In some cases, the staffing minutes taken during an IEP meeting could be the clincher to demonstrating the implementation of a legally defensible IEP. It is where the team can explain exactly how they came to a decision and the factors considered. Necessary statements that don't seem to fit anywhere else in the IEP can be become part of the meeting documentation successfully through the minutes. Furthermore, when a parent files a complaint with the South Carolina Office of Special Education Services, typically, the first items of documentation requested from the Director of Special Education are the current IEP and meeting minutes. Meeting minutes can also be very useful to special education directors and curriculum coordinators when they are invited to attend IEP meetings for students they have not had involvement with in the past and they need to review meeting history.
The minute-taker holds a lot of responsibility for accurately expressing the flow and content of the meeting in writing. It can be very difficult for the IEP team lead to conduct the meeting and take minutes at the same time. Therefore, I have recommended to teams to designate a minute-taker other than the person leading the meeting. Here a few tips that might be helpful to the minute-taker:
1. Get
a head start! Before
the meeting begins, complete the top section of the minutes with identifying
information and the purpose of the meeting. Make sure the purpose written on
the minutes matches the purpose noted on the meeting invitation letter.
If minutes are taken by hand,
have several copies of blank pages so the meeting won't have to be stopped to get more pages in the event the meeting goes long.
2. If parents ask to record
the meeting and bring their own recording device, explain they are able to
record the meeting but the school must also record.
3. At the beginning of the
meeting, account for additional members invited by the parents that are not on the invitation
letter or invited members that could not attend.
For example, if a parent brings someone to the meeting, who was not in
the invitation letter, note the name of that person and indicate they were
invited by the parent as someone knowledgeable about the child’s special needs.
If an invited team member is unable to attend, note the name of that person and
note a substitute member (if applicable). Note: team member excusal paperwork must be completed when applicable!
4. Note that a Procedural
Safeguards Notice
was offered.
5. Do your best to include
parent comments and concerns as this verifies we provided the parents an opportunity to
participate as an equal member in team decisions.
6. You don’t need to write
every word each team member says. It may
be helpful to summarize the outcome of discussions of topics. For example, if the team discusses whether or
not a student needs oral administration as an accommodation for several
minutes, you may want to write the final outcome
of the team decision and the supporting comments for why it is or isn’t appropriate. Content in the IEP (IEP goals, minutes of
service, etc.) doesn’t need to be repeated in the minutes.
7. As the minute taker, you
can always interrupt the meeting to ask for clarification of what someone said
if you get behind. Accuracy is vital.
8. If a mistake or correction is made in
the minutes during the meeting, the minute taker should draw a line through what was written and initial
the mistake or correction and date.
9. At the conclusion of the
meeting, the minute taker should read the minutes aloud to the team. This will give the team an opportunity to
review what was discussed and the services that will be put in place for the
student. It will also allow an
opportunity to check for accuracy as incorrect notations can be corrected.
10. All IEP team members should
sign in their designated areas. If team
members sign as “other” please remember to have them write their position/title
on the designated line.
11. Always provide
a copy of the minutes to parents before they leave the meeting.
