IEPs during Covid-19
Schools are closed, now what?
On March 29, 2020, the California Department of Education announced their formal recommendation for public schools to remain closed until the end of the present 2019-2020 school year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All public schools in our state have been instructed to move to distance learning for all students, including those with IEPs and 504 plans. This leaves many parents with children with special needs wondering how this will work out for them as many students may not be able to access or benefit from remote learning. By doing so, parents have in practice been given a substantial responsibility of teaching their kids without the appropriate training and, in some cases, the necessary equipment.
Who will educate my special-needs child?
The Covid-19 pandemic is truly an unprecedented situation that virtually no one imagined or planned for. However, the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA) is still in effect. IDEA requires public schools to provide a free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children. The fact that schools have closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic does not shift the responsibility to parents.
Districts remain obligated to provide all the services required on a child’s IEP in the most appropriate way they can considering the circumstances. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised everyone to implement social distancing so providing therapy in-person is not an option, but that does not waive the District’s obligation to serve your child. The District is required to find a way to provide the related services listed on your child's IEP, which may include speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, behavioral interventions, assistive technology, counseling and specialized academic instruction, among others.
How each District and IEP team determines how to do this should be based on what is appropriate to the individual child’s needs. There is not going to be a one-model-fits-all.
Both the Department of Education at the federal and state levels have issued guidance on what the districts’ obligations are during Covid-19. They have gone as far as publishing a Fact Sheet to further clarify these obligations.
As of now, most timelines under IDEA have not been waived. The only extension granted, as of April 4, 2020, is the 15-day timeline to prepare a proposed assessment plan, which stopped running at the time the school closed due to Covid-19. The timeline will resume when the school reopens, and the regular school session reconvenes.
In response to Covid-19, Congress passed laws to provide relief, including the CARES Act. But none of those laws allow for waivers from federal civil rights laws, such as IDEA. The CARES Act does, however, require the Secretary of Education to make a report to Congress within 30 days on any recommendations for waivers from IDEA provisions that Congress should consider. This may or may not impact our special education students. We will have to wait and see what the Secretary of Education does with her report.
California Legislature recently passed two Covid-19 emergency bills, one of which includes $100 Million in funding that will be distributed to districts throughout California. These funds are meant, in part, to implement a distance learning infrastructure that is equitable and accessible to all students, including special education students. However, it might take some time before such funding is received and used by schools to implement distance learning while our children are home without access to free appropriate public education.
For the time being our children will not be going to school. They will be at home. Distance learning will require that parents devote significant time and effort to help their children access their education through technology. But distance learning is not home schooling. It is crisis schooling. Parents need to know that they are not professional educators and can only be expected to do the best they can. And, unfortunately, not all children will be able to benefit from this type of instruction. Especially special education children. This is why it is very important to have a plan moving forward.
Develop a plan for the duration of Covid-19
Following are our recommendations to your developing a plan for your child’s special education through distance learning:
Reach out to your child's case manager via email and request to hold a virtual IEP meeting via conference call or video conference to discuss what the new distance learning will be for your child.
At the virtual IEP, ask the following critical questions:
What services are going to be provided?
Who will be providing the services?
How are they going to provide these services? (ZOOM, WEBEX, TELETHERAPY)
When are these services going to be delivered?
What is the equipment that needs to provide the appropriate services? Do you have the equipment, or does the District need to deliver it? (ex: Technology, OT/PT supplies, etc.)
Who will train the parents to assist in the delivery of these services? If the parent is not available, who can help the student to access his or her educational curriculum?
Who will accommodate and/or modify the curriculum provided?
What are the student's current present levels of performance?
How is the student going to be provided opportunities to interact with general education peers?
Is the student going to be eligible for Extended School Year, and, if so, what is it going to look like?
Request that a clear weekly schedule for the student is provided ahead of time, as well as the weekly amount of work expected to be completed. Ask how and when is this is going to be made available and how is it going to be turned in.
Discuss how IEP goals are going to be addressed in the new distance learning program.
It is also vital to be honest with the IEP team. Let them know what you think and how you feel about this new distance learning. Do you think you are going to be able to facilitate the instruction and the therapies that are needed? Discuss your training limitations, time constraints and your fears. Ask them what will happen if your child is not able to access the curriculum, do not make meaningful progress towards his/her IEP goals, or even regress. This should open the conversation to possible compensatory education in the future in case it does not worked out as planned.
How to protect my child's existing IEP?
Before signing any amendment to the IEP, it is crucial to protect your previously agreed-upon IEP since the new IEP amendment would be to serve the child only during the extenuating circumstance of Covid-19. Document on the IEP notes and the signature page that the IEP amendment is only to be in effect during the Covid-19 crisis while schools remain closed and that the previously agreed-upon IEP (the one in place at the time before Covid-19 school closures) will be back in effect once schools reopen.
Using a Daily Log
Finally, since we are walking an unprecedented road, it is important to always protect your child’s rights by documenting what happens. Keeping a daily log will help you in ways that you may not think of. And it may come in handy if you need to look into compensatory services once the Shelter-in-place order is lifted and schools reopen.
On the daily log, you should document the following:
The date;
The services that are being provided;
The therapy provided, who provided it and its setting (was it 1:1 or group therapy);
How the distance learning therapy was provided (Teletherapy, Webex, Zoom, etc.);
The duration of the session;
What materials were needed for the session and were they made available by the District ahead of time;
Was the child able to access the session appropriately?
Did you consider the session to be beneficial for your child?
What assignments were assigned that day?
How and when did you receive the assignments?
Did your child need help doing the assignments, if so how much help?
What was your child able to do independently?
Was the work accommodated or modified so your child could access it; By who?
What difficulties did your child have to do be able to benefit from the curriculum or therapy provided on that day?
Communicating with the school district
Most educators are trying to support your child and your family during this pandemic. Keeping the lines of communication open with your child’s teachers and case manager is key. Always remember to document everything in writing. Using email to communicate with your child’s case manager is best as it will allow for you to be able to refer back to the communications in the future.