I signed the attendance sheet at my IEP meeting. Does that mean I agreed to what was said in the meeting? At the meeting, the school agreed to Orton-Gillingham, but when I got the IEP, it was not included. What should I do?
Without seeing the actual document, there’s no way of knowing exactly what you signed.
The federal special education law and regulations do not require a child’s parent to sign the IEP.
Parents are required to give informed consent before the school can provide services in the initial IEP, but not subsequent IEPs.
IDEA and Federal Regulations about Consent
You need to learn or review what the law and regulations say about informed parent consent.
Turn in your Wrightslaw: All About IEPs book to Chapter 3: Parent Participation and Consent.
You’ll find the law about parental consent in IDEA in your Special Ed Law Book beginning on page 92 and in the federal regulations on page 195 and page 238.
Check Your State Regulations
It is important to check your state special education regulations to learn what your state requires.
Some state regulations include a provision for parents to sign the IEP to indicate their consent.
Many states do not.
Other states require written consent to implement IEPs on a year-to-year basis.
You can find your state special education regulations on the Yellow Pages for Kids here: http://www.yellowpagesforkids.com/help/seas.htm
Document Your Concerns
Write a polite letter to the school to clarify your concerns.
- State what you signed, or what you thought you signed
- Explain what you intended your signature on the attendance sheet to mean (attendance at the meeting, nothing more)
- If you did not agree to what was said in the meeting, explain that in your letter
- Ask the school to confirm what you understood happened at the IEP meeting
More Helpful Links
Taking and Maintaining Control at IEP Meetings
Documentation, Letters and Paper Trails
Methodology in the IEP
Schools often do not want to comply with parents’ requests for a specific, researched-based instructional methodology in the IEP.
The school may not have teachers who are adequately trained to implement Orton-Gillingham programs. This could be one reason it was left out of the IEP.
Training for teachers in a specific methodology is expensive and time-consuming.
Learn more about what parents can do to request instructional methodology in the IEP.
*Include this issue, and your concerns, in the letter you write to the school.
If it is truly a sign in sheet it is not considered agreement to items on the IEP. Reconvene and reconfirm what happened.