Rochelle’s Special Education Tips
Make Your Position Loud And Clear
When school based members of an IEP team must defer to a parent’s decision, such as the decision not to enroll the child in an alternative education program that does not issue or provide credits toward a Maryland high school diploma, or identify the child for the alternative education assessment, be sure to note your disagreement in the Prior Written Notice (PWN). State why you believe the student should be in an alternative education program or take the alternative education assessment. Otherwise, there may be finger pointing at the school system for not warning the parent that the child may not be able to earn the required credits needed to graduate. When the parent later complains, “no one ever told me my child would be unable to earn a high school diploma,” you can point to the PWN and say the equivalent of “we told you so.”