Notes of each IEP team meeting are a must. The notes you take during the meeting matter and may make or break your next due process hearing. An eligibility decision, predetermination claim, or denial-of-FAPE claim may hinge on the specificity of your team's notes. That's because each team decision should be supported by data and a rationale.
Take notes as if preparing to defend the IEP and the team's decisions in the future. Here's how to ensure your team's notes sufficiently document what occurred during the IEP meeting.
Designate a notetaker
Notetaking is a big job and not one that should be minimized or relegated as inconsequential. To alleviate the burden of note-taking, consider using a shared outline or a "tag team" for note-taking during the meeting.
The designated note-taker is responsible for writing down details about the team's decisions so that there is documented support for each. Additionally, meeting notes should align with and guide your prior written notice.
Go step-by-step through IEP development process
Starting at the beginning with the student's eligibility for special education and related services, identify what documents the eligibility team analyzed. Then, note why or how the student meets eligibility criteria or why he does not. Document review of the entire evaluation.
After an IEP is in effect, take detailed notes about how the student's progress was measured and that it was explained to the parents. Also, note how the student's disability affects her involvement and progress in the general curriculum. Don't forget to record any deficits identified during this step that inform the development of appropriate IEP goals.
During the IEP meeting, the note-taker can help to keep the team on track -- focusing on the student's present level of performance, not the past, and not the future. The team will be lost without specific notes to guide IEP development.
Upon review, the note-taker may see glaring holes in her notes. Then, she can ask team members for details. For example, ask how the student will receive a specific IEP accommodation and describe it in the notes.
Check all the boxes
Meeting notes should outline the logic of the team's decision-making. A checklist will also ensure that notes comprehensively address each topic. Tick the boxes to ensure the team can evince that alternate placement options were considered, for example.
The team must be able to show, with sufficient notes:
· Meaningful parent participation
· Parent requests and the team's responses
· Areas of agreement and disagreement
· Clarification and elaboration of topics with explanations
Provide details about how the parents were actively involved in the meeting. First, note their attendance. Then, document the questions they asked and their concerns, word-for-word. Make sure the notes show that the team heard the concerns and considered them. Also, document any disagreement, consideration of private evaluations, or requests for modification of the IEP and the team's responses to those requests.
Be aware of and carefully choose the words you use when note-taking. The words the note-taker chooses may change the way someone reads or implements the IEP. Be specific. Use objective, professional language rather than slang, informal, or ambiguous language to lend credibility.
Don't overlook recording uncivil conduct, by district members of the team or the parents. It may be important later if a court or hearing officer weighs the equities when fashioning a remedy.
Finally, if time permits, consider reading the meeting notes aloud before ending the meeting.
Essentially, IEP team members should be of the mindset that if it isn't documented in the meeting notes, it didn't happen.
See also:
· Checklist for opening an IEP meeting for team leader
· Put it in Writing: Best Practices for Compliant IEPs Supported by Detailed Meeting Notes, presented by Dr. Derek Ihori
· What Do I Do When ...® The Answer Book on Individualized Education Programs -- Fifth Edition, by Kelli Dreier, Esq.
Kelli Dreier, Esq., covers special education legal issues for LRP Publications.
September 9, 2024
Copyright 2024© LRP Publications
