3.13 IEP Notes

IEP NOTES TEMPLATE

CASE MANAGER RESPONSIBILITIES 

The Case Manager should determine who will be the scribe of the notes. The scribe should be an employee and should not be the team facilitator or the parent. The notes should be written in a factual and neutral tone avoiding use of inflammatory or accusatory language that may aggravate what may already be a contentious situation. Please refer to SELPA Guidance below. 

The IEP notes are to be visible to all IEP team members. Always proofread IEP notes prior to distributing copies of the IEP to be certain that they are accurate and consistent with other portions of the IEP. 

EDCOE SELPA Guidance 

EDCOE SELPA IEP forms are intended to provide for all required elements and, in most cases, detailed IEP notes are not necessary. IEP notes are helpful, though, in certain circumstances. When used to document any part of the proposed or refused offer that is not included in any other part of the IEP, the notes provide evidence that the LEA provided prior written notice and was compliant in developing the IEP. Too much information recorded in the notes, however, can complicate and compromise the intent of the IEP team. The IEP notes should summarize the elements of the team discussion and agreements rather than provide a detailed written transcript of every conversation that is held as part of the meeting. Listed below as some examples of items that may not be included elsewhere in the IEP and should be documented in the notes: 

1. Agreement on the part of all IEP team members, including the parent, to excuse one or more team members who were expected to be in attendance and, therefore, were not previously excused as documented on the SELPA-approved form; 

2. Attempts to convince a parent that they should attend the IEP team meeting when a meeting is being held without parent participation because the parent could not be convinced to participate (a good practice is to try one more time to reach the parent by phone during the meeting so that the parent can participate by teleconference); 

3. Efforts to persuade the student's parents to stay when they decide to leave the meeting (note time) and that the IEP team decided to continue with the meeting; 

4. Which eligibility categories were considered and why the student was or was not found eligible in each category; 

5. That the IEP team reviewed and discussed all assessment reports; 

6. That the IEP team considered independent educational evaluation reports and whether team members agreed with the reports (team must consider but is not obligated to implement recommendations); 

7. Any element of the student's goal progress and/or the offered placement and services that is too complex to fully document on other IEP pages; 

8. Input and participation provided on the part of the parent; 

9. Lack of participation on the part of the parent despite all attempts to solicit input especially when the non-participation is due to direction from the parents’ advocate or attorney; 

10. Documents that are being attached to the IEP by parent request; and 

11. Any placement or service that is being offered for a limited time only and is not intended to be part of any future "stay put" requirements.

12. Reasons for parent refusal to consent to the IEP, if provided, and attempts made to address the parents’ concerns. 

Listed below are examples of items that should NOT be in the IEP, including in the notes: 

1. A particular methodology (unless the team believes the methodology is necessary in order for the student to receive FAPE); 

2. Qualifications of providers unless necessary to demonstrate that the IEP meets the unique needs of the student (in this case, providing the information via a separate letter is usually recommended); 

3. Repetition of information that is included in another portion of the IEP unless further detail is needed to fully explain the offer or agreement; 

4. Statements such as, "the program being requested is too expensive", "all students at the student's school get one hour of speech support per week", "the student's behavior was so extreme that he will never be welcomed back into the classroom."