Individualized Education Plans in Wisconsin

Students with disabilities have access to a wide range of accommodations when it comes to gaining a valuable education. Federal law directs schools and educational programs with K-12 students to offer Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) to assist them through their secondary school graduation or until they reach 21. States have limited flexibility to expand certain aspects of IEPs but are mostly governed by federal law, despite its failure to be reauthorized in the last two decades.

Like most states, Wisconsin has a large, diverse population scattered throughout urban, suburban, and rural areas covering an array of socioeconomic statuses and levels of education. Since IEPs are federally backed, students rely on their local school systems to implement them. Just because an IEP is a mandate doesn't mean it's infallible; therefore, parents and family members of students with disabilities should be familiar with the rules that regulate IEPs in Wisconsin and how they may affect students.

What is an IEP?

Every student must receive a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), provides support and instruction for a student with disabilities through IEPs. Education plans are put together by a team that usually includes the child's parents or guardians, teachers, school administrators, and special education professionals.

Components of an IEP typically include:

• Current performance: A detailed assessment of the student's current academic and behavioral performance, including strengths and weaknesses.
• Performance Goals: Measurable academic and behavioral goals that the student can reasonably accomplish in a given timeframe.
• Accommodations and modifications: Reasonable changes to a school curriculum to assist students with disabilities in achieving IEP goals.
• Student body integration: The opportunity to participate in general education classes and school activities.
• Special education services: Student-specific outlets such as therapies or additional support systems.

Students with qualifying disabilities will have an IEP created once they enter a local district, which is subject to annual revision or in certain circumstances. Wisconsin law requires school districts to obtain informed consent from a parent or guardian before conducting an initial evaluation or a reevaluation of a student with a disability. Moreover, the state's Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) oversees all IEP disputes, including appeals to plan stipulations.

Postsecondary Transition Plans and College and Career Ready IEPs

In Wisconsin, students with disabilities turning 14 are required to have a Postsecondary Transition Plan (PTP), usually occurring once they enter high school. All discussion will take place at an official IEP meeting and must include the following measurable postsecondary goals:

• Areas of employment
• Part-time or full-time employment
• Education or training needed
• Independent living training, if applicable

To reach these goals, transition assessments will be conducted at least once a year to explore the student's strengths and needs and whenever the IEP team feels a change would be optimal. The plans are designed to help the student become college and career ready; therefore, programs may be called CCR IEPs.

The IEP will conduct a five-step process to fulfill a student's CCR IEP. They will proceed as follows:

1. Understand achievement of grade-level academic standards and functional expectations in order to identify the student's strengths and needs in relation to grade-level standards and functional expectations. The team incorporates information that mirrors the perspectives and viewpoints of the family and student on strengths, interests, and necessities.
2. Identify how the student's disability affects academic achievement and functional performance and the effects of their disability and disability-related needs.
3. Develop ambitious yet realistic goals that close achievement gaps and support the unique strengths and needs of the student, including the nature of progress monitoring.
4. Align individually-tailored instruction, services, supports, and accommodations needed to support the goals and ensure access to FAPE.
5. Analyze progress toward goals in order to evaluate what works and what is needed to close the student's gaps in achievement and functional expectations.

IDEA states that students with disabilities have the right to FAPE and thus attend school until they graduate with a high school diploma or until the age of 21. Some states may extend the age limit to allow a student to graduate at 22, but Wisconsin does not.

Wisconsin IEP Timeline

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) provides students with disabilities and their parents a timeline schools should adhere to developing IEPs. Once a referral is received for a student moving into a different school district, graduating into another grade, or for parental request, the IEP Team will review existing data and request consent from parents and guardians for additional assessment, if needed, in 15 business days.

Once parents or guardians have a receipt of consent for additional assessments, the student's eligibility for alternative or supplemental program resources will be determined within 60 calendar days. Although the establishment or alteration of an IEP and implantation stage may take place in the same meeting, the IEP Team has up to 30 calendar days to instate any new or modified stipulations.

Out-of-District Private IEP Placements

Usually, students with disabilities go to schools within their neighborhood or district alongside their peers. However, despite IDEA's regulation that students must be educated in the least restive environment, at times, a student's IEP Team may decide that they need a more restrictive environment based on their unique needs related to their disability. In rare cases, this could mean placement outside of the school district in privately-run institutions or facilities. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) must create a continuum of placement options available to meet the needs of students with disabilities, including regular education in schools and classrooms, separate classes, separate schools, residential settings, homebound placements, and hospitals.

Removal from the regular educational environment may occur only if the nature or severity of a student's disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Out-of-district private placements may significantly restrict students' access to their peers without disabilities, and IEP teams, including the student's parents, must ascertain that such a placement is suitable and is the least restrictive option to meet the student's needs.

Ensuring each student receives a FAPE can be demanding for LEAs when students are in out-of-district private placements. Offsite locations often lead to increased transportation expenses that are burdensome for parents. Regardless, parents must give consent during IEP meetings to acquiesce to what special education personnel recommend. To place an extra layer of protection over your child's education, contact the Lento Law Firm's Education Law Team to help you through the process. Call 888-535-3686 or go online now.

Wisconsin Students with IEPs State Performance Plan 2020-2025

Each state must submit an annual performance plan to the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs incorporating data from the previous year and providing information on success indicators or metrics for students with IEPs. It provides a snapshot of how nearly 100,000 students in Wisconsin IEP programs are progressing toward graduation and seeking postsecondary goals.

Before the State Performance Plan (SPP) commenced, stakeholders provided four areas that could benefit from additional care and management. They were the following:

1. Ensuring that students with IEPs are being educated in the least restrictive environment regarding co-learning with non-disabled peers.
2. Promoting further engagement and support from parents and guardians of students with disabilities.
3. Providing students with disabilities increased resources in sectors wherein success is not as high as others.
4. Guaranteeing that students with disabilities are educated and assessed better for postsecondary life and responsibilities through IEPs.

In their latest assessment, the DPI found improvement can be made to the dropout rate among students with IEPs going through transition plans. Officials recommended a modest improvement of 2.1 percent over five years, with a particular focus on addressing racial disparities. DPI claims it can achieve a considerably higher reduction in the racial achievement gap, which translates to improved outcomes for roughly 368 students. With reestablished baselines of success, the agency proposes a goal to increase enrollment in higher education programs with students with disabilities by at least 3 percent, as well as for postsecondary employment, estimating vast improvements for roughly 685 students.

To address discrepancies between students with IEPs and their proximity to non-disabled peers, the DPI seeks improvement in tech-based resources. The improvements are the following:

• Engage a “Research to Practice an Inclusive Community” model to provide evidence-based professional development as a framework for learning communities.
• Implement a Universal Design for Learning (UDL), providing two systems of support for the creation and installation of UDL statewide.
• Invest further resources in CCR IEPs.
• Increase student autonomy through utilizing assistive technology tools.
• A one-time investment in teleservice technology to enhance hybrid learning environments.
• Annual budget to support neurodiverse students with IEPs that have "intense" adaptive, behavioral, and functional needs.

DPI believes the above-mentioned targets will assist in improving the academic environment for approximately 21,000 students with IEPs.

Despite parental engagement being six times lower in the "Big 5" school districts than in the state's other school districts, parental satisfaction is nearly the same. However, DPI notes that there is a slight discrepancy with parental satisfaction on one racial metric, falling below the agency's prosed target. Yet, the DPI did not provide any adjustment to the five-year plan to change the prosed target rate for parental satisfaction.

Proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) among students with IEPs is one of the more significant concerns outlined in the SPP. The analysis outlined the need for additional personnel to fill the roster for those teaching ELA classes.

Going forward, the DPI will commit to seeking open invitations to the public for "plain language, values-based input sessions," going beyond the 4,000 parents and families that participated in the SPP. Moreover, the DPI will focus IDEA discretionary funds to improve early literacy for students with IEPs.

IDEA Reauthorization

IDEA was instituted in 1975, with Wisconsin aligning with the federal law two years later. The legislation was previously revisited and reauthorized every seven years but hasn't had a meaningful update since 2004. This presents a few obstacles for students with disabilities.

Currently, federal law does require school districts to provide all support at no additional charge to families, as limited funding remains a significant hurdle. Moreover, schools are only required to provide reasonable accommodations for qualifying disabilities. Therefore, only certain conditions are defined as disabilities that must fit into one of the following 13 categories:

• Specific Learning Disability
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Emotional disturbance
• Speech or language impairment
• Visual impairment, including blindness
• Deafness
• Hearing impairment
• Deaf-blindness
• Orthopedic impairment
• Traumatic brain injury
• Other health impairments, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
• Multiple disabilities

While students with the aforementioned disabilities will receive accommodation to obtain FAPE, it is not all accommodations but only reasonable ones. Subsequently, students are at the mercy of the general vagueness of federal regulations to protect them against school districts with limited means of redress. Such are reasons why IDEA needs to be updated and reauthorized.

Below are four areas where IDEA must be enhanced to ensure students with disabilities aren't left behind in the classroom.

1. Updates to regulation definitions: The reauthorization process provides an opportunity to make changes and improvements to the law based on what has been learned from research, jurisprudence, and practical experience since the last reauthorization. This could include updates to the definitions of disabilities, eligibility criteria, funding provisions, procedural requirements, expanding accommodations, or any other aspect of the law.
2. Addressing emerging student and education issues: Over time, new challenges and needs may emerge that were not addressed in previous versions of the law. For instance, with the increasing use of technology in education and the expansion of the spectrum of disabilities, updates are needed to ensure accessibility and equal opportunity for students with disabilities.
3. Ensuring continued relevance: IDEA reauthorization helps to ensure the law remains relevant and effective for students with disabilities in the current educational and societal context. Students and their parents rely on this federal law for the livelihood of their children and their integration into regular life.
4. Focusing on funding Issues: Funding for special education is a major part of IDEA. However, school districts are struggling to provide the resources students with IEPs need. Reauthorization can provide a chance to reconsider how special education is funded and to make changes if needed.

Across the country, there has been a rise in the demand for special education services, while state and federal financial support, when factored for inflation, has diminished. This results in local school districts shouldering a larger share of the financial responsibility, which can heighten disparities in services available to students based on the funding capacity of their particular school district. Essentially, students situated in more affluent districts are more likely to receive the support they're entitled to, given the enhanced financial capabilities of such schools.

Lack of Funding Does Not End a Student's Right to Education

While financial considerations can influence the determination of reasonable accommodations and services included in an IEP, parents and families should not let a school district reject a request or service solely based on cost.

When constructing or updating an IEP Plan, parents and guardians should ensure schools are not merely focusing on average expenditures for students with disabilities. They should emphasize the individual costs for each student. While cost can play a role in determining available services and accommodations for students, parents should not consent to subpar accommodations and services due to budget constraints.

Regrettably, the current state of education necessitates families with a student with disabilities be mindful of how these costs may impact an IEP. This is why families of students with disabilities might find it advantageous to engage an experienced team of attorney-advisors. With nationwide experience, the Lento Law Firm can assist parents and guardians in Wisconsin to secure the education and support to which their students are legally entitled.

Due Process Hearings

Federal legislation mandates that states establish their own mechanisms for resolving disputes related to IEPs. In Wisconsin, students and their parents may seek a due process hearing through DPI for the following reasons:

• School's refusal to initiate or change the identification or evaluation of a student's IEP
• Failure to implement a student's IEP
• The student is not being offered FAPE
• Other disputes between the school and a student with an IEP

Federal and state regulations promote the use of alternative dispute resolution methods, with mediation standing out as the most notable substitute. In Wisconsin, DPI, by contact with the Division of Hearings and Appeals (DHA), will assign a third-party mediator to foster collaboration among all parties to reach a resolution. If the parties fail to agree during mediation, the case will likely proceed to a formal hearing.

When a hearing is requested, or alternative dispute methods fail to achieve a resolution, DHA will appoint an impartial hearing officer to conduct a due process hearing. Within 15 days of receiving notice of the parents' hearing request, the school district must convene a meeting with the parents and relevant members of the IEP team who have specific knowledge of the facts identified in the hearing request. When the school district and parents resolve the request for the due process hearing during a resolution session, they must execute a legally binding agreement that is signed by both the parent and a representative of the district who has the authority to bind the district.

If the school district fails to address the parents' request for a due process hearing to their satisfaction within 30 days from the receipt of the hearing request, the due process hearing can move forward, and all related deadlines start. Unless the hearing pertains to specific disciplinary requirements, the hearing officer must deliver a written verdict based solely on the evidence presented during the hearing within 45 days of wrapping up the resolution session or bypassing it. If either the parent or the school district requests an extension, the hearing officer can prolong the 45-day deadline for a valid reason.

Even though parents have the right to request a due process hearing for their student-child and argue their case in front of a state official, your best option is to retain the assistance of an experienced, professional attorney-advisor. The Lento Law Firm's Education Law Team is well-versed in matters involving IDEA, a student's access to FAPE, and ensuring school districts give enrollees the resources they need.

Areas the Lento Law Firm Serves in Wisconsin

The Lento Law Firm's Education Law Team has assisted students with disabilities and their parents through Wisconsin, including those in the following areas, including but not limited to:

• Appleton
• Milwaukee
• Green Bay
• Madison
• Kenosha
• Racine
• Oshkosh
• Waukesha
• Eau Claire
• Janesville

We help students enrolled in the Milwaukee School District, White Fish Bay School District, Racine Unified School District, Pewaukee School District, Salem School District, Burlington Area School District, Edgerton School District, Wauzeka-Steuben School District, Southwestern Wisconsin School District, Arcadia School District, Tomahawk School District, Stratford School District, and any public or private institution in the state.

Protect Your Student's Rights

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 Wisconsin students in urban centers, suburban, and rural 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. Call 888-535-3686 or go online now.