Try to plan meetings in advance with members of the team.
Remember the I…I…I… rule: Inform. Involve. Invite!
It will keep you from I…I…I… I forgot. I didn’t know. I am sorry!
And the other team members from saying I…I…I…
I didn’t know about this meeting!
I don’t know what to do!!
I can’t deal with this!!!
When setting up the meeting, parents must be informed of the date, time, place, purpose of the meeting and who has been invited. It is imperative that at the time of scheduling the IEP, you email the district and school team members with the same information. Itinerant staff are assigned to many buildings; a written invitation may not reach them in a timely manner.
Document in the invitees section the position of the people who the school is inviting to the meeting. Because the invitation’s salutation is to the parents, you do not need to include the parents on the list of invitees. As a reminder for parents, though, please list the student if he or she has been invited to the meeting. If you are inviting a representative from any outside agency for the purposes of secondary transition, “Transition Agency” must be listed in this section. You are to list only those members of the student’s team who have been invited to the meeting by KPBSD. You are not responsible for listing those who are invited by the parent.
IEP Required Participation:
- Parents; It is expected that we will encourage, even convince parents to attend meetings. If parents are not able or refuse to attend, efforts to involve parents must be documented.
- Child when appropriate; Beginning at age 16, must be invited when transition will be discussed (use the separate Student Meeting Invitation form)
- District representative, other than the sped teacher (see below)
- Not less than one special education teacher or provider
- Not less than one regular education teacher
- Related services personnel – either in attendance, or if excused, provides written input regarding the service being provided (if applicable to student)
- District staff to interpret evaluations (if applicable to meeting)
Others:
- Representative from private school if student is enrolled at one
- Secondary transition agency representatives, if consent is given by parent
- Infant Learning Program teacher, if requested by parent, at initial transition IEP meeting
- Other individuals at the discretion of the parent
All IEP members in attendance must document their attendance by signing the IEP cover page at the meeting. If a team member participates by phone, write on their signature line, “____participated by phone.” Do not sign for the person.
District Representatives: All IEP meetings must be attended by a representative of the district other than the child’s teacher. District reps must:
- Be qualified to provide or supervise special education services
- Be knowledgeable about general education curriculum
- Be knowledgeable about the availability of resources in the district
Principals can designate individuals from their building who meet the above criteria to represent them at meetings. A district rep may not, at the same meeting, fulfill any other role.
When you prepare an invitation, be sure to check all boxes related to the purpose of the meeting. Planning ahead for the meeting is crucial for this section. The parent must be notified of what will be discussed at the meeting. Be certain to mark what the meeting will be regarding. If a topic isn’t marked, the topic shouldn’t be discussed.
**For all annual reviews from the one right before the student’s 16th birthday until they graduate or age out, “transition planning” must be checked as a purpose of the meeting.
At the bottom of the meeting invitation, you must document all contacts with the parent / guardian in setting up the meeting. If there was no answer the first time, you should document additional attempts. Parents must be invited to the meeting at least 10 school days in advance unless all agree to an earlier date. If this occurs, document this agreement on the “Other” line.
The state handbook states an IEP team member may be excused from an IEP meeting if the parent and the district agree that the member is not necessary because his / her area of the curriculum or related service will not be modified or discussed. If a member is excused, the parent and district must consent in writing, and the excused team member must submit, in writing, to the parent and the IEP team, input into the development of the IEP PRIOR to the meeting.
KPBSD has determined that an administrator and at least one general education and one special education teacher must participate in the meeting. No special education teacher, no general education teacher, no district representative = no legal meeting. Excusals of other members must be planned, as the excused member must submit written input to the team prior to the meeting. This should not be used for those members who didn’t show up or who had a conflicting appointment unless those members submitted input to the team in writing for the meeting. Effort must be made for an appropriate replacement of that member if that is the case. KPBSD has an obligation to ensure that members of the team whose service or curriculum will be discussed are at the meeting.