry.

Thank you for the suggestions and advice, time to get down to work, and see what I can accomplish.

 

[aeroeng]

Each state is different on what parental rights you have, but they should follow national standards. The school should provide you with a copy of your parental rights if you request it. In Maryland they are required to provide one for each and every meeting, or have you sign a waver stating you already have it. Request it, and read it. The parental rights document should define the required notification time. (In Maryland it is 10 days). As long as you have not lost your parental rights you need to be notified. You could start by calling the principle and ask why you were not invited. Be polite but firm. If (which will probably be the case) you are not satisfied with their response file an appeal. (Information should also be in you parents rights handbook). You may need to find a lawyer that specialized in special education issues. You don't have to just except what they say. Good Luck.

 

[SkunkMomma]

In Georgia, even if you are at the meeting and sign, but decide once you get home and don't like something you have 10 days to get back to them before the new IEP takes place. So, I'm sure you could let them know you are not accepting this and plan another IEP meeting. Maybe Grandma could call and say I've changed my mind (or whoever went to the meeting). The two hour notice was not legal. I hope you can get this straightened out.