September 2014 FAQs

FAQs

Q: How do I input the minutes in and minutes out of general ed on the summary of services page?

A: Students may receive special education services in the general education or special education classroom or a combination of the two. In order to appropriately determine a student’s LRE, the amount of time that a student participates with his or her non-disabled peers must be determined. One example is: a student has 50 minutes of Reading in the IEP and has 20 minutes in the general ed classroom and pulled out to special ed for the other 30 minutes. On the summary of services, 20 minutes is inputted in the Minutes IN and 30 minutes is inputted in the Minutes OUT on the reading line.

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Q: Which day is the first day of an evaluation timeline?

A: The timeline begins on the date that the district (school) received the consent. If at a meeting, the parent signs and dates the consent to evaluate then the date of the meeting is the first day of the timeline. If the parent did not sign the consent at a meeting, but returned it to you at a later date, the day the school received it is the first day of the timeline. Either way, write the received date at the bottom of the consent form and include that date in the database for documentation.

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Q: What does the Red M next to the student’s name in the database mean?

A: The Red M signifies that a meeting was held at least 3 weeks ago and Pupil Services has not received the original paperwork from the meeting OR Pupil Services has received some paperwork but some paperwork is missing. Original paperwork is due to Pupil Services and a copy of the paperwork is due to parents within 3 weeks of the date of the meeting.

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Q: What should we keep in the building files at our schools?

A:  Keep COPIES at the school and send the originals to district office – ALWAYS!! A copy of each of these documents must be kept: (1) current IEP, (2) most recent ESER, (3) most recent individual evaluation reports, (4) invitations for most recent IEP meetings, (5) PWNs since the last IEP meeting, (6) consent for initial placement, (7) progress reports since last IEP.

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Q: What should I write in the PLAAFP under “Parent comments/ concerns…”, specifically when the parent doesn’t attend the IEP meeting?

A: This section of the PLAAFP is for the parents’ words regarding their children. This should be what parents say they want for their child or any concerns that they may have. Some examples include: “Parents work with Johnny at home. They are concerned that he takes 3 hours to complete his homework,” or “Johnny’s parents were not able to attend the meeting. When setting up the meeting, Johnny’s parents expressed they would like the team to discuss accommodations to allow him to be successful in his general ed math class.”

Non-examples include:   “Parents did not attend the IEP meeting” or “None at this time.”

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September 2013 FAQs

FAQs

Q: I don’t understand minutes in and minutes out of regular ed on the summary of services page. Help!

A: Students may receive special education services in the general education or special education classroom or a combination of the two. In order to appropriately determine a student’s LRE, the amount of time that a student participates with his or her non-disabled peers must be determined. If a student has 50 minutes of Reading in the IEP and has 20 minutes of that time in the general ed classroom and is pulled out  to special ed for the other 30 minutes, then 20 minutes goes in the Minutes IN and 30 minutes goes in Minutes OUT on the reading section of the summary of services.

Q: Which day is the first day of an evaluation timeline?

T: The timeline begins on the date that the district (school) received the consent. If at a meeting, the date the parent signs and dates the consent to evaluate is the first day of the timeline. If the parent did not sign the consent at a meeting and returned it to you at a later date the first day is the day the school received it. Either way, write the received date at the bottom of the consent form and include that date in the database for documentation.

Q: What does that Red M mean again?

A: The Red M signifies that a meeting was held at least 3 weeks ago and Pupil Services has not received the original paperwork from the meeting OR Pupil Services has received some paperwork but some paperwork is missing. Original paperwork is due to Pupil Services and a copy of the paperwork is due to parents within 3 weeks of the date of the meeting.

Q: I usually send paperwork home to parents at the same time I send it to district office. It is embarrassing to have to contact the parent to correct mistakes found by district office. What can I do?

A: The hard copy of the IEP is the legal document that the school is to follow and is the educational record for both the district and the parent. Therefore, that document must not only reflect the decisions made by the team for the student, but must reflect our best work as school district employees. Always print out the IEP and proofread it. You may consider asking a colleague to proofread it for you. You may contact Pupil Services secretaries or your program coordinator prior to printing and sending the document anywhere, and we will be happy to proofread it for you! Proofreading should be for typos as well as for content inconsistencies or errors.

Q: What should I write in the PLAAFP under “Parent comments/ concerns…”?

A: This section of the PLAAFP is for the parents’ words regarding their children. This should be what parents say they want for their child. Some examples include: “Parents work with Johnny at home. They are concerned that he takes 3 hours to complete his homework,” or “Johnny’s parents were not able to attend the meeting. When setting up the meeting, Johnny’s parents expressed they would like the team to discuss accommodations to allow him to be successful in his general ed math class.”

Some non-examples include: “Parents did not attend the IEP meeting” or “None at this time.”

 

Changes to Sped Main Screen – Highlighting Referrals at 45 Days

The main screen on the special ed database will now highlight students who have been in the special ed referral process for 45 days or more.  The timeline in KPBSD is 75 calendar days from the date that consent to evaluate is obtained, to the date that the ESER and IEP must be complete.

Keep in mind that the date consent is signed, counts as the first day in the 75 day count—even if the consent form is signed at 5:00 pm

Snapshot of student list on main page of IEP database

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is meant to give case managers a heads up as the 75-day deadline approaches, to ensure that you have plenty of time to get a date set for your ESER/IEP meeting and complete the process within the required time frame.

The system will also highlight referrals who are missing either of the consent dates on the “Referral Info” screen.  If one of your students is highlighted, and you feel you are still under 45 days, please double check to make sure that both consent dates have been entered into the database (see below).

Snapshot of Consent dates in IEP database

September 2012 FAQs

Q: On my Summary of Services page, I need to include a category of service that is not listed in the database. What do I do?
A: In most instances, you will not need to add what is not already listed. Most services your school provides will fall under a special education academic or behavior service or one of the common related services. If the team feels the need to specify a service outside of what is listed, fill in the “Other” field on the Summary of Services page. However, you can clarify services in the Additional Comments field. This might include clarifying that the “Reading” minutes will be focused on pre-academics or that the “Writing” minutes include 30 minutes in general ed 5 days a week and 30 minutes in sped 4 days a week. Please do not use the summary of services to match with a student’s class schedule.

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Q: I have a student that uses the Dragon Speak program. What areas of the IEP do I need to include that information?
A: Dragon Speak can be used as an assistive technology accommodation. You will include a description of the student’s strengths and needs related to this accommodation in the PLAAFP. You will mark the “Yes” box next to the assistive technology question in the Special Factors section of the IEP.  You will include Dragon Speak in the Program Modification/Accommodations page with a description of when and how it is to be used. Finally, if it is being used as an accommodation for testing, mark the box for “Using a computer without spell or grammar checker.”

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Q: Which day is the first day of an evaluation timeline?
A: The date the parent writes on the consent to evaluate is the first day of the timeline, i.e. if the meeting is at 5:00 pm on August 15, the first day to count is August 15. However, if the parent did not sign the consent at the meeting and returned it to you at a later date, the timeline begins on the date that the district (school) received the consent. Either way, write the received date at the bottom of the consent form and include that date in the database.

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Q: What is the purpose of turning in my paperwork from a meeting within two weeks? I have so much to do.
A: There are two main reasons for this. The first and most important reason is that if it isn’t turned into Central Office in two weeks, it likely hasn’t been provided to parents within two weeks. Parents have a right to this information within a reasonable amount of time. Secondly, Central Office needs time to review and file the paperwork and must have the most current paperwork always in the file in the event that records are requested from another district.

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Q: Are the educational needs statement fields on the ESER supposed to be in any particular order?
A: Yes! Once the evaluation process is complete and the IEP team reviewed the evaluation data, the team must identify and prioritize the educational needs. At the meeting, the team will list the needs in priority order and the recommendations to meet those needs. The team may discuss and determine that there are too many needs to address with a one year IEP and will choose to work on the first few needs for the upcoming IEP year. If that happens, you must provide an explanation of that discussion in the PLAAFP so that it is clear that these needs were not forgotten.

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Welcome Back!

Welcome Back to the 2012—2013 School Year!!

Here’s what’s new and review!

  KPBSD has determined that initial evaluations must be completed within 75 CALENDAR days. 3-year reevaluations must never pass their expiration date. More information on evaluations and timelines to come as the state revises regulations.

  We have to report that secondary transition agencies were invited to transition meetings. EVERY time a transition agency is invited to a meeting they must be included on the meeting invitation.
· If you want to include a transition agency as a service provider in the transition section of a student’s IEP, that agency must have been invited to and attended the IEP meeting and agreed to provide the service. Consent to invite agencies is coming soon too!

 ESER —> IEP:  The educational needs statements on the ESER need to be listed in priority order and must relate to all areas identified through the evaluation. (For more information, see September FAQs)