Who Can Serve As LEA at IEP Meetings?

IDEIA 2004 section 300.321 clarifies the qualifications of an LEA...
(4) A representative of the public agency who--
(i) Is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially
designed instruction to meet the unique needs of children with
disabilities;
(ii) Is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum; and
(iii) Is knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the public
agency.
Principals are permitted to authorize a designee that meets LEA eligibility criteria when they are unable to attend an IEP meeting. Rather than considering the position a person holds when selecting a designee (e.g. guidance counselor, speech-language pathologist, special education teacher), it is best practice to consider whether the individual in question meets the specific criteria. Some guidance counselors have special education certification and meet the first criterion...others do not. A speech-language therapist meets the first criterion, but they may not have an understanding of the general education curriculum or availability of resources if they are in their Clincial Fellowship Year. The LEA at an IEP meeting holds a considerable amount of power to authorize services. Principals are advised to select their designee with care.

Can a Student With a Disability be Suspended from the Bus?

Yes...children with disabilities may be suspended from using public school transportation even though they are not suspended from school. However, bus suspension may affect the disrict's requirement to provide FAPE if special education services are needed for the child to receive FAPE and the child needs transportation to receive special education services, transportation would be needed and would have to be addressed by the IEP Team. The following guidance to school districts to determine if school days for bus suspension count as school days for change of placement and provision of services purposes may be useful:

• The school is ALWAYS required to proved FAPE. If a child with a disability cannot get to school to benefit from special education, it is likely that the school is requred to continue to provide transportation in some manner.
• If transportation is specified as a related service on the IEP, school days of suspension from bus transportation would count in determining if a change of placement occurs and in provision of services unless the school provides transportation in some other way.
• If transportation is NOT required as a related service under the IEP, school days of suspension from the bus should NOT count as school days of suspension for change of placement and provision of services purposes. In such cases, the child's parents have the same obligation to get the child to and from school as a child without disabilities who has been suspended from the bus (unless the parents cannot provide the needed transportation). Also, if bus transportation is not included on the IEP, the comments suggest a suspension from transportation privileges may indicate the IEP should consider whether that behavior on the bus should be addressed within the IEP or a behavior intervention plan for the child. (Federal Register, August 14, 2006, p. 46715).

This Q and A was taken from South Carolina's Parent Rights in Special Education (Procedural Safeguards) p. 137.

Does In-School Suspension Count as a Day of Suspension Toward the 11th Day Rule?

I just received a copy of "Parent Rights in Special Education (Procedural Safeguards)" from the Office of Exceptional Children at the SC State Department of Education. The word DRAFT is clearly written on each page in addition to the following statement, "It is a 'living' document and will change and grow as resources and information become available."
One thing I love about the format of our new state policies and procedures for special education, is the Q and A section at the end of each chapter...here is an example:
So, does in-school suspension count as a day of suspension toward the 11th day rule?

Whether school days of in-school suspension count as school days of suspension for determining if a change of placement has occurred depends on the nature of the in-school suspension environment. Many schools already use in-school suspension for code of conduct violations. Because children frequently are unsupervised and undirected by school personnel if placed on out-of-school suspension, many school districts prefer to use in-school suspension, at least for first-time offenders or less serious offenses. Comments following the Federal regulations indicate that school districts have authoirity to utilize in-school suspension as a disciplinary tool (Federal Register, August 6, 2006, p. 46715).

Additionally, a school day of in-school suspension should not count as a school day of suspension for services or change of placement purposes if, during the in-school suspension, the child is afforded an opportunity to:

• continue to appropriately progress in the general curriculum;
• continue to receive the services specified on his or her IEP; and
• continue to participate with children without disabilities to the extent they would have in their current placement.

The assumption is that school districts may use in-school suspension for children with disabilties just as they would for children without disabilities. The issue is really whether the school day(s) count toward accumulating the 11th school day of suspension which would require the beginning of educational services or toward the 10 consecutive school days for change of placement or provision of services. The Comments indicate that for children with disabilities, if the in-school suspension approximates the current placement in the areas outlined above, it does not count toward the 10 school days needed for a change of placement or provision of services. On he other hand, if in-school suspension is a place where children are held without opportunities to progress in the general curriculum, receive IEP services, and participate with children without disabilties to the same extent they would have in the current placement, the days do count as school days of suspension for change of placement and provision of services purposes.

Opening An IEP Meeting

The way you open an IEP meeting can impact the level of effective communication and collaboration you achieve. Greet members with a smile and handshake upon entry. Begin each meeting with introductions and a statement regarding the purpose of the IEP meeting (e.g., annual review, special review, reevaluation eligibility review).

An example of an opening statement..."Good Afternoon and welcome. We are meeting today to review Mickey's IEP and to talk about whether he is making progress toward his goals and if he has any needs that are not being met. It is our job to work together to determine any changes that need to be made to his IEP. Input from every member is important and must be considered before we can make changes. We all want what is best for Mickey."
Agendas are very helpful for keeping teams on track. If a parent brings up a discussion point that has no relevance to the meeting, take a note on the matter and assure them their concern is important. Offer to set up a time after the meeting to talk about it or state that you will pass the concern on the the appropropriate party (e.g., administration).
If you are expecting the meeting to be contentious, it may be a good idea to state some ground rules as part of the introduction. Examples of ground rules include:

• Only one person may speak at at time
• Statements should not be made personal or taken personnally
• Every person has the right to be heard
• Civility must be maintained

Conducting an effective IEP meeting will be easier when you set the stage for effective communication.

The Effects of Psychotropic Medications

At yesterday's local chapter of Council for Exceptional Children meeting, Dr. Joe Ryan of Clemson University shared the effects of psychotropic medications on our children. He stressed the imperativeness of having open communication between physician's prescribing medications and school personnel who actually see and can report on the effects. He highly recommended that teachers gather information before the medications are administered so physicians can look at the effects of the medications compared to a baseline. Dr. Ryan shared three valuable websites whereby people can type in the names of medications and learn what they are prescribed for, how they work, potential side effects, and cautions:

http://allpsych.com/meds.html

http://www.webmd.com/drugs/index-drugs.aspx

http://jchealth.jobcorps.gov/health-topics/mhd/pm

Thank you Dr. Ryan for this valuable information that will help us better understand the needs of our students with disabilities!

Step To Their Side

In William Ury's book Getting Past No, he explains we need to overcome the other side's negative emotion by stepping to their side. Disarming the other person's hostile emotion is accomplished through a surprise maneuver...doing the opposite of what they expect. "If they are stonewalling, they expect you to aply pressure; if they are attacking, they expect you to resist." Stepping to their side removes the adversarial nature of the situation and to do this you must...

• listen--A character in a novel by Andre Gide stated, "Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens, we have to keep going back and beginning all over again." Paraphrase and ask for corrections.



• acknowledge--using phrases such as "You have a point there" or "I know exactly what you mean" or "I understand what you're saying" doesn't mean you are agreeing with them. If appropriate, offer an apology. Be careful! Your tone and body language must line up with your acknowledgement.



• agree--Look for points to agree on and state your views without provoking. Rather than saying "Yes, but..." say Yes, and..."

Stepping to the other side does not mean giving in. It demonstrates your earnest desire to create a climate for joint problem solving.

Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the strand for "Joint-problem solving" to see other helpful tips related to this topic. Hope it helps!

Go to the Balcony

In yesterday's blog, I reviewed five barriers to cooperation as offered by William Ury of the Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiation. At IEP meetings, we can sometimes find ourselves having to breakthrough barriers that keep us from joint problem solving. The first barrier is our human reaction to conflict and that is typically the desire to strike back, give in, or just end the relationship. The third option is not one we can consider in special education as we are obligated to serve students with disabililities until the age 21. I love this quote by Ambrose Bierce...

"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret"

Ury's tactic for breaking down this barrier is to Go To The Balcony. "When you find yourself facing a difficult negotiation, you need to step back, collect your wits, and see the situtation objectively." This will allow you to separate yourself from the natural tendencies to retaliate, throw in the towel, or call it quits.

Another advantage is that it provides the opportunity to buy time and think. I have been involved in several meetings when the team just needed to take a break for 10 minutes to let each party "go to the balcony". In some cases upon return, this results in a new perspective to joint problem solving and ultimately resolution.

Finally, Rome wasn't built in a day. Sometimes the meeting needs to be rescheduled to afford a lengthier trip "to the balcony" and time to think about the problem at hand. If you find yourself in a tough situation in an IEP meeting or predict such can happen, call Special Services and ask for help from someone in our office. It's what we do and we will be there for you.