If your child has special academic needs, his or her school may come up with an individual educational plan. According to the University of Washington, an IEP ensures your child receives specialized instruction and other educational accommodations.
A team of teachers, educational professionals and advocates should develop your child’s IEP with your family’s input. Still, when you receive the proposed IEP, you may disagree with its approach or something else.
You can verbally object
You know your child better than anyone else does. Consequently, if the IEP does not seem to be right for your son or daughter, it makes sense to verbally object to it. You may even be able to do so during the drafting stage. Your verbal objection may encourage school professionals to rework the IEP to better suit your child’s needs.
You can officially reject the IEP
If your verbal objections do not do the trick, you may have to officially reject the IEP. To do so, you must sign the rejection portion of the plan and return it to school administrators. If you only object to part of the plan, it may be okay to accept the overall plan and add notations to the provisions with which you disagree.
You can lodge an official complaint
Even after working with the school district, you may not have a meeting of the minds about your child’s IEP. If you reach an impasse and believe your child is suffering some type of harm, you can probably lodge an official complaint based on specific grounds.
Ultimately, to ensure your child receives the special education he or she deserves, you must understand all your options and be ready to fully exercise all your legal rights.
