Olympia, WA - WAAA commends OSPI Special Education Director Glenna Gallo for revising its Q&A guidance on May 5th in response to concerns we shared regarding IEP amendments during closures. A copy of the newest version is attached below.
The revised OSPI guidance is a little better at clarifying that services during the closure are to be clearly labeled as temporary and that IEPs must still describe appropriate services after the closure. However, WAAA believes that reduced services during the school closure should be documented in Continuous Learning Plans, not IEP amendments, because IEPs are supposed to be based on student needs (not available resources.)
This guidance is current as of May 5, 2020. Please refer to OSPI’s COVID-19 and Special Education COVID-19 webpages for the most up-to-date information. On April 30th, OSPI Special Education Director met with us OSPI revised its Q&A guidance a week ago. A copy of the newest version is attached below. The IEP amendment language is a little better. It’s still not perfect.
Refer also to pages 9-10 regarding compensatory services, Extended School Year (ESY), and expectations of staff.
Arzu Forough, Chief Executive Officer of the Washington Autism Alliance & Advocacy (WAAA), issued the following statement:
“OSPI Special Education Director Gallo’s action promises to offer real relief to thousands of students with disabilities and their families that are unfairly saddled with massive tolls for the lack of individually designed instruction for their children. It’s impossible to overestimate the impact of absence of effective education programs for students that have suffered from schools’ decision to deny critical services during closures."
“Unfortunately, we’ll never know how many children didn’t receive crucial services as a result of schools’ illegal policies. While we’re happy that the OSPI Office of Special Education is working so hard to right these wrongs, this should serve as a reminder of the profound costs associated with these denials. The WAAA will continue to ensure students with intellectual and developmental disabilities have access to effective education.”
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Founded in 2007, Washington Autism Alliance & Advocacy (WAAA) extends access to healthcare, education and services for people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD’s) & related intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)