On February 17, 2025, the Department of Public Instruction (department) received a complaint under state and federal special education law from #### (parent) against the #### (district). This is the department’s decision regarding that complaint. The issues are whether the district, during the 2024-25 school year, properly provided the parent of a student with a disability notice of an individualized education program (IEP) team meeting and provided the student’s parent prior written notice of changes to the student’s IEP prior to implementation.
Local education agencies (LEAs) must take steps to ensure that one or both parents of a student with a disability are present at each IEP team meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate, including notifying the parents of the meeting early enough to ensure that they will have an opportunity to attend and scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed on time and place. 34 CFR § 300.322(a). Parental participation in the IEP process means more than having an opportunity to speak; LEAs must keep an open mind and be receptive and responsive to the parents' position at all stages. See R.L. v. Miami-Dade County School Board, 757 F.3d 1173, 63 IDELR 182 (11th Cir. 2014). The meeting notice must include the purpose, time, and location of the meeting and all who will be in attendance. 34 CFR § 300.322(b).
A parent of a child with a disability may elect to receive notices required by §§ 300.503, 300.504, and 300.508 by an electronic mail communication if the public agency makes that option available. 34 CFR § 300.505. The United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has written that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) statute and regulations do not explicitly address the use of electronic mail for other documents required under the IDEA. Letter to Breton (OSEP, March 21, 2014). However, OSEP has stated that the IDEA statute and regulations do not prohibit the use of electronic mail to carry out administrative matters under section 615 of the IDEA, so long as the parent of the child with a disability and the public agency agree. Analysis of Comments and Changes to Final Regulations Implementing 2004 IDEA, 71 Fed. Reg. 46540, 46687 (Aug. 14, 2006). States may permit the use of electronic mail to distribute IEPs and related documents, such as progress reports, to parents, provided that the parents and the school district agree to use the electronic mail option, and states take the necessary steps to ensure that there are appropriate safeguards to protect the integrity of the process. Letter to Breton (OSEP, March 21, 2014).
LEAs must provide the student’s parents prior written notice whenever the LEA proposes to initiate or change, or refuses to initiate or change, the educational placement of the student. Wis. Stat. § 115.792(1)(b). OSEP has stated that "such notice must be given to parents a reasonable time before the agency implements that action, but after the agency's decision on the proposal or refusal has been made." Letter to Helmuth (OSEP, Jan. 20, 1990). It may be acceptable to use an IEP to provide prior written notice of a placement change, as long as the document contains all of the notice requirements set out in 34 CFR § 300.503 (b). Nothing in the IDEA specifically prohibits districts from presenting a draft IEP to parents. However, such a document may be used solely for purposes of discussion and development of the child's completed IEP and may not be represented to the parents as a completed IEP. Letter to Helmuth (OSEP, Jan 20, 1990).
The student who is the subject of this complaint attends high school in the district. As of the date of this decision, the district has held four IEP team meetings for the student during the 2024-25 school year. The student and their parent attended all four meetings. However, the student’s parent reported difficulty receiving timely documentation from the district, with forms sent via U.S. mail often taking a week or longer to arrive at the family’s residence.
On August 21, 2024, the parent requested an IEP team meeting. The parent wanted to hold an IEP team meeting after the 2024-25 school year started to review how the student was doing and adjust the IEP if needed. District staff responded in agreement with that plan. On September 4, 2024, the district reached out to the student’s parent to arrange an IEP team meeting for September 19, 2024. On September 10, 2024, the parent requested that the district send them draft IEP documents by email. District staff explained the district’s policy required filling out a release form to send official paperwork through email, and if there was not a release on file, the district would send them the documents via U.S. mail. The district mailed an IEP team meeting notice to the parent on September 12, 2024. The meeting notice identified the purposes as reviewing/revising the student’s IEP and determining their continuing placement. The parent reported that the notice arrived at their home after the meeting took place. The parent was able to attend the meeting virtually through an emailed link. During the meeting, the IEP team decided to remove 30 minutes of weekly occupational therapy and 30 minutes of weekly speech and language services from the student’s IEP. The team also determined they would reduce monthly occupational therapy consultation from 30 minutes monthly to 10 minutes monthly. The IEP program summary and placement notice each indicated that the changes to the student’s IEP would be implemented on September 23, 2024. The placement notice form indicated the IEP was provided to the parents the same day as the meeting, but the district did not actually finish the IEP paperwork until weeks after the meeting. The district approved and finalized the IEP through their electronic special education forms system on October 15, 2024, and sent it to the parent via U.S. mail the next day. The parent received it in the mail the following week.
On November 14, 2024, the parent emailed questions to district staff, including asking when the student’s annual IEP team meeting would take place. The district responded by asking the parent if the final week of January would be acceptable. On November 26, 2024, the parent asked to meet the first week in January to address the parent’s concerns sooner. Within the email, the parent described their concerns about the student’s testing, self-advocacy, report cards, and whether the student’s class schedule aligned with the student’s postsecondary transition plan (PTP). On December 2, 2024, the student’s parent sent another email requesting more information and to schedule an IEP team meeting. District staff suggested scheduling an IEP team meeting the week of January 6, 2025. The parent replied, requesting an IEP team meeting in December. Two weeks later, the parent emailed again asking for an invitation to an IEP team meeting with a virtual option to focus on the student’s class selection and accommodations and supports to meet their transition goals. On December 20, 2024, district staff attempted unsuccessfully to reach the parent by phone to agree upon a meeting date.
The district sent the parent an IEP team meeting notice via U.S. mail on January 3, 2025, a week before the planned meeting on January 10, 2025. The parent reported receiving the notice form after the meeting took place. The district also emailed a virtual meeting link to the parent, which the parent used to attend the meeting. The title of the virtual meeting was “[Student Initials] Meeting @ Fri Jan 10, 2025, 9:30am – 11am” and a detail noted it was “[Student Name] IEP team meeting.” The IEP team spent time discussing the parent’s concerns and questions, second semester classes, and postsecondary plans. The IEP team agreed that the student’s course load matched well with the goals in their PTP. While the IEP team did not change the services in the student’s IEP, district staff updated the IEP to document the parent’s concerns from the meeting. The IEP included an implementation date in the program summary and placement notice of January 24, 2025. The district emailed the finalized IEP to the parent on January 30, 2025. The parent reported they were unsure whether the meeting was a formal IEP team meeting until after it occurred.
The district and parent agreed to hold the student’s annual IEP team meeting on February 5, 2025. On January 29, 2025, the district mailed the meeting notice and sent an email with a virtual meeting link. The parent requested the meeting notice and the student’s progress report by email. On February 3, 2025, the student’s case manager shared the student’s progress report and a summary document by email. The summary document listed the attendees for the meeting and an agenda that included review of present levels, the student’s substantial progress towards annual goals, services, and testing accommodations. The parent attended the IEP team meeting, but reported they did not receive the formal meeting notice in the mail after the meeting took place. The IEP team ran out of time and arranged to finish the meeting on February 10, 2025. The district emailed the parent both a meeting notice form and a virtual meeting notification on February 6, 2025. The morning of the second part of the meeting, district staff sent a reminder email with the meeting link that explained the IEP team would be finalizing IEP goals and discussing speech/language and occupational therapy. Following the completion of the meeting, the district provided the parent with a draft IEP and placement notice on February 13, 2025. On February 21, 2025, the district provided the finalized IEP, PTP, and placement notice by email in advance of the planned implementation date of February 22, 2025.
Whether the district properly provided the parent notice of an IEP team meeting.
The district’s formal IEP team meeting notice form meets IDEA requirements. The department finds one week to be a reasonable amount of time to mail a notice to the parent. In addition, the district provided other information to the parent ahead of the meetings that was sufficient to ensure the parents and student were able to attend all IEP team meetings. Correspondence prior to the meetings on September 19, 2025, and January 10, 2025, did not identify the purposes of the meetings, but the parent requested both meetings and identified topics to discuss ahead of time. At the meetings, the IEP team discussed parent concerns and questions. The parent was able to participate as contemplated by IDEA. The district reported no knowledge of any other families receiving late IEP team meeting notices. Since the events giving rise to this complaint, the district has revised their practice and is now sending the student’s IEP team meeting notices to the parent via email. The district properly provided the parent notice of IEP team meetings.
Whether the district properly provided the student’s parent prior written notice of changes to the student’s IEP prior to implementation.
The district provided placement notices of the September 2024 and January 2025 IEP team meetings after the dates the IEPs were to be implemented. The placement notices inaccurately reported the dates the forms were provided to the parent. The district did not properly provide the student’s parent prior written notice of changes to the student’s IEP prior to implementation.
Corrective Action
The student did not miss any services as a result of the September prior written notice error. There were no changes to services or placement following the January meeting. The IEP team properly met and changed placement with a compliant placement notice following the development of the annual IEP in February. Given the specific facts, no further student-level corrective action is required.
Within 30 days of this decision, the district shall provide the department with a proposed corrective action plan for review. The proposal shall describe how the district plans to ensure that it will provide timely, accurate written placement notices to parents a reasonable time prior to placement changes.
All noncompliance identified above must be corrected as soon as possible but in no case, more than one year from the date of this decision. This concludes our review of this complaint. This decision is final for the IDEA State Complaint process. These issues may be addressed through other dispute resolutions, including mediation and due process hearings. For more information, visit the department’s website at http://dpi.wi.gov/sped/dispute-resolution or contact the special education team at (608) 266-1781.
For questions about this information, contact dpispeddata@dpi.wi.gov (608) 266-1781