03/26/2020

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As the Director of Student Services for the district’s 250+ students with IEPs, I am very much aware that your child’s needs may be very different than that of a non-disabled student or more typical learner. This unprecedented health event is challenging us, the educators, in ways that we never imagined; however, I recognize that it is challenging you, the parents, in many more ways.

As of this week, we have learned that the federal and state-mandated Special Education timelines will not be waived. Therefore, here are the steps the district is taking during the closure.

1) We are going to make every attempt to keep your child’s special education paperwork (annual IEPS or Reevaluations) up-to-date and compliant with special education timelines. Your child’s IEP will be provided to you by email, or by US mail. Please let your child’s special education teacher know your preference. You should expect to hear from your child’s principal or teacher regarding meetings that are already scheduled or need to be during this time.

2) We will hold virtual and phone IEP meetings with you during this time. We will ask that you recognize that not all school participants may be in attendance. These IEP meetings will include your special education teacher, and your principal or me, if needed, and your child if they are 14 or older. To have you participate, we will make use of Google Meet, conferencing calling, email, or other means. We have had several successful virtual meetings already. Please know that if needed, we will reconvene the IEP team and include those individuals who were unable to attend when school resumes.

3) Supporting your children is of the utmost importance to us. Your child’s teacher will be reaching out to you soon to touch base. Since the school closures have been extended by the Governor, and Upper Adams will be closed until at least April 14th, the professionals who work with your child will be preparing to offer some type of remote learning opportunities. This includes finding out your child’s ability and access to connect to a device, such as an iPad or computer.

4) Finally, when school does resume, whether at the end of this closure or when brick and mortar school reopens, the IEP team will reconvene for a meeting to assess the impact of this closure on your child’s progress with the knowledge that certain groups of students have more needs than others. When school resumes, we are more than happy to reschedule a meeting in which you can meet face to face with your child’s special education teacher and regular education teacher, even if we decide that the impact of the closure has been minimal.

The purpose of this letter is to address what we are doing during this initial closure. Should the district remain closed an additional amount of time, you should expect future communications from me regarding your child in their special education needs.

Sincerely,

Anne K. Corwell, Ed. D.

Director of Student Services

Upper Adams School District