Season Over

Four children with IEPs. Six meetings in the last six weeks. But I am done for this school year!!!

It’s so interesting to me how different IEP teams conduct meetings differently. Now all these are in the same school district, a school district that is OCD about following the rules (except when they don’t).

For Jessica’s IEP, the team just passed the document around via email. We had our discussions via email, and appropriate changes were made. Then I signed the document electronically and sent it to school electronically.

Ronnie’s IEP meeting, the first held for him in this school district, involved 16 people and two attorneys. The attorneys were not for the reason you probably suspect, but for now, I can’t share anymore. The final result however was that 2 weeks later, a great IEP had been developed for Ronnie’s transition to his new school.

Ashley’s IEP meeting was pretty run of the mill. Of course, that has not always been the case, but I think we are finally re-establishing good working relationships. Until high school, her IEP meetings were always contentious, lasted hours, and often ended in mediation and once in due process. But this year was fine. She has a good IEP and next school year is looking to be a positive experience, much like this first year of high school.

Then, we had ESY IEP meetings for both Ashley and Ronnie. Again, no problems and good results.

Today I finished up with Corey’s IEP meeting. Corey’s meeting was only attended by me, the case manager, and a general education teacher. Of course, we were missing an administrator, but I was too tired of meetings to quibble about that. Corey’s meeting was interesting because of the contrast between Corey’s actual abilities and his motivation to do a good job, or even a passable job, at school. It’s tough to write goals and objectives when the primary reason Corey is failing 11th grade is lack of motivation.

Also, because Corey can’t plan and imagine a future any further than tomorrow, we did beef up the IEP with objectives requiring him to explore and consider life after high school. I am so worried that he will eventually squeak through high school, and then have absolutely no place to go. College isn’t looking likely. The military, his first choice, is even questionable. I proposed to the team that we hit hard on some vocational skills and they agreed. So, we ended up with another good IEP.

Other than all the time I had to take off from work, this year’s IEP season wasn’t too bad. But I am really, really glad it is over!