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In my district, some parents have come with an advocate. I am not sure where they come from, but, I think, it is a government agency that provides these advocates who the laws and system well.
Let me preface this by saying I do not know a lot about special education law in TX, however, I have been teaching special education in another state for about 15 years. Not allowing a day to day sub to rifle through a student's IEP sounds pretty standard, but in that case, the teacher would have written something in the plans about the needs of this student so the sub could accommodate. In the case of a longer term sub, I see NO reason why the IEP plans could not be shared. There are sometimes "political" issues within buildings i.e. the IEPS are all locked up in the office and often the school staff does not always know enough/care enough/delegate enough, for the long-term sub to get access. However, as a parent, you have the IEP and can always get the IEP to the teacher yourself (not that you should have to). Furthermore, the 30/mins./weekly of counseling services is not likely written under the condition of there being an in house Psych/SSW etc., but rather it is part of the legal IEP document that is fully enforceable by law. At first blush, I would start at the school level by trying to meet with the teacher myself/school staff/principal/spec. ed sup, etc.; but beyond that, there are likely advocates available in your community that know the law in your area better and could further direct you/advocate for you. Notwithstanding, I did not address the whole private school issue which may or may not affect the validity to either of my answers, but again, it is hard for me to say for sure without knowing more about the law in your jurisdiction. I just want to encourage you to keep fighting this bcs it sounds incredibly fishy. Best wishes!
Call an ARD and specifically request that the long term sub (or anyone who subs in your child's class) be privy to her needs (that is, view at the very least her BIP). Seems like the ARD committee should be able to write that into the ARD minutes or elsewhere in the document that you sign.
Regarding the LSSP - check to see who is providing this service; if the IEP says 30 min/week, then she must receive that service. I don't know how a small school would cope with that personnel loss but if the IEP says she gets it, then she MUST get that service; if you are no longer interested in her receiving that service her IEP must be changed by ARD.
I am not sure where the private school comments are coming from, sorry if I was unclear somewhere, but she is in a public charter, very small one. Not to get into a big rant but the school itself is kind of a mess. Disorganization has been our number one complaint.
We're going to set up a time to meet with the Special Ed "guy in charge" (not sure of his title) and bring these things up.
Even though it's getting closer to the end of the year, we don't want to see her progress take a turn for the worse, especially since we're changing schools next year. I wish they could just bring the same (previous) LSSP in once a week even though he no longer works there. She's known him for her entire time at school and he still lives here in town, it was a good fit. We've known him for years too, from when he did the testing for the oldest kid.
Spazkat9696; not from me. I did first post this in parenting though, and a mod moved it, so maybe you saw it there before it was moved?
One more thing; do y'all think we should just automatically request the one on one testing environment for the upcoming state test? It seems like it'd be helpful for her but since this is her first standardized test of this nature we are not sure if it would be necessary and if we should just request it anyway. She IS prone to giving in to distractions from classmates and anything else.
I asked my older son about when he was in school (he was SpEd /LD math) and he remembers going off in a separate room for his math testing and he said he didn't like it, it was weird for him being all alone testing but then again he's a different person.
My experience in the past pertained to my son who had struggles with math related learning disorders and it was all so much more straightforward. With DD it's behavioral and emotional and affects so many more facets of her school day, it is a bigger learning process for us. We know what works for her at home when there is homework to be done but it's a different ballgame at school, of course.
In my district, some parents have come with an advocate. I am not sure where they come from, but, I think, it is a government agency that provides these advocates who the laws and system well.
No, the government does not supply advocates in most cases. In general, parents seek them out and they may be volunteers, but often they are paid.
If you are having an ARD to address other issues anyway, see what the team thinks about the testing. If they can't come to a consensus then go with your gut - if it is one-on-one she will be taken to another room and someone (at least an aide, if not a teacher) will be assigned to proctor.
As far as the LSSP, you can request a specific person but all the school is required to do is provide the service, not the person.
Re: FERPA and privacy concerns, the privilege belongs to the parent. If the parent wishes for the confidential information to be shared, it should be shared. See p. 13 of this document (the second bulleted point):
Substitutes can cause very tricky situations, but here is what you need to know:
-You can get an advocate, but we are dealing with federal law, not local.
-Charters are generally extremely unorganized when it comes to Special Education.
-If the substitute is EC-12 Special Education certified, not only is she allowed to see all of the student's IEP's, he or she has the power to call for an ARD or a review.
-If the sub is not certified in this fashion, it's going to be the teacher she replaced and the admin that wind up on the hook if things are not being taken care of properly.
There are ways to share the IEP plan without breaking the law and they are made for these reasons. Your child's original teacher should have done that.
If you reallllllllllly want to get what you want, remind admin about this, come across more knowledgeable than them and make it clear that you know this stuff is all FEDERAL and not LOCAL. Watch everything go your way, but quick! Remind them that it's federal, federal, federal law. I assure you, your admins are hoping you don't know this. They always do.
One more thing; do y'all think we should just automatically request the one on one testing environment for the upcoming state test?
Not only should you request it; you should insist. It's in her IEP so they can't skirt around this and even though the sub can't read the IEP most likely, there is surely someone at the school who can. If they don't provide this service then they are breaking the law and it's to their advantage anyway since the standardized tests are actually testing the school, not the kids.
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