In May 2020, Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge invited four special education attorneys to a webinar for parents, “Special Education in the COVID-19 Quarantine.” The attorneys, Pete Wright, Jack Robinson, Piper Paul, and Wayne Steedman, covered several topics, including:
- Compensatory education,
- Your child’s special education rights during the pandemic,
- How and why of data collection (progress monitoring), and
- How to best advocate for your child
After the May webinar, Dr. Roseann received more than 1,000 follow-up questions. Last week, she gathered the most frequently asked questions, then sat down with Pam and Pete Wright of Wrightslaw.com to answer these questions. The new webinar is available today.
Register to receive a FREE copy of this new webinar, Special Ed in During COVID-19: Pete & Pam Wright Answer Questions about Compensatory Education, IEPs and IEP Meetings
Help Others: Please share this new webinar, Pete and Pam Wright Answer Questions About Comp Ed, IEPs, and IEP Meetings on your social media.
I have searched all over the site and I can’t find a way to ask a question. The schools IEP team is refusing to let my daughter and I attend the eligibility meeting via phone or video conference even though the law states that we can. Can they do this?
This appears to be a violation of the IDEA rules. 300.322 It says if parents cannot attend the school must use other methods to ensure participation including individual, or conference calls. 300.328 lists alternative means of meeting participation. You can remind campus staff, and the district special education director in writing of these requirements. From there a parent could make a complaint to the state education agency.
Does ESY apply to private tutors providing services during the school day (ie, during specials class)? My student is in 6th with 3-4th reading level. Teachers are not addressing decoding/fluency for reading at this point. Special education does not either. Tutors are the only options. I do not want to do after school as it reduces family time, sports and social events.
In many districts private tutors are not allowed to provide services at the school.
Are Parents that watch secretly their child’s virtual classes violating the privacy rights of the other students or teachers?
Generally, no. This is what TX is telling educators, & parents. covid-19_privacy_and_ferpa_considerations_for_virtual_instruction_april_2.pdf (texas.gov)
Hi Steve, Students and teachers don’t have special privacy rights. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued rulings on this issue but the info doesn’t seemto trickle down to school administrators.
Change the facts: You see a class of kids, teachers, and parent chaperones on a school field trip. You watch as the kids play and learn. Does the fact that you are watching these kids violate their privacy rights? Of course not.
Nothing changes when these kids and teachers are in a classroom at school or in a virtual class at home. People don’t have privacy rights as they go about their business.
Does a student’s absence for medical reasons excuse the school from providing FAPE? My daughter can’t benefit from virtual learning (certified by her doctors in writing) but the school won’t consider any other option (they said on the record they wouldn’t consider anything except virtual public school even though I specifically refused consent for virtual.) Being away from the structured environment of in-person school has seriously degraded kiddo’s mental health and behavior, so I put her in 12 hours per week of in-person ABA in desperation to stop the regression. In response to my state SPED complaint, the state is now saying that since she was absent for medically-necessary ABA, they won’t “penalize” the school for her total lack of progress. But she couldn’t have progressed anyway!
Can a child enrolled in special ed be placed in a new class without the parent receiving notification from special services?
Schools must involve parents if a change of placement is being considered. Placement means type of service provided, not the location of those services. If a student is moved from one “resource” or self-contained special ed classroom to another on the same or even a different campus that is not a change of placement under federal rules. Of course, it is best practice to inform the parent ahead of time and the reasons for this..
Depends, was it just a class (different teacher, different period) change or a service change (was co-taught and then moved to small group w/o parent notification). In my state, the answer to the first scenario would be yes while the answer to the second would be no.
Can a school district have a music teacher, art Teacher or person who does in school suspension teach as part of special ed services inside the General ed classroom?
Your state should have rules on what certification is required for that situation. I suggest contacting your state education agency or state parent training & information center. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center