IDEA says its out ultimate responsibility to have agency representatives at IEP meetings. What are some suggestions when they don attend, in lieu of rescheduling the meetings?
IDEA places the responsibility with school personnel to have designated agencies participate in IEP meetings. Coordination of schedules is not always easy. One suggestion is to meet with the various providers (VR, DD, etc.) at the beginning of each year to discuss your expectations, meeting dates, schedules, and the importance of their attendance. Up-front expectations may alleviate many missed meetings. Give the agency as much notice as possible to attend an IEP meeting, and if travel is involved, try to plan IEP meetings for several students. If the agency representative can’s attend try to get written information from them to share with the team. If a student has not yet been found eligible for services, have the process completed before the IEP meeting so you can discuss fiscal roles and services as definite rather than ‘tentative pending eligibility’. However, in some cases the IEP meeting may have to be rescheduled to accomodate agencies.
