Coronavirus and Schools: Pandemic IEPs (Follow Up Question III)
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
Sometimes, we rue the day we issue certain opinions...
The opinion issued earlier this week is an example of just such an opinion. Over the past several weeks we have weighed in on some pretty controversial topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Who would have thought the opinion that would stir the most angst and upset would concern projected SDI beginning dates? In the grand scheme of the universe, who even know that SDI beginning dates are a thing?
The IDEA requires two things germane to this subject: (1) that every IEP be reviewed and revised at least once annually; and (2) that every IEP include “the projected date for the beginning of the services and modifications” enumerated in the so-called SDI section. When the school closures began here in Pennsylvania, we advised you to continue conducting annual IEP reviews—albeit virtually or telephonically—and to include SDI “projected beginning dates” as you ordinarily would, as if school was open. We did so because, at the time, the governor was not making clear exactly how long school closures would endure. We figured using a near beginning date would be as good as any because the IEP should be describing only the services that will be in effect when school reopens. (That is why we proposed that any special education services implemented though “continuity of education” be described separately and apart from the IEP, in a NOREP or sufficiently-detailed letter). Thus, if schools remained closed, one would not expect the SDIs to be implemented as written on the projected beginning date.
Then the governor made clear that schools would remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school term. It seemed logical at that point—to us, at least—that projected beginning dates for SDI now could safely correspond with the beginning of the 2020-2021 school term, when the SDI would actually be implemented.
This process, we figured, would resemble that which an IEP team would follow if it was conducting an annual review meeting on or near the last day of the school term, before summer break. In that case, the SDI projected beginning dates could indeed reflect the first day of the upcoming school term. So too in this case: we now know that the next school day—setting aside ESY for the moment—will be the beginning of the 2020-2021 school term (at least we all certainly hope so, and in any event, it will not be any sooner).
We appear, however, to have set off a storm of concern with this advice. “Aren’t we in school now, albeit virtually, in the form of ‘continuity of education’?” some of you asked. “What SDI will our teachers be trying to implement in their virtual classrooms if, following your advice, we have no ‘current’ IEP?” others of you pointed out. To these questions, the answers seem clear:
No, we are not in school right now. The Pennsylvania General Assembly has waived the 180-day school year for 2019-2020, effectively ending the school term and, along with it, the need to enforce compulsory attendance, count students in ADM, and deliver a full complement of standards-aligned instruction in all subject areas. In its place, the department, and now the General Assembly, has ordained that we “make a good-faith effort” to ensure “continuity of education.” And most of us are doing a pretty good job assembling this airplane in mid-flight in the dead of night. But are our days of virtual learning and home-based activities “school days” in the traditional sense of the word? No, they are not.
Yes, you do have a current IEP that can serve as the guidepost for implementing special education as part of your “continuity of education” plan, even if that IEP lists projected SDI beginning dates that are several months down the road. That IEP describes the full FAPE that will be implemented for the child when schools open, and schools will not be open until next school term (again, setting aside ESY for the moment). But the IEP is most certainly “current.” It includes updated present levels, updated goals, and possibly even updated SDIs. As we strive toward delivering FAPE now—in the form of “continuity of education”—we can certainly look to that IEP for guidance. The actual plan for each child right now, however, should appear separately in the “continuity of education” NOREPs or letters we have issued, or are about to issue, to our parents.
But life is short, and we all have bigger struggles to surmount. As we indicated previously, “any date following the IEP team meeting [will] suffice, although we recommend that the ‘projected’ date match the actual date as closely as it possibly can.” So don’t sweat it. If using a date that corresponds with the physical reopening of school causes too much confusion or is incompatible with your IEP writing software (some of you have pointed out that your software won’t let you include ESY for the summer of 2020 if your SDI beginning dates fall after the summer—go figure), use earlier dates. In the end, it doesn’t matter that much. We were answering a question put to us — and apparently did so poorly in this instance.