IEP legal terms and rights

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• FAPE

  FAPE stands for free appropriate public education, and it’s probably the most important right for kids with disabilities. It means public schools have to meet the needs of each child who qualifies for special education without their families having to pay for it.

  FAPE means schools need to provide specially designed instruction to meet your child’s unique needs. FAPE is also what makes schools provide services, like speech therapy, and accommodations, like read-aloud tools or extra time on tests.

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• Least restrictive environment

  As you work with the school to develop your child’s IEP, you’ll talk about which services your child needs. And a big part of this discussion is deciding where your child will receive the services. This is what the school’s referring to when it talks about your child’s placement.

  Special education law says that kids with IEPs have the right to be educated in the least restrictive environment. They should be taught alongside their peers in general education “to the maximum extent that is appropriate.” Some options:

  • Be in a regular classroom where the general education teacher consults with a special education teacher. (This is the lightest touch support a child can get with an IEP.)

  • Be in a regular classroom, where a specialist comes in for part of the day. (This is called push-in services.)

  • Come out of the regular classroom to work with a specialist in a quieter space. (This is called pull-out services.)

  • Spend part of the day in a self-contained classroom, where all the kids have IEPs.

  • Spend the day in a self-contained classroom or a specialized school, like a school for the blind.

  (Some states may use slightly different terms, like “most inclusive settings” instead of “least restrictive environment” and “special class" instead of “self-contained class.”)

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• Informed consent

  This means that you understand what the school wants to do and you agree to it. You have the right to ask the school to explain anything you don’t understand.

  You also have the right to have things explained and to give your consent in your native language, like Spanish or in sign language or Braille.

• Prior written notice

  By law, the school needs to tell you in writing if it’s planning to change your child’s IEP. This is called prior written notice.

  Schools need to notify parents about things like:

  • Changing your child’s services, like if the school wants to have fewer sessions because your child is making a lot of progress

  • Changing your child’s placement, like moving from a general education classroom to a self-contained classroom

  • Denying your requests for things like an evaluation or more services

  Prior written notice keeps you up-to-date on decisions about your child’s education. It can help clear up misunderstandings about what’s changing and gives you an opportunity to respond before any changes are made.

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• “Stay put” rights

  If you don’t agree with a change the school is planning, you can keep your child’s current IEP in place while you dispute the change. By law, your child has the right to “stay put” as you and the school work out your differences.

  But you need to act fast. Typically, you need to invoke these rights before the change occurs.

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