Question 1: I went to
my son’s IEP meeting which had called to discuss changing his speech therapy services. The speech and
language pathologist (SLP) who has been doing his therapy was on the list of people
who were supposed to be at the meeting. When
I arrived, the area education agency facilitator (a former AEA social worker) asked
me to sign a form excusing the SLP’s attendance because he had excused the SLP from the
meeting. I responded that I should have been
asked to excuse the SLP before he held the meeting, and that I would have said
no and asked that it be scheduled when she was available. The facilitator said it didn’t matter whether
the SLP could come because he had received an email report from her. I didn’t sign the excuse form, the emailed
report wasn’t helpful, and the meeting was a waste of time (and used up two
hours of my vacation time). Can I keep
this from happening again?
Answer: To keep this from happening again, you may
want to try sending a copy of the following answer to the members of your son’s IEP
team.
The AEA facilitator had no
business excusing the SLP and convening the meeting without her. As soon as he knew of the SLP’s
unavailability, he should have asked you if you were willing to excuse her, and
if you said no, the meeting should have been re-scheduled for a time the SLP
could attend.
Parents have no obligation to excuse a specified teacher or
area education agency consultant from an IEP meeting. They should not do so if there any chance
that the person’s expertise and knowledge apply to IEP topic that may be
discussed or modified at the meeting.
Congress felt so strongly about this that the IDEA and its
implementing regulations require that if the IEP Team will discuss or modify
any part of a child’s IEP related to the area of expertise of the Team member
seeking to be excused, that before the parent makes written consent to excusing
that member, the school district must first:
(a) fully
inform the parent of all information relevant the excusing the specific type of
person, and must do this in the parent’s native language, or other mode of
communication.
(b) make sure
that the parent consents in writing to the excusing the required person, and
the consent writing describes the specific meeting for which the excuse
applies.
(c) make sure
the parent understands that his or her granting of consent is voluntary and may
be revoked at any time.
A member of an IEP may be excused from attending an IEP
meeting, in whole or in part, if the meeting involves a modification to or
discussion of the member’s area of the curriculum or related services, if:
(1) the parent, in writing, and the public
agency consent to the excusal; and
(2) the member submits, in writing to the
parent and the IEP team, input into the development of the IEP prior to the meeting.
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