factsfacts

Parents’ rights in specialeducation

Parents’ rights

enable you to

participate

fully in your

child’s special

education

program.

ConsentAs parents you have the right

• to give your written consent beforethe school conducts any new testsor measures to determine whetheryour child is, or continues to be,eligible for special education

• to give your written consent beforeyour child �rst receives specialeducation services

• to revoke your consent for evalua-tion any time before the schoolcompletes new tests and measures(Any tests or measures the schoolhas already completed become partof your child’ s education record.)

• to revoke your consent for specialeducation services at any time, evenafter the IEP has been implemented

Although you have the right to refusewritten consent for your child’s �rstevaluation, the school may ask formediation or a due process hearing to �ndout whether your child should beevaluated. If you fail to respond to theschool’ s request for a reevaluation, the

school may conduct the reevaluation if itcan show it took reasonable steps toobtain your consent.

Before giving your consent, the schoolshould explain fully why it needs yourapproval. The school must give youinformation in your native language or inanother method of communication usedby you. Your consent is voluntary.

NoticeWritten notice from the school is requiredand provides parents with importantinformation regarding the specialeducation process. Your rights include

• noti�cation by the school before itbegins (or refuses) to provide spe-cial education services to your child

• noti�cation before the school plans(or refuses) to change your child’sidenti�cation, evaluation, specialeducation services, or educationplacement

• noti�cation of each evaluationmethod, test, record, or report theschool uses to make its decision

Parents’ rights are guaranteed by the Individuals withDisabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) andVermont Special Education Regulations. In this fact sheet,we summarize parental rights regarding children ages 3through 21 who are eligible for special education.

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• noti�cation about your rights, including theright to �le an administrative complaint, adue process complaint, or request mediationif you disagree with the school about yourchild’ s identi�cation, evaluation, educationprogram, or placement

A notice must describe the• action that the school is planning to take

and its reason for taking this step• reasons why the school is taking (or refus-

ing) to take action• choices the school considered in taking (or

refusing) to take action• other reasons that led to the school’s deci-

sion. (In VT, schools are required to use specialeducation form 7 or 7a for this purpose.)

The school must make sure that any notice it givesyou is written in your native language or that it usesthe communication method that you use, such assign language.

Education records and confidentialityUnder the Family Educational Rights and PrivacyAct (FERPA), you have the right

• to see your child’ s education records. Theschool must give you the records within 45days of your request or anytime before ameeting to talk about your child’s evalua-tion, eligibility for special education, or Indi-vidualized Education Program (IEP)

• to request copies of your child’s records.You may be asked to pay for copies them-selves (not the time it took to make them)unless the charge would prevent you fromgetting copies

• to know where your child’s records are kept,to know what information your child’srecords contain , and to have informationexplained to you

• to request that the records be changed if youbelieve they are wrong, misleading, or violateyour privacy

• to ask for a hearing if the school refuses tochange the records as you have requested

• to have information in your child’s recordschanged if, as the result of a hearing, it isdetermined that the information is wrong,misleading, or violates your privacy

• to see information only about your child ifrecords include information about other

children as well• to add a written statement to your child’ s

records describing why you disagree withany of the information

• to know when the school plans to destroyinformation in your child’s records

• to consent to have others not involved inyour child’ s education program see therecords, know who these individuals are,and how they used the information

EvaluationWhen your child is evaluated for special education,your rights include

• to have a complete evaluation of yourchild’ s strengths and needs, including edu-cational performance and functional skills

• to attend and participate in Evaluation andPlanning Team (EPT) meetings, includingmeetings to decide your child’s special edu-cation eligibility , and to bring someone withyou to Evaluation and Planning Team meet-ings

• a written evaluation plan that includes infor -mation you provide about your child

• to have more than one measure used in de-termining eligibility for special educationand to have all areas regarding your child’s ssuspected disability evaluated. (Tests mustbe given in your child’ s native language.)

• to receive a copy of the evaluation plan andreport

• a reevaluation every three years by the anni-versary date of your child’s last evaluation,unless you and the school agree that a re-evaluation is not needed

• to request a reevaluation of your child morefrequently, but not more often than once ayear, unless you and the school agree other -wise

• notice that no new information will be usedto evaluate your child for special education.You retain your right to a complete evalua-tion of your child if you believe that newinformation is needed to determineeligibility.

The school has 60 days from the time you giveyour written consent to complete its evaluation andissue a report. If the evaluation will take longerthan 60 days, the school must give you writtennotice about the delay and the expectedcompletion date.

• information about where you can get helpunderstanding your rights.

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Independent evaluationAn independent educational evaluation is anevaluation conducted by a quali�ed individual whois not an employee in your child’ s school. You havethe right

• to an independent evaluation at the school’sexpense if you disagree with its evaluation ofyour child, unless the school asks for a dueprocess hearing to show that its evaluationwas appropriate

• to information from the school about whereto get an independent evaluation

• to have independent evaluation results con-sidered by the Evaluation and Planning Teamwhen a decision is being made about yourchild’s special education eligibility, program,or placement

• to an independent evaluation at your ownexpense if the school’s evaluation is consid-ered appropriate

• to have independent evaluation results con-sidered during mediation or a due processhearing

• to have a hearing of�cer order an independentevaluation at no cost to you as part of a dueprocess hearing

Although you have the right to an independentevaluation paid for by the school, that evaluationmust meet the school’ s guidelines, unless thoseguidelines make it impossible for you to get anappropriate evaluation.

Individualized Education Program (IEP)As parents, you have the right to

• participate in meetings to develop your child’sIndividualized Education Program (IEP)

• notice of the IEP meeting time and place, thereason for the meeting, and who will attend.You should be noti�ed of the meeting earlyenough so you can participate.

• have the meeting held at a time and placethat is convenient for you and your child’ steam

• participate in the IEP meeting by othermeans, such as the telephone or video con-ference, if you cannot attend in person

• request a meeting to change or improve yourchild’ s IEP . With the school, you can agree inwriting not to hold an IEP meeting to makechanges to the IEP. When this happens, theschool will record the changes to the IEP and

give you copies of these changes.• receive a copy of your child’ s written evalu-

ation report and to review your child’ srecords before the IEP meeting

• bring a friend, advocate, or someone elsewith you to your child’ s IEP meeting

• be informed regularly of your child’sprogress toward annual goals

Parents and schools can agree to excuse an IEPteam member from a meeting

• when the curriculum or related services theteam member is responsible for is not beingdiscussed or changed

• when the team member whose curriculumor related service is being discussed pro-vides written information to the team re-garding IEP services before the meetingtakes place

Least restrictive environment (LRE)Least restrictive environment means your childwith disabilities has the right to be educated inyour neighborhood school with his or hernondisabled classmates to the greatest degreepossible. Parents have the right

• to a variety of support services and accom-modations to assure that your child will dowell in the regular classroom, such as one-to-one tutoring and adjustments in home-work assignments and/or grading proce-dures

• to a variety of education placements foryour child, such as preschool or day caresettings, regular classes, and special educa-tion classes

• to participate in the decision regardingyour child’ s educational placement basedon his or her individual needs

• to have your child participate in in-schooland after-school activities with nondisabledchildren

Private school placementIf your child receives special education services ina private school as part of his or her IEP, you havethe same rights as though your child attendedpublic school.

If the local school district o�ered your child afree appropriate public education (F APE) and youdecide to place your child in a private school on

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your own, the school district does nothave to pay the cost of special educationand related services. If you disagree withthe school, you have the right to request adue process hearing.

A school district may have to pay thecost of special education and relatedservices at a private school if you removeyour child from his or her IEP placementand a hearing of�cer decides that theschool district did not o�er your child afree appropriate public education.

Reimbursement for private schoolplacement may be reduced or denied if

• you fail to tell the school that youare rejecting the IEP placementand enrolling your child in privateschool

• you fail to notify the school in writ-ing within 10 days of your decisionto remove your child from the publicschool

• the school noti�ed you before youenrolled your child in a privateschool that it wanted to evaluateyour child and you did not make yourchild available for the evaluation

(Y ou do not have to follow the above tworules if by doing so your child wouldexperience serious emotional or physicalharm or if you were not told about theserequirements.)

The school district where the privateschool is located is required to �nd,identify , and evaluate any child with adisability in private schools, includingreligious schools. If you put your child ina private school, your child no longer hasa right to a free appropriate publiceducation.

If your child is home schooled, theschool district may, but is not required to,provide special education or relatedservices to your child.

Note: In Vermont, private schools mayalso be referred to as independentschools.

Transferring rights at 18One year in advance, the school mustnotify you and your child of the transfer ofspecial education rights to your child atage 18.

If the court has appointed you orsomeone else as legal guardian, specialeducation rights will not transfer to yourchild at age 18.

As the parent of an 18-year-old child witha disability , you will continue to beinformed of meetings. You may attendmeetings only with your son’s or daughter’ spermission.

If you claim your child as a dependent onyour federal income tax return, or if yourchild gives written permission, you willcontinue to have the right to review andrequest copies of his or her educationrecords.

ResourcesFor help understanding your rights,contact any of the following resources.Also available from VFN are additionalfact sheets describing parents’ rights todisagree and the Individualized EducationProgram (IEP).

Vermont Family Networkhelp for families navigating the educationsystem

(802) 876-5315 • 1-800-800-4005info@vtfn.org • www.vtfn.org

Vermont Department of Educationhelp with special education issues for schoolsand families

(802) 828-5114 ( V/TTY )www.state.vt.us/educ/

Disability Law Projectlegal support for special education services

(800) 747-5022 Burlington/Champlain Valley

(800) 789-4195 Central Vermont(800) 769-7459 Addison/Rutland/

Bennington Area(800) 769-6728 Northeast Kingdom(800) 769-9164 Windham/Windsor Area(800) 889-2047 StatewideAll phones ( V/TTY ).

To order copies ofthis fact sheet, or to

learn more aboutVFN’s materials and

services, contact theVermont Family

Network600 Blair Park,

Suite 240,

Williston, VT 05495

1-800-800-4005You can also

contact us via e-mailat info@vtfn.org.

And don’t forget tovisit our website at

www.vtfn.org.

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