Patrice,
Your questions are terrific. Thank you.
Today I will try to break your questions down and give you the short answers. Expanded answers that talk about how to do it will follow during the next several days.
THE PROBLEM:
The school is going to transition your son from the mixed-age class he has been in for two and a half years and into a different school district. The new school district classroom is intended for fifth and sixth grade students.
You want to know how you can work with the school district team members to make that happen in a way that benefits, not harms, your son.
YOUR QUESTIONS
1) Should you ask for a team meeting?
SHORT ANSWER: Yes
SHORT CAUTION: Strategic timing and tactical planning is critical.
2) Should you send your request for a team meeting by email to each school district member of the team?
SHORT ANSWER: Yes, and No.
SHORT EXPLANATION:
(A) Yes, send a written request for a meeting.
(B) No, do not send your written request as an email message.
(C) Write your IEP meeting request letter with your word processing program. Address that letter to the LEA or special education director; cc everyone else.
(D) Attach your letter to your email message. The body of your email message doesn’t need to say anything more than you attached your letter asking for an IEP meeting to the email message.
(E) Address your email message to the LEA or to the director of special education at both school districts that are involved (you can cc other team members)
(F) Print your letter and mail it to the LEAs or special education directors; no need to cc anyone else.
3) What to do about the school’s counselor who says, "We just have to assume the first three months of fifth grade will be rocky."
SHORT ANSWER: Rocky Road is the name of a delicious ice-cream. We need to describe the future with words that gives a vision about the solution in the here and now. Adjectives are your friend. Adverbs - not always your friend. In a later posting I will write more on laying a paper trail that any old hound dog can follow.
Thank you for your questions, Patrice. You can expect longer answers to each of these topics over the next several days.
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