Parents: you can invite people to attend your child’s IEP meeting. We are not aware of any regulation that requires parents to inform the public school whom a parent brings. Parents have more control over planning our child’s schooling than we often realize!
One of the most overlooked people to invite is the paraprofessional(s) who work with the student. Parents can notify the special ed administrator in advance that the parent is inviting the para. Often the para is the person at the school who knows the child the best.
Districts’ sometimes place a heavy burden on paras, especially when the para has no skills related to the disability. Paras usually go through a “training”, however it is often unrelated to our child’s special need(s). Often paras never see the IEP document.
Many times the para is not a good match for a student and problems arise. Parents can find ways to privately talk to a para about what’s going on at school.
The more information a parent has before entering an IEP meeting, the better they can make informed decisions. A parent’s failure to ask the right questions in an IEP meeting may result in the child getting “left behind”.
If the public school district in Kansas is uncooperative, contact the advocates at The IEPCenter.com™ (parents can take an advocate as well).
Complete this form for an advocate to contact you:
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We are civil rights advocates. We are not attorneys and do not give legal advice. We do not represent parents or children. We are not licensed to practice law in any state. Consult an attorney. Nothing in this blog is to be considered legal advice.
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