We often hear from parents who are planning to call an “Emergency IEP.” Usually, this means there are urgent reasons to update their child’s IEP or a crisis that necessitates holding an IEP team meeting NOW!
Regardless of either of these, the district still has 30 days to hold an IEP Team Meeting. These 30 days start from the time you request an IEP meeting in writing. All 30-day timelines include weekends and holidays. Timelines exclude any school breaks of a week or more—ski week, spring break, or summer break, for instance. If you request an IEP meeting on the very last day of the school year, the first day of the next school year would be day 1 of the timeline.
You can express that it is urgent that the team meet. We have seen meetings take place as soon as 2 to 3 days after a request, although this is not common.
Now what?
You have met with the IEP team, and your child is still in a completely inappropriate placement. In many cases, the child is in great distress, both at school and at home. What do you do when your child is in an unbearable educational situation, and you have tried everything you know to try?
Some parents choose to remove their child from school, sending the district a note that the student is in distress and cannot attend. Others simply call and tell the district the child is sick—as many times as necessary. There are huge problems with both approaches.
What’s the problem?
Some districts aggressively pursue truancy claims against students AND parents. As a result, parents can face misdemeanor charges after repeated incidents within the same school year. Additionally, the student can end up in juvenile court.
Occasionally calling out your student will not trigger this.
What else can I do?
There ARE options parents can legitimately pursue. These will be the topic of another blog post. In the meantime, call or email us for suggestions.
As parents, we understand. As experienced and trained advocates, we can help.