Special Education During School Closure

March 18, 2020

Dear Families:

Our Director of Student Services, Ruth Grube, is working closely with the special education staff and the State to understand what processes we will follow regarding Individualized Education Plans (IEP) and the special education progress. We thought this information might be helpful for all families. Please see her overview which is found below. If you have questions, please reach out to Ruth at rgrube@concordps.org.

Best,
Laurie

The following is an update from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) regarding special education practice during the school closures because of COVID-19.

If full educational opportunities are provided through virtual school, replicating school virtually for six hours, then we owe full special education services. The school districts are not doing this, so, therefore, we cannot provide special education services.

The list below are guidelines that Concord Public School and Concord Carlisle Regional School will follow during the school closure due to COVID-19.

Annual Reviews – these meetings will take place virtually during school closure. If you have an annual review that expired over the past week or has an upcoming expiration date, you will receive a call from your case manager to have a virtual meeting. As a parent/guardian you may be asked to excuse a team member, confirm you received an IEP, receiving a meeting invite via email.

The district is trying to maintain timelines and simulate permissions as if we were meeting in person. You will be hearing from your case manager to schedule a time to meet. Be mindful of who is in the room with you as you meet so that the confidentiality of your child’s needs is kept.

IEP Rejection Meetings – rejection meetings are on hold during the school closures to do COVID-19. Meetings will be scheduled after we return to school.

Initial Evaluations – All initial evaluations are on hold during the school closures due to COVID-19. Staff is gathering all requests by dates and will contact you when school returns to continue the process. We are awaiting more guidance from DESE on this.

Out of District Meetings – The students who are placed out of the district and have annual meetings scheduled will have virtual meetings if the out of district school has the capability to meet virtually. The coordination between the out of district coordinator and school is critical. If the school cannot provide the team members or the ability to hold a meeting, these meetings will be scheduled after we return to school.

Outside Evaluations – Requests to review outside testing are on hold during the school closures due to COVID-19. Meetings will be scheduled after we return to school.

Progress Meetings- Requests for progress meetings are on hold during the school closures due to COVID-19. Meetings will be scheduled after we return to school.

3-Year Re-Evaluations- All 3-year evaluations are on hold during the school closures due to COVID-19. Staff is gathering all requests by dates and will contact you when school returns to continue the process. We are awaiting more guidance from DESE on this.