The United States guarantees all children access to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). In addition, federal law also mandates the creation of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for each K-12 student with disabilities to ensure they receive the same quality of schooling as their able-bodied peers.
Parents of students with different needs may find themselves lost when their child begins school, or when their child's needs shift as they grow and mature. Even those who stay up to date on the changes to federal and West Virginia laws may find it tough to navigate the IEP process.
Luckily, IEPs are living documents. As psychologists and researchers learn more about the best ways to support students with disabilities, the accommodations that an IEP provides can (and should) change. Oftentimes, the plan that a parent creates with their child's school as they enter kindergarten will not be relevant or effective by the time their student is in 1st grade — let alone 12th.
Of course, no amount of devising the perfect IEP matters if the school doesn't actually implement it. If you find yourself in a situation where you and your child's school district have conflicting views about your student's IEP, or if you feel as though they are not taking the action necessary to give your student a proper education, the Lento Law Firm is here to help. We understand these issues and can work with West Virginia families to find a way forward that suits your child. For a consultation regarding your student's case, contact the Lento Law Firm by phone at 888-535-3686 or by filling out our online form.
What is an IEP?
An Individualized Education Plan is exactly what it sounds like: a plan that sets parameters and provides instruction for the school to adequately educate a student with disabilities while addressing their specific needs. The people who are involved with creating an IEP can vary, but in general, they include the student's parents or legal guardians, school administrators, special education professionals, teachers, and sometimes the student with disabilities themselves. West Virginia refers to these groups as “IEP teams.”
In the document itself, one would likely find:
- Assessments that include the student's prior and current academic performance and behavioral tendencies
- Realistic academic and behavioral targets that the student has the ability to achieve in the time frame determined
- A list of any reasonable accommodations or curricular modifications that should be implemented to help the student meet these goals
- Plans for socialization, including opportunities to integrate the student into class and school activities
- Other means of support — therapy, physical accommodations needed, alternative classes, etc.
While IEPs are a matter of federal law, they are overseen at the state level by the West Virginia Department of Education.
Do IEPs in West Virginia Differ From Other States?
Individualized Education Plans are a result of a U.S. law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As such, there are standards for scope and implementation that every state is required to meet.
Within these requirements, West Virginia utilizes “standards-based” IEPs. The state's Office of Special Education has developed a six-step program for IEP teams to follow when creating a student's plan. These six steps are:
Determine the student's general education curriculum expectations.
This step entails referencing the district's most up-to-date special education curriculum standards, including:
- West Virginia College and Career Readiness Standards
- West Virginia Alternate Academic Achievement Standards
- Early Learning Standards Framework
- Career Technical Education for Students with Disabilities
- Community Readiness
- Learning Progressions
- Academic Vocabulary
- Digital Literacy
- Project-Based Learning
- English Language Proficiency
Identify the student's current skills, knowledge, and areas of instructional need.
This step essentially amounts to creating a profile for the student with disabilities. It will include data on the student's functioning in areas related to the IEP, such as:
- Learning style
- Strengths
- Needs, including how the student's disabilities affect involvement and progress in the general curriculum
- Assessment and Evaluation
- Prior IEP goals and their statuses
- Any notes or input from former teachers
- Parent/Student input
- Transitional needs (by age 16 at the latest)
Develop present levels of the student's academic achievement and functional performance.
“Present levels” are used as a baseline for the student's academic proficiency. A student's present levels indicate how a student is performing academically compared to grade-level expectations. It will also state the student's ability to participate in activities integrated with other students. (This information must not be based on the specifics of the student's disability, but on the data gathered from the student's documented results.)
Conduct data analysis.
This step requires an examination of the data about the student with disabilities that was gathered in previous steps. After reviewing the student's profile and the grade-level standards, the IEP team should determine what level the student's skills are at in comparison to the curricular expectations for their grade level.
Choose standards.
Based on the prior step, IEP teams will select college and career readiness standards that they feel are important to the student. Using data, they will determine which areas will require additional support based on the impact of the student's disability. The support required should be documented and planned for.
Write measurable goals and objectives.
Once a year, IEP teams (and the student, if applicable) should set goals for that school year. They should consider:
- Is there a reasonable timeframe?
- Are there any conditions to meeting the goal?
- Will behavior be a factor?
- How will success be evaluated?
- What is the procedure needed to meet the goal?
If there are a significant number of areas that could use addressing, the West Virginia Office of Special Education advises the IEP teams to create goals for only the most pertinent ones (at least initially).
Transition Plans
One of the most important parts of any IEP is to set students with disabilities up for a successful life post-school. Along those lines, West Virginia IEPs all include what they call “secondary transition services.” These are organized sets of practices and supports that help students with disabilities transition from school to post-secondary school or to life after schooling. Here is what should be included:
- Reasonable goals for post-secondary success, based on age-appropriate evaluations in fields such as: education, employment, and skills for independent living
- Services to help the student with disabilities reach the transitional goals determined above
- Documentation that shows that these goals and services have been revised each year
- Services related to employment transition, which might include those provided by the West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services, such as: career exploration, counseling for transition, post-secondary programs, workplace preparedness training, practicing self-advocacy, and work-based learning
Policy 2419 from the West Virginia Board of Education requires that secondary transition services be initiated for each student no later than age 14. Later on, the policy also requires a discussion by the time the student with disabilities reaches age 17, to inform them (and their parent or guardian) that special education rights will automatically transfer to the student on their 18th birthday.
West Virginia policy also states that students with disabilities who graduate (or reach their 21st birthday) must be provided with a thorough summary of their academic and behavioral performance, along with an advisory statement that recommends a path for the student's post-secondary goals.
What Services Are Students With Disabilities Legally Entitled to?
Disability access for students in public schools is owed in most part to two federal laws: FAPE and IDEA. FAPE provides the baseline expectation that all students in the United States are entitled to a free, appropriate public education. This, of course, includes students with disabilities. To provide these students with the free public education they are entitled to under FAPE, student-specific accommodations and support must be given (within reason).
IDEA is a federal law that appropriates funding and creates parameters for special education in the United States. Part B of the statute outlines legal requirements for how public school districts must accommodate students with disabilities, including the enshrining of the IEP program. While IDEA was undoubtedly a step in the right direction when it was first passed by Congress in 1975, its coverage of students with disabilities is not absolute. There are a few important details to keep in mind when determining what type of support your student should expect.
Qualifying Disabilities
IDEA only grants accommodations to students with disabilities that are considered “eligible,” — meaning they fall into these distinct categories:
- Visual impairment (including blindness)
- Hearing impairment (including deafness)
- Deaf-blindness
- Intellectual disability
- Speech or language impairment
- Serious emotional disturbance
- Orthopedic impairment
- Autism
- Traumatic brain injury
- Specific learning disability
- Other health impairments (like ADHD)
- Multiple disabilities
As parents of children with disabilities often know, it can be difficult to sort your child's disability neatly into a category. Because we understand disabilities better now than we did in 2004, when IDEA was last updated, it may seem that none IDEA's options truly describe the challenges your student experiences.
Unfortunately, you may find that this presents a problem when attempting to go through the IEP process. Public schools are often underfunded, which means they don't typically want to spend money on things that are not required of them by law. If you find that your student is not getting the support they need based on their eligibility under IDEA, contact the Lento Law Firm for a consultation. We can help you determine if you and your student have a case against the school district.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
LREs are a practice that aims to place students with disabilities into general classes and the larger school community as frequently as possible. Of course, some disabilities figure to make this easier to accomplish than others. Many students with disabilities will find success in general classrooms throughout their academic journeys. Other students will be more comfortable and successful in a specialized class or even an alternative school.
Regardless, determining a student's LRE is a key discussion that should be had during any IEP meeting. The school district will consider not only the impact the environment will have on the student with disabilities, but also the impact the student will have on other students' ability to learn in the same environment. In situations where parents disagree with the school district's assessment of their student's least restrictive environment, West Virginia law has safeguards in place that aim to resolve the conflict (as discussed below). As always, it's smart to have legal representation on hand for IEP disputes.
Reasonable Accommodations
While FAPE states that students should receive the accommodations they need to complete their free appropriate public education. However, there is a qualifier — reasonable. This simple word changes things in a big way. Rather than a student with disabilities being guaranteed the educational support they need, it opens the process up to matters of opinion. “Reasonable” is vague and undefined by the law, which gives school district administrators opportunities to lessen the level of support they will provide students with disabilities. This could be considered an inherent conflict of interest; the very group in charge of managing budget constraints is being allowed to determine what kinds of support are reasonable for students with disabilities to request.
This doesn't always become a big issue, but occasionally, the district's interpretation of what is “reasonable” has a massive impact on a student's access to effective schooling. If you are a parent who has been told that their student's disability accommodations are unreasonable, contact the Lento Law Firm's Education Law Team to discuss your options.
What Happens When IEP Concerns Arise in West Virginia?
In an ideal world, the IEP process would work smoothly, providing students with disabilities a free and appropriate education without any hiccups. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world. The fact of the matter is that there may very well be points of contention between a parent and school administrator. They could occur at any stage of the IEP process, from disagreements on the initial creation of the document to a lack of yearly communication to issues with the ongoing implementation of the plan.
In these cases, the West Virginia Department of Education has provided procedural safeguards detailing the dispute process. The state outlines four options for resolving these IEP disputes.
- Facilitated Individualized Education Program Team Meeting. This voluntary option is best suited for solving disputes early on in the process. It involves gathering a student's IEP team (parents, special education experts, teachers, administrators) along with an impartial facilitator whose sole job is to ensure the two sides are communicating effectively. IEPs are meant to be a collaborative process, and the facilitator is there to make sure concerns are heard by all sides.
- Mediation. Another voluntary option, mediation could be considered an escalation of the previous option. Rather than a facilitator, a third-party mediator is brought in to help resolve the dispute at hand. Mediations can be requested by a parent (usually via their attorney) with regard to any matter of the IEP that they feel conflicts with the standards set forth in federal law, most typically IDEA or FAPE.
- A State Complaint. A written complaint is a more firm option, particularly if mediation hasn't given parents the resolution they seek. It can be filed by your lawyers by mail to the West Virginia Department of Education. State complaints will typically allege some sort of violation of IDEA requirements, regardless of whether the violation was committed by a teacher, the school, the school district, or even the Department of Education itself. These complaints must be resolved by the state within 60 days of receiving written notice.
- A Due Process Complaint. The most extreme option at West Virginian parents' disposal, due process complaints are essentially requests for an official hearing overseen by a state judge. The hearing resembles a court trial. The legal team representing the student with disabilities will present any evidence and witness testimony that is relevant to the case. The recipient of the complaint (usually the school district) will do the same, followed by a period of cross-examination. Both the district and the student's parents are bound by the court's decision — although a good team of attorneys can always utilize the appeals process.
Any time a person has a dispute with a state entity or government representative, it is highly recommended that you retain the services of a credentialed legal advisor as soon as you can. The Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm is filled with seasoned lawyers who are familiar with federal and state laws surrounding disability access.
It is no secret that children with disabilities face an uphill battle just to receive the same quality of education as their able-bodied peers. Don't risk making things even harder by trying to navigate this complex IEP process alone.
The Lento Law Firm Helps West Virginian Students
The Lento Law Firm's Education Law Team is an experienced group of attorneys that serves clients nationwide. We assist students with disabilities and their parents all throughout West Virginia's largest metropolitan areas, including:
- Beckley
- Berkeley County
- Charleston metro
- Fairmont-Clarksburg
- Hancock County
- Huntington metro
- Jefferson County
- Mercer County
- Morgantown
- Ohio County
- Parkersburg-Vienna
Don't see your location listed? Never fear. Our Education Law Team understands that the needs in rural areas are every bit as prevalent as in more populated environments. As such, we can provide legal counsel for issues that arise in any of the following school districts:
- Barbour County Schools
- Berkeley County Schools
- Boone County Schools
- Braxton County Schools
- Brooke County Schools
- Cabell County Schools
- Calhoun County Schools
- Clay County Schools
- Doddridge County Schools
- Fayette County Schools
- Gilmer County Schools
- Grant County Schools
- Greenbrier County Schools
- Hampshire County Schools
- Hancock County Schools
- Harrison County Schools
- Jackson County Schools
- Jefferson County Schools
- Kanawha County Schools
- Lewis County Schools
- Lincoln County Schools
- Logan County Schools
- Marion County Schools
- Marshall County Schools
- Mason County Schools
- McDowell County Schools
- Mercer County Schools
- Mineral County Schools
- Mingo County Schools
- Monongalia County Schools
- Monroe County Schools
- Morgan County Schools
- Nicholas County Schools
- Ohio County Schools
- Pendleton County Schools
- Pleasants County Schools
- Pocahontas County Schools
- Preston County Schools
- Putnam County Schools
- Raleigh County Schools
- Randolph County Schools
- Ritchie County Schools
- Roane County Schools
- Summers County Schools
- Taylor County Schools
- Tucker County Schools
- Tyler County Schools
- Upshur County Schools
- Wayne County Schools
- Webster County Schools
- Wetzel County Schools
- Wirt County Schools
- Wood County Schools
- Wyoming County Schools
If you have any doubts about whether the Lento Law Firm serves your district, do not hesitate to contact us for a consultation.
Our Education Law Team Protects Students' Rights in West Virginia
Despite the mandatory nature of IEPs, there is plenty that can go wrong when attempting to create and implement these documents. The needs of students with disabilities change as they grow and advance, and it's not unheard of for students to slip through the cracks and not get the support they need to succeed.
As a parent of a student with disabilities, it is important to stay as involved and informed of your child's IEP as you can. This is the best way to spot problems and resolve them before they have a negative effect on your student's education. However, parents and school districts don't always see eye-to-eye when it comes to the best path forward for your student. In these situations — along with any other regarding IEPs — it is crucial to have legal counsel on your side. With the unfair disadvantages your student already faces, you cannot afford to risk further educational challenges. The Lento Law Firm provides an experienced legal team that has spent many years negotiating with school district administrators and holding them accountable for their shortcomings.
Your student with disabilities deserves to have the free public education that they are guaranteed under United States law. If you feel your child is being discriminated against on the basis of their disability or that their school is not adequately meeting their responsibilities under federal and West Virginia laws, contact the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm. Reach us at 888-535-3686 or via our online form.
