A District's Failure to Invite the Student's Private Preschool Teacher Amounts to Denial of FAPE

Case managers of students with disabilities need to be mindful when selecting appropriate members to invite to IEP team meetings. In S.B. v. Pomona Unified School District, 50 IDELR 72, 2008 (WL 1766953), an LEAs failure to include the student's private preschool teacher, in this case the regular education teacher, was a procedural violation that resulted in a loss of educational opportunity for the child. In her presentation at the 19th Annual Counsel For Administrators in Special Education, Julie Weatherly expanded on this case in a handout. "Had the teacher been at the important IEP meeting, she could have shared her observations of the student's abilities and special needs from the year that the student was in her classroom. A preponderance of evidence shows that the teacher's participation at the November 2004 IEP meeting, as mandated by the IDEA, 'would have assisted the IEP team in devising a program that was better tailored to the Student's abilities and special needs.' Accordingly, the District's procedural violation of IDEA resulted in Student's loss of an educational opportunity and his denial of FAPE."