Coronavirus and Schools: Pandemic IEPs (Follow Up Question)
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
To clarify, would the implementation date for IEPs developed or updated during the closure be the first date of next school year? Or the date after the meeting date as it normally would be?
As we now know that schools will not reopen this school year, the date can certainly correspond with the start of the 2020-2021 school term. Ideally, your IEP writing software would allow us to enter language other than a calendar date in this field, but most of them do not. The most accurate “projected beginning date,” after all, would be “when school reopens.” Whatever date you enter, the law requires only that it be a “projected” date. Thus, any date following the IEP team meeting would suffice, although we recommend that the “projected” date match the actual date as closely as it possibly can. Thus, the start of the 2020-2021 school term now seems best.
ESY is the one exception. For those students who are eligible for ESY during the summer of 2020, the IEP should reflect the services the child will receive if school reopens, along with the dates he or she will receive them—even if the governor opts to continue the closure through the summer, and the only services possible will be those provided as part of your “continuity of education” plan.