Before the IEP Meeting:  Notices Consent & Procedural Safeguards

Every IEP Team meeting must be preceded by proper notice to the parent or student (age 19 and older), and every meeting purpose determines which documents and which IEP Team members are required. Getting this step right protects the LEA's compliance and ensures the family has a genuine opportunity to participate.

• DEA — parent participation and prior written notice requirements

• Alabama Administrative Code, Chapter 290-8-9

The Notice and Invitation to a Meeting/Consent for Agency Participation form must be sent every time an IEP Team meeting is scheduled, and must check every possible purpose of the meeting in advance — a purpose not checked on the invitation cannot be addressed at the meeting unless the parent is present and agrees to discuss it.

The Notice and Invitation to a Meeting/Consent for Agency Participation form must be sent every time an IEP Team meeting is scheduled, and must check every possible purpose of the meeting in advance. A purpose not checked on the invitation cannot be addressed at the meeting unless the parent is present and agrees to discuss it.

Required IEP Team members generally include: the parent; the student, when appropriate (required at age 16 and older, and for any student who will turn 16 during the IEP); a general education teacher; a special education teacher; an LEA representative; and an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results. A career/technical education representative or transition agency representatives are added when relevant, with parental consent for agency representatives.

Two contact attempts are required. If there is no response to the first invitation, or the response is to reschedule, the LEA must make a second documented attempt. Both the action and the result of each attempt must be recorded on the form.

A team member may be excused from a meeting, in whole or in part, if the member's curriculum area is not being modified or discussed but only with written parental agreement, and only if the member submits written input to the team before the meeting.

Special Education Rights (procedural safeguards)  must be provided at the required trigger points: annually; at initial referral or a parent's request for evaluation; before a disciplinary change in placement; and at the first state complaint or due process hearing request. The Special Education Rights Acknowledgement Form documents provision.

• Not checking every relevant purpose on the invitation before sending it

•  Missing the second documented contact attempt when there is no response to the first

•  Excusing a team member without the required written agreement and prior written input

•  Failing to provide Special Education Rights at a required trigger point