Emergency IEP team meetings are a tool you can use if there is an urgent major change or an unexpected event that affects your child’s education. Here are some things you should know as you inform the school of the emergency. First, consider your concerns and decide if they are urgent enough that there must be an IEP Team meeting sooner than 30 days, or if they can wait for up to 30 days. An example of something you’d like sooner but probably can wait is increased OT services, for example. Second, an emergency IEP meeting is an amendment IEP meeting, but is typically scheduled sooner than mandated by the 30-day time limit. Third, your child’s school district usually schedules emergency IEP meetings as soon as possible. They still have the mandated 30 days, and it may not be scheduled for tomorrow, but emergency meetings are often held one to two weeks after you provide notice.
How do you call for emergency IEP meetings?
The clock for emergency IEP team meetings starts when you reach out to your child’s teacher or case manager, inform them you need an IEP meeting scheduled as soon as possible, and provide the details as to why. While the school technically has 30 days to hold this IEP amendment meeting, they are more inclined to schedule the meeting quickly if you provide detailed information about your concern(s). Emergency IEP team meetings generally occur sooner if you only invite the IEP team members whose presence is required. For example, if the reason for calling the IEP meeting is in regards to speech therapy and your child also receives service for occupational therapy, you can choose to say the occupational therapist does not have to join the IEP meeting and that can help in scheduling sooner.
If you are unsure whether you should call an emergency IEP meeting or an amendment IEP meeting instead of a parent-teacher meeting: think about how the situation at hand may affect your child’s IEP and whether or not you require official documentation. All IEP documents have a notes section that summarizes the conversations had during the meeting and are officially documented and added to your child’s record. This can be very helpful if you feel an ongoing situation has resulted in the need for the emergency IEP meeting.
If you’re feeling unsure about your child’s next IEP or their education as a whole, reach out to Aspire Advocacy. We have extensive experience with emergency IEP meetings and amendment IEP meetings.
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