Helpful Hints and Reminders:

 Change to evaluation timeline – Timeline from school’s receipt of signed consent to evaluate to development of IEP is now 75 CALENDAR days

  In the November 2012 newsletter, we gave tips for more collaborative IEP meetings. Tip #1 was to not tolerate personal attacks. One of you suggested that we include extinguishing attacks against the students who attend the IEP. It is not appropriate to allow parents (or staff) to berate the students during a meeting. Take charge and facilitate through these types of situations and get the meeting back on track. Having an agenda will help you to do this!

  Teams should not conduct a “vote” at an IEP meeting. There is no provision for IEP voting procedures under Alaska or federal law. In situations where consensus cannot be reached, the district rep, with the information provided by the team and with consideration of possible resources, must make the offer of the free and appropriate public education (FAPE). This is not based solely on the school’s opinion or the parents’ desires, but rather the district rep takes all information into consideration and makes an appropriate offer of FAPE. Parents should be provided follow up to understand the offer and to answer any questions they may have.  In cases of parental disagreement, parents can be referred to the Notice of Procedural Safeguards.

  Proofread your paperwork! Review the documents after you print them. Make sure that all parts have printed clearly. If not, consider adjusting the font size or moving information to the additional comments so everything prints out in its entirety.