This refers to Federal laws, which clearly state that all parents and children are to get non-prejudiced treatment with regards to special education decision-making. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides procedural safeguards. These don’t describe what accommodations or services should be in a child’s IEP. Instead, they explain the ground rules for how parents will work with the school.

Here’re some crucial procedural safeguards and what they mean for parents and their children.

·         The school must provide the parents with a written explanation of their rights under both their state’s laws and the IDEA. While parents will receive this as a printed notice, they can also ask for a verbal notice.

·         Parents have a legal right to participate in meetings about their child’s education, including IEP meetings. They can even call an IEP team meeting at any time.

·         Parents have the right to access and get an explanation of their child’s school records. They can also ask for corrections. The FERPA or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and IDEA protect these rights.

·         The school has to protect the child’s confidentiality. This includes personal information, such as the child’s name, social security number, address, and other personal details.

·         The school must inform the parents of what’s involved before evaluating the child or providing the child with special education services for the first time. Parents have to give their permission in writing before the school can proceed.

·         The school must give parents written notice before it modifies the child’s special education experience. This includes when the school wishes to add or deny services. It has to tell parents what it proposes to do and why.

·         When the school provides the parents with a written notice, it has to use a language that’s comprehensible to the general public. Also, the notice has to be in the parent’s native language, including Braille.

·         If parents disapprove of the school’s evaluation results, they’ve got the right to receive an IEE. An IEE or Independent Educational Evaluation refers to an evaluation of the child’s needs and skills by someone who isn’t a school employee. While the school has to consider the results of the IEE, it isn’t required to accept the findings.

·         When parents disagree with a proposed change to their child’s IEP  placement or services, they can use the “stay put” protection to keep the child’s current IEP in place.

·         Parents have got the right to disagree with the school regarding what’s best for their child.