Federal law mandates that school districts provide students with disabilities with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The law applies to all K-12 students within a district's boundaries, and districts must offer these services at no additional cost to the students or their families.
The majority of the laws governing IEPs come from federal law. Still, states have some flexibility to define aspects of the program and also provide services above and beyond what federal law requires.
As the state with the highest population, California serves a wide-ranging population, all of which fall under the same state laws. Families of students with disabilities should be familiar with California's additional rules that govern IEPs and how they may affect students.
What is an IEP?
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), IEPs explain the services, support, and instruction a student with disabilities requires.
An IEP is essentially a roadmap of what support and services a student needs to succeed. To qualify for an IEP, students must have a diagnosed disability. A school district must provide the student with an IEP, and after the initial meeting, each IEP is subject to an annual revision.
In California, schools have a limited ability to implement an IEP without parental consent. A judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), which governs IEP disputes, must give a school district permission.
Transition Plans
Beginning at age 16, a student's IEP will expand to add a postsecondary transition plan. As of 2023, California currently follows the federal guidelines for transition plans. The state's IEP workgroup, authorized in 2020, proposed lowering the age when students first have a transition plan to 14. They also recommended placing more emphasis on a student's long-term, post-school plans when designing IEPs.
Neither of these recommendations is currently law as of 2023, but they're both under consideration in the state. Families may wish to mention one or both of these proposals at a student's IEP meeting and possibly request these recommendations be factored into a student's current IEP.
California's Additional Requirements
California opted into IDEA in the 1970s and has continued to expand its laws on the subject above and beyond what federal law requires. The state has had several working groups, including one focused on IEPs, to help determine how to improve support for students with disabilities.
As of 2023, some ways that California expands upon federal law:
- While IDEA sets a maximum age of 22, California mandates that students receive support through the end of the school year they turn 22.
- In some circumstances, California limits service providers' caseloads.
- California requires school districts to join a Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA).
- As of 2020, California students must have an emergency plan as part of their IEP.
Individual school districts may have additional support and services for students above and beyond federal and California law.
SELPAs
One way in which California law differs from federal law is the creation of Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs). SELPAs are geographic consortiums intended to meet the special education needs of all children residing within their area. Given California's size and its range of areas, from high-density cities to rural farming communities, the state has approximately 130 SELPAs.
Some counties, such as Napa and Tuolumne, have a single SELPA for the entire county. Others, such as Los Angeles, Orange, and Alameda, have several. While all have to follow the same federal and state laws, each SELPA may have individual programs and services.
Napa County, for example, has a policy for special education regarding charter schools. The policy applies only to students who are voluntarily enrolled in charter schools that are endorsed by an entity that is a member of the SELPA.
Given Los Angeles's large size, the county has over a dozen SELPAs, including some with specialized focuses. LA County has a specific SELPA for students currently in the county's Juvenile Court and Community Schools. The Foothill SELPA, located in the eastern part of the county, serves three school districts and has a dedicated school for students with disabilities that need more individualized attention.
Charter schools may also form their own SELPAs. Unlike most SELPAs, these are not based on regions and could be anywhere in California. The state currently has five charter-only SELPAs.
Especially for families in California, knowing the relevant federal and state laws may not be enough for your student. It's also important to know about your area's SELPAs and how they serve their students, including programs they may have that go above and beyond federal and state requirements.
One of the advantages of the Lento Law Firm is its nationwide experience. The Education Law Team uses its knowledge of different states and school districts to assist families in learning about the wide variety of support options available, including comparing how similar school districts implement IEPs.
Emergency IEPs
As of 2020, all IEPs must include plans in the event of an emergency closure. A revision to the California Education Code expands IEPs to include preparation and guidelines for how to continue to support students in the event of an emergency. These new rules come into force when, as a result of the emergency, students are unable to attend school in-person for at least ten days.
The state defines the following as emergencies:
- Fires
- Flood
- Impassable roads
- Epidemic
- Earthquake
- Major safety hazard
- Transportation strike by a non-school provider
- War
- Another state of emergency
Emergencies can also include public health orders, such as those that were issued during the Covid pandemic.
IEP emergency plans should include the following, depending on a student's current IEP:
- Special education and related services
- Supplementary aids and services
- Transition services
- Expanded school-year services
The revisions include provisions for distance learning, learning continuity, and minimizing learning loss.
If a student's current IEP does not include emergency plans, at the next scheduled revision, the IEP should be expanded to include emergency provisions. If your student has an IEP but does not have emergency plans, you should contact your school district to schedule an IEP meeting. As emergency plans are now required in California, schools cannot refuse to add them to your student's plan.
Report: Overview of Special Education in California
In 2019, the Legislative Analyst's Office issued a report on special education in California. Following the implementation of a new accountability system, the report highlights that approximately 20 percent of California school districts had poor outcomes for students with disabilities. Overall, the report found that students with disabilities lagged behind their peers in every metric.
To address this gap, beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, CA earmarked $10M annually to direct to school districts with poor outcomes for students with disabilities. One continuing problem is that the state has little information on students with disabilities after they've been out of high school for over a year. Without being able to track these students into their adult lives, it can be difficult to know the effectiveness of both IEPs and transition plans.
The report also highlighted other issues that could hurt students with IEPs.
IDEA Reauthorization
One issue the 2019 report highlighted is that IDEA is overdue for reauthorization. IDEA was previously reauthorized every seven years, but as of 2023, its last authorization was in 2004. To put that in perspective, that was a year before the launch of YouTube and three years before the release of the iPhone, meaning IDEA does not factor in recent advances in technology that can help students.
While that 2004 authorization remains in effect, parents and students should keep in mind that the use of technology and other recent programs in IEPS may be dependent on the school district.
Costs
The 2019 report included information on the cost of supporting students with disabilities. While federal law does require school districts to provide support at no additional charge to families, limited funding remains a significant hurdle. Moreover, because federal law only requires reasonable accommodations and not all accommodations, school districts may be able to use cost as a way to deny a specific program or service.
Overall, California spends approximately $4 billion annually on special education services. This does not include federal or local spending.
This is one reason why parents should be aware of this report and its findings on cost. Having this knowledge can help parents address the issue.
Per Year Costs
During the 2017-2018 school year, the study found the following:
- The average cost per student was $10,000.
- In comparison, special education services, including IEPs, cost an average of $17,000 per student.
This means that, on average, students with disabilities cost each school district approximately $27,000 per school year, or 2.7 times more than students in general education classes.
This statistic does, however, come with an important caveat. As this is an average, the true cost for most students is significantly lower. Some students may require minimal expenditures, while others may require a six-figure sum.
The 2019 report mentions that, nationwide, special education services have increased in recent years while state and federal funding, when adjusted for inflation, has decreased. This means more of the burden is placed on local school districts, which can exacerbate the services available to students depending on their individual school district's funding. In other words, a student in a wealthier area is more likely to receive the support to which they are entitled because the school is more likely to have the financial resources.
Lack of Funding Does Not End a Student's Right to Education
While cost can be a factor in determining reasonable accommodations and what services might be included in an IEP, parents and families should not allow a school district to deny a request or service based on cost alone.
When developing or revising an IEP Plan, parents and guardians should make sure schools are not simply looking at average expenditures for students with disabilities. They should focus on the specific costs for each student. While cost can factor into what services and accommodations are available to students, parents should not accept inadequate accommodations and services due to financial limitations.
Unfortunately, the current reality of education is that families who have a student with disabilities need to be aware of how these costs may factor into an IEP. This is why families of students with disabilities can benefit from hiring an experienced law firm. With nationwide experience, the Lento Law Firm can help parents and guardians in California get their students the education and support they are entitled to under the law.
Office of Administrative Hearings
Federal law requires that states create their own dispute resolution process for IEPs. In California, the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) handles disputes regarding IEPs. Both families and schools have the right to request a hearing with OAH.
Both federal and state policies encourage alternative methods of dispute resolution. This is partly due to cost, as hearings tend to be more expensive, but also to minimize the adversarial nature of a traditional hearing. The most prominent alternative is mediation.
In California, OAH will assign a trained special education mediator to each case. The goal of mediation is for all parties to collaborate to find a resolution. If the parties are unable to come to an agreement during mediation, the case will likely move to a formal hearing.
The Individualized Education Program Workgroup
As part of the 2020 California State Budget Act, Senate Bill 74, the state formed two working groups to study and then provide recommendations to state policymakers on how to support students with disabilities. The goal of these groups was to improve both opportunities and outcomes for these students.
One of the groups focused on IEPs. They issued their report in October 2021. The report includes recommendations on how to improve the IEP process in California to better serve students.
Workgroup Findings
Overall, the IEP workgroup provided 25 recommendations. These recommendations are based on improving student outcomes, meeting student needs, and creating learning strategies that both support instruction that meets state standards and utilizes LRE when possible.
One key finding buried in the report is the importance of the administrators who attend IEP meetings in setting the tone. As the report states: "If the administrator does not prioritize active parent/guardian and general education participation and is more focused on the cost of services or compliance, they can be a barrier to parent/guardian and teacher input."
These recommendations are not binding, and the state can choose to implement all or some of them. They fall into three action categories: policy change, administrative funds, and funding.
The workgroup also highlighted the importance of improving student outcomes. Both IEP development and the review process should focus on each student's strengths and needs as well as the learning strategies that both support instruction and align with state standards. To meet the workgroup's major goals, the state and SELPAs will need to:
- Reposition IEPs to make them student-focused and strength-driven
- Shift the outlook on how to use IEPs
- Improve training for both teachers and administrators to encourage them to take a more active role in improving outcomes for students with IEPs
- Create a statewide IEP template to increase consistency and transparency in the IEP process
- Provide increased transition planning that ranges from early learning to postsecondary options and recognizes that students will undergo multiple transitions throughout their K-12 years
- Create a statewide, web-based IEP system
- Require all California IEPs to include provisions to address emergency closures, including how to continue providing support and services
For parents and students, familiarity with these recommendations can be useful both when creating and revising IEPs.
Workgroup Recommendations
The workgroup provided 25 recommendations for improving IEPs in California. They are:
- The California Department of Education (CDE) creates and assists in establishing guidelines that encourage school districts and IEP teams to adopt best practices throughout the IEP process.
- The CDE increases support and training to enable a student's general education teacher to participate in the IEP process.
- The legislature revises the California Education Code to require schools and districts to promote active parent and guardian engagement in IEP meetings and elicit input from students, families, teachers, and other involved individuals.
- California, through the legislature and the CDE, funds and builds a statewide website to develop and distribute resources and training materials on the IEP process.
- The Board of Education and the CDE support the creation of a statewide IEP template.
- The CDE supports LEAs with the transition to a statewide template with the goal of implementing it by the 2027-2028 school year.
- The CDE and State Board of Education establish an advisory board to update, provide feedback on the creation of the template, and suggest changes to the IEP process.
- The legislature revises the current credentialing system to ensure that new teachers and administrators can use a statewide template and have the knowledge to participate actively in the IEP process.
- LEAs streamline the IEP document by eliminating unnecessary information with the goal of making them more accessible for families and teachers.
- LEAs and the CDE revise IEPs so that each begins with listing the student's strengths, interests, learning and communication preferences, and a self-determined plan.
- All IEPs incorporate the student and family's vision for the future, along with a projected graduation date.
- IEPs include a section that lists any support a student is receiving outside of the school.
- Each IEP has dedicated sections on a student's academic needs and their communication, social-emotional, functional, and behavioral needs.
- When possible, IEPs include specific instructional strategies, including in general education settings
- As part of better involving families in the process, IEPs explain how the IEP team will engage with and support the student's family as well as how the family can support their student.
- When an IEP team recommends a student be taken out of general education classes or nonacademic and extracurricular activities, IEPs should explain why the team made that decision.
- As part of their assessments, IEP teams should gauge a student's readiness for transitions and how they may need support during periods of change.
- IEP teams create IEPs that focus on a student's long-term goals and then work backward to determine how to make achieving those goals possible.
- The legislature revises the California Education Code to drop the required age for postsecondary education planning to 14 from the current 16.
- The legislature revises the California Education Code to require a child's Part C service coordinator or provider to be at the first IEP meeting ahead of the child beginning preschool.
- While the workgroup recommends the eventual implementation of a web-based IEP system, they advise not beginning it in the immediate future and preferably after the proposed IEP template becomes standard.
- For now, the CDE should continue to use current systems, such as CALPADs, to collect data on student IEPs.
- In lieu of a new system, the legislature should provide funding for improving the current systems for IEPs, including a parent/guardian access portal.
- All IEPs must include how services and support will be provided in case of emergencies (such as wildfires, earthquakes, etc.) with a focus on student-centered rather than emergency-centered planning.
- If the state transitions to a summary report, all IEPs should include a summary report on how to implement an IEP under emergency conditions.
While not all of these recommendations could be implemented on an individual level, these 25 points are valuable for parents, guardians, and students with disabilities. Even if the state has not yet implemented recommendations, families of students with disabilities can use them as guidelines for the IEP Process for what to include in both the initial IEP and during revisions.
For example, finding ways to include family in IEPs, including how they can support students, can be done on an individual level. Also valuable is highlighting a student's strengths and long-term goals. Likewise, parents and guardians can begin to advocate for postsecondary education planning at a younger age.
Beyond the California recommendations, looking at how other school districts nationwide support students via IEPs can be beneficial. Our nationwide experience is one of the advantages of working with the Lento Law Firm.
Protect Your Student's Rights
Students in California can benefit from the state's recent research into improving IEPs. By moving above and beyond federal guidelines, especially considering the IDEA's last reauthorization was in 2004, California is staying current on trends in education.
Even with these recommendations and goals, however, students with disabilities continue to lag behind their peers. Education is a right, and schools cannot discriminate against students on the basis of their disability. Unfortunately, schools may not always meet their responsibilities under the law or may use lack of funding or other reasons as an excuse to minimize a student's IEP and support.
As a nationwide law firm, the Lento Law Firm can help California students in urban centers, suburban enclaves, and farming communities. We appreciate how a school's local community can shape a school's environment. We work with families to help protect their student's right to an education. Contact us online or at (888) 535-3686.
