Whether or not one should move to another school district is an often-requested piece of IEP advice. Perhaps the district refuses to assess your student for special education services. Possibly the school district assessed your student and refused to qualify your child. Alternatively, the school district is not providing appropriate supports and services. You call an IEP team meeting one after another, and there appear to be few to no changes in your child’s IEP (Individualized Education Plan). In some cases, the relationship between the school district and family can become antagonistic, which makes working collaboratively together difficult.
Back in the late 1990s, Leigh went into IEP team meetings for our children and the district representative would go flush red from anger when they saw her. As advocates and as parents, we have given a tremendous amount of thought into whether it’s better to change districts.
Yes, you can move. What you should know is the paperwork goes with your student. You cannot have an assessment in one district and start completely fresh with another district. If the assessment was several years ago it may get overlooked or ignored, but recent evaluations or assessments most likely become part of your child’s “new” file.
There is a lot of inaccurate IEP advice on the internet. Make sure to get all the facts before making major decisions.
If your relationship with your child’s school is particularly contentious, it MAY be worth considering a move. Please consider that education is a small industry and people talk; you may or may not start completely fresh. You will, however, have a chance to make a new first impression.
However, a new district will typically not (re)evaluate a student who has just moved into the district, or substantially change supports and services. If your student has an IEP and changes schools, there is an automatic IEP meeting 30 days after your student starts at their new school. This gives the team a chance to get to know the student, and make recommendations on keeping goals and services the same or changing them in a way that they believe will better support the student.
Unless things are very contentious, we recommend parents stay where they are and put their time and energy into getting their child an effective and appropriate IEP. Then you can transfer to whatever school is located where you would like to live. There is no magic district that we know of where you do not have to actively and effectively advocate for your student.
We can, however, greatly help you with getting the educational process individualized for your child.
For help at your child’s next IEP meeting, more information about our special education advocacy services, or for a FREE 20-minute consultation to see if we are a good fit for you, call or email today!
As parents, we understand. As advocates, we can help.