Underwhelmed in Yelm

Shannon Sankstone

Dear Advocate, 

I’m thinking of writing a special education community complaint. My eighth grader is a student in Yelm. He has ADHD and gets distracted easily, which is in his IEP (Individualized Education Plan). He gets accommodations for that, and other behaviors and needs. It helps him. However, I don’t believe that all his teachers are following the accommodations. I have requested that certain teachers be given his IEP, and I don’t think they have read it. I also am struggling because I’ve asked for these people to be at IEP meetings, and they never attend. What can I do? 

-Underwhelmed in Yelm 

Hi Underwhelmed! 

The issues you bring up are very, very common for middle and high school students with IEPs. There are so many teachers! When I was teaching, some principals limited the sections of the IEP available to me; while I was always given access to the accommodations and modifications, sometimes I was not able to view other important information, such as goals. Fortunately, there are a few things that you can do to improve your son’s educational experience. 

First, the special education community complaint question 

You are always welcome to write a special education community complaint. IEP implementation (such as teachers providing accommodations) is the most common category of complaint in Washington state. Before you begin, though, ask yourself: Do you have documentation of the school’s failure to provide accommodations? Have you done everything you can to support the school? Have you communicated this concern in multiple ways? If the answer to any of these is no, you may want to consider first trying to solve the dispute within the IEP team. 

Material failure 

I know your frustration well, as a parent of a child with an IEP, and I want to encourage you to develop a lasting solution for your son. When an investigator considers violations of IEP implementations, they look for “material failure” to implement an IEP — meaning, the school flat out ignored it. It sounds like the same remedies you would look for from an SECC (Special Education Community Complaint) — staff training and IEP implementation — can be done more easily, and faster, working with the school. 

All about me & IEP at a glance 

Have you created an All About Me one-page summary of your child? I recommend every parent of a child with an IEP or 504 provide this to each and every adult that works with their child. The All About Me lists the strengths, interests, needs and motivators, which is helpful for teachers to know so that they can develop a relationship with your child. Many also have a section on behaviors — both superpowers and limitations — due to the disability. 

The IEP at a glance is also one page and can include whatever information from the IEP is needed for an adult to work with your son. For example, it sounds like you would include the list of accommodations. You might also include how these help your child. 

Make good use of email 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record: Always communicate in writing. When you give the All About Me and IEP at a glance to staff, make sure to email it as a PDF, and get a read receipt.  

Consider requesting, in writing, an IEP meeting. Your meeting invitation should include: 

1. The purpose: State that you want to discuss IEP implementation.  

1. List of attendees: List the teachers with whom you would like to meet. You should also invite an administrator, the case manager and a special education teacher. 

1. Your concerns and requests: Be proactive! Listing your concerns in the invitation allows the school to do a bit of investigating and demonstrates that you are seeking to collaborate to develop solutions. 

1. Dates and times: Provide a few dates and times that work for you. If your school has early release days, that might be a good time for this meeting. 

You don’t have to invite the entire IEP team! If you do not intend to make changes to the IEP, then a full IEP team is not required. However, it is best practice to request written input from excluded individuals, and to politely request the principal or assistant principal’s agreement. 

Advocacy strategies 

In Washington, I have found that many school districts require specific wording before they respond to parent input. IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and the WAC (Washington Administrative Code) require schools to respond to “concerns” and “requests.”  

• I am concerned about ____. I request _____.  
  For example: I am concerned that accommodations are not being provided in basketweaving class. I request 1) the basketweaving teacher join this IEP meeting and 2) the basketweaving teacher acknowledge receipt of the IEP at a glance and All About Me documents I emailed on Oct. 6, 2024. 

One more thing … 

Check your son’s IEP for the “supports for school staff” section. It should be after the service matrix. Does it include a statement that all adults working with your child need to be trained on his IEP? Or at least the accommodations and modifications? If not, then you may want to have a full IEP meeting to amend the IEP to include training for staff. As an advocate, I always encourage my families to include training! (Again, if you and the administrator agree, then you can exclude people from any IEP meeting.) 

And another thing … 

If all this doesn’t work, file that SECC. After all of this, you have done more than should be expected of any parent, and the school needs to improve their practices. Moreover, you have a paper trail that documents your problem solving. Remember: you always win. Even if OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) doesn’t find a violation of the WAC or IDEA, internally, the district will 1) be motivated to provide training for staff and 2) pay closer attention to your child’s IEP implementation, as they will know you are capable of submitting an SECC. 

I wish you well! 
Shannon 

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