IEP Special Education Advocate San Jose
IEP Essentials
An IEP is a written contract between your student’s school district and you. The document specifies goals, supports, services, qualifying criteria, and many other key aspects of your child’s education plan.
WRITE IT DOWN
There is an old saying “A verbal contract is not worth the paper it is written on.” Unfortunately, that is true. We have seen IEP Team Meetings where the team agrees and collaborates on all details of drawing up the IEP document. Then, when reviewing the final IEP document, some of those agreements do not appear in the document. It is important to have the IEP team change the paperwork to reflect all agreements.
Why?
IEP Special Education Advocate San Jose
If anything you discussed did not make it into the document, the district does not have to provide it. It is key that the contract contains all agreements, and that district fix any inadvertent errors. If you just had the IEP Team Meeting and recorded it, then it is easier to insist on corrections.
Recording
That is also why it is always important to record all meetings. Most of the time you will never need the recording. We have had several meetings where having a recording profoundly impacted the final document. You can always erase a recording; you cannot go back and do it afterwards, though. It is your proof of what the team discussed.
What If Things Are Missing And They Won’t Change It?
If not, you will have to call another IEP. Verbal agreements made outside of an IEP Team Meeting are not enforceable. Make sure the IEP document memorializes all verbal agreements from the meeting.
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