Review the latest special education information related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
On behalf of The Brownley Law Group, we hope you are healthy and cautious during the COVID-19 outbreak. As all of you know, schools have closed and guidelines are unclear as to when they may open, or what services schools are planning to provide.
While COVID-19 affects everyone, there are additional, more severe and pervasive consequences for those children who have special needs—and their parents. For many of these children, the loss of educational time, even briefly, can have a profound impact. With many of these children unable to be home alone, additional burdens may be placed upon parents, compounding the problem.
We want to be cognizant of the struggles everyone is facing and support the efforts that public institutions, including schools, are making to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. As parents, citizens, and members of the community, you should and must make decisions about your children’s welfare and safety and communicate with your local schools and communities. However, we don’t believe that this means you must give up your child’s rights to the special education he or she needs due to COVID-19.
Distance Learning and Other School System Services
With distance learning being so relevant, our stance is to be flexible and creative in working with schools to deliver the education children need, but not at the cost of inadequate or no services at all. To the extent schools are planning for the online delivery of education (and we know they are) and other services, they have an obligation to develop those services for children with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) as well. This could mean homebound services, online classes, and related services will be provided, to the extent possible, in the bounds of safety and the capabilities of technology.
We are actively communicating with local systems to ascertain their plans. We will deliver that information to you as soon as possible so we can take appropriate actions together to ensure your child’s educational needs are comprehensively met. As you can imagine, the flow of information trickles in. Most recently, we’ve heard that most school systems were caught mostly off guard, and while they have closed, they don’t yet have specific plans to meet the needs of their students.
If they truly believe they will be back in school in a couple of weeks, they may not develop any special plans and treat it like a somewhat extended Spring Break. However, we are encouraging them to plan as if the time out will be considerably longer. If they don’t, and the time out extends, they will be two weeks further behind in planning.
Select the link to learn more about the U.S. Department of Education’s response to COVID-19: COVID-19 (“Coronavirus”) Information and Resources for Schools and School Personnel
We’re Here to Help
As we hear of developments, we will relay that information to you along with our recommendations toward a plan of action. For now, we believe IEP teams can and should be meeting telephonically at a minimum. There is no reason to halt or delay plans and preparations due to schools temporarily closing. However, we may need to provide these school systems with some encouragement in hopes that they see things in the same light we do. Rest assured, we will act on your behalf in the ways we believe are most effective in achieving the education your children need and are entitled to receive.
Please feel free to call or email us with any questions or issues that may concern you. We have not and we will not close. As always, it is our great pleasure to represent you and your children. We look forward to continuing to do so in this unprecedented time.
We Want to Hear from You
If you know of anything going on in your school district, please share it with us. The more information we can share with each other, the better we can develop our knowledge base, plans, and strategies. We appreciate your input.
