Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19 Closures

Conducting meetings
Initial IEPs and annual reviews
Initial evaluations and reevaluations
Providing and documenting services
Exiting students
Teletherapy
Statewide testing
Finance
Additional Services Discussions

FAQs

Conducting meetings

If you have all the information you need to complete an action (eligibility determination, annual review, reevaluation, IEP meeting…) use the flexibility already allowed under IDEA – having team members participate via alternative methods (audio or video conferencing, telephone). Document meeting participants by listing the names and the how they attended the meeting (e.g., via phone or video conferencing).

While it may be more challenging to get everyone together for meetings, all required team members must be in attendance or properly excused. Remember there is excusal flexibility in IDEA - a required member of the IEP team, may be excused from attending an IEP team meeting, in whole or in part, when the meeting involves a modification to or discussion of the member’s area of the curriculum or related services, if, (a) the parent, in writing, and the LEA consent to the excusal; and (b) the IEP team member submits, in writing to the parent and the IEP team, input into the development of the IEP prior to the meeting (34 CFR § 300.321(e)). Written consent from the parent may be obtained through email.

The signatures on IEPs indicate participation, not consent. Consequently, signatures are not necessary for virtual meetings or for meetings with participation by phone. The mode of participation needs to be documented in the PWN and on the signature page. This is the process to be used any time a team member is participating through alternative means and is not specific to this emergency. Frontline Education, Inc., is currently working on rolling out an e-signature function and will be providing more information to districts in the near future.

When conducting IEP meetings virtually, you need to have the same privacy and protections as an in person meeting. If you are using conference lines or virtual settings the meeting organizer/moderator is responsible for ensuring that only meeting participants are in attendance. During an IEP meeting there is significant personally identifiable and private information discussed and that information needs to be secure.

Initial IEPs and annual reviews

For parent consent for initial provision of services, document that the parent consented and indicate how they consented i.e. parent consented for services via [the method of participation] and document in the PWN. Do not delay the delivery of services if the parent consents verbally or through alternative means [ex: email, cell phone photograph of signature, etc.]. The district will need to get physical signatures on the consent as soon as realistically possible.

At this time, our guidance is to write the IEP for initial services or annual review as if the student is in your typical school setting, so the start date would be as soon as possible following the meeting. In the meantime, until schools reopen, you would provide access to instruction through appropriate means during the closure.

You may be able to write a new IEP during an annual review at this time based on the data you’ve collected for 3 quarters. There may be goals that you cannot continue collected data on (peer interaction, for example), but you would write the IEP with the data you had for 3 quarters.

If the IEP team deferred the decision regarding ESY until the end of the year (for example, if the annual review was held in September and the decision regarding ESY was deferred until the end of the year), the team can meet through remote means, review the data, and make the ESY decision.

Initial evaluations and reevaluations

Due to the current health restrictions, meetings will need to be held via audio or video conference. If the evaluation/reevaluation team has already gathered all information needed to make eligibility/continued eligibility decisions, proceed as you would typically via audio or video conference.

If an evaluation or reevaluation requires face-to-face assessment or observation, that assessment would need to be delayed until schools resume. Evaluations and reevaluations that do not require face-to-face assessments or observations may take place while schools are closed. Once schools reopen, the IEP team would meet to determine how the delay may have impacted the student.

A reevaluation of each student with a disability must be conducted at least every three years, unless the parents and the public agency agree that a reevaluation is unnecessary 34 C.F.R. § 300.303(b)(2). However, when appropriate, any reevaluation may be conducted through a review of existing evaluation data, and this review may occur without a meeting and without obtaining parental consent, unless it is determined that additional assessments are needed. 34 C.F.R. §300.305(a) [emphasis added]. If additional information is needed to determine continued eligibility, this should be noted. If the information cannot be obtained during the school closure and the three year timeline is exceeded, the reason for the missed timeline should be recorded in Enrich.

Providing and documenting services

OSES has provided a sample letter that may be used to send to parents at this time. The district may use the letter to communicate to parents in a global manner. Special Education teachers/case managers need to make reasonable attempts to contact students and parents. If special education teachers are having specific discussions and making changes to the IEP per parent or other team member requests, those need be documented in a PWN. OSES has provided some sample PWNs. Be sure the PWN is edited to match the actual circumstance and not cut and pasted from the sample.

The district will need to find a way to collect progress monitoring data during this time. This may include online data collection methods or assessment of progress virtually or via telephone. Consider how the district can monitor access to instruction and progress toward annual goals during this time of school closure. Although best practice says that you would use a method of progress monitoring that is aligned with the method used to establish baseline data, you may not be able to do that during the school closure. The following external websites will be helpful:

Academic Progress Monitoring Tools Chart
A resource from the National Center of Intensive Intervention

IRISCenter
A wide variety of resources and services to suit a diverse set of instructional needs and circumstances.

There are different online tools that are excellent for progress monitoring. The use of information gathered will depend on the student’s ability to access the tool, and the student’s access to the general curriculum. The accuracy of the data gathered from any tool will depend on the student and their individual situation.

The district will need to have a mechanism in place to log contacts and services. The district can choose its own process, however one needs to be in place. Enrich is one possibility. If the services and contacts are logged appropriately, it will be easier when the IEP team reconvenes to discuss impact on the student.

Exiting Students

For a student whose eligibility under special education terminates due to graduation with a regular diploma, or due to exceeding the age of eligibility, the district must provide the student with a summary of the student’s academic achievement and functional performance (SOP), which includes recommendations on how to assist the student in meeting the his/her postsecondary goals (§Sec. 300.305(e)(3)). If a student is failing (prior to the school closure), he/she would be given the same opportunity provided to all similarly-situated students (guidance will be coming out soon in this area).

If the student will be able to graduate, an SOP must be provided. If the student will not meet graduation requirements even with the additional options provided in the forthcoming guidance, the IEP team would conduct the annual review, when appropriate, and continue providing services as per the IEP. The IEP team does not need to meet to provide the SOP to the student, but a conference should be scheduled with the teacher and student to go over the SOP and to answer any questions.

Teletherapy

Guidance may be found within the following resources:

Telehealth for physical therapy SC Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (PDF)
Guidance regarding use of telehealth to provide physical therapy services during the public health state of emergency,

Telehealth for occupational therapy LLR (PDF)
SCHHS issued COVID-19 bulletin with some information on teletherapy and telephonic services

ECTA Center: Tele-Intervention and Distance Learning
Read the latest on COVID-19 and tele-Intervention and distance learning, and review recent webinars on these topics.

At this time, although teletherapy cannot be billed to Medicaid, all services required by a student must be provided and paid for via other funding methods. Additional guidance is forthcoming. The bulletins will be posted at the following website:

SCDHHS Medicaid Bulletins
South Carolina Healthy Connections Medicaid communications.

COVID-19 Temporary Telephonic and Telehealth Services Updates
SCHHS issued bulletin with information on teletherapy and telephonic services

Contracted therapy services are governed by the contracts entered into by the districts and the vendors. Whether districts are required to pay a therapist during a closure period would depend on the provisions in the applicable contract.

If we have families that refuse teletherapy (have internet access and available technology, but do not wish to have teletherapy services), how do we document that? And when it comes time to discuss supplemental school closure services, how does their decision play into what we would owe?

Document the parent’s refusal the same way you are documenting all other communication with the parents (Enrich, Excel spreadsheet,…). In a PWN, describe what services were offered and provided as well as the parent’s request that services not be delivered during the closure period.

When parents make this type of request, this is NOT to be considered a revocation of consent.

Once schools reopen and the assessment of impact for all students has occurred, the IEP team would determine what supplemental services the student would need, if any, based upon the student’s current levels of academic achievement and functional performance.

Statewide Testing

For initial and annual reviews written during the school closure, OSES recommends that the IEP team designates participation and accommodations on state assessments in the normal fashion. However, the team can specify in the PWN that South Carolina was granted a waiver for federal accountability the state assessments will not be administered in the Spring of 2020.

Individual amendments related to statewide assessments being waived are not necessary.

For students who have already completed the SC-ALT, test scores will be provided in the ORS. All completed tests have been scored, but individual student reports (ISRs) will not be generated.

Finance

OSES is looking at all possibilities for providing additional funding to districts and state-operated programs to assist with additional services to address the impact of school closures on students with disabilities.

A district may request a budget modification to move funds from one function/object code to another. Amendments should be submitted through GAPS, and will be processed as quickly as possible

Additional Services Discussions

Once schools reopen, school staff will be evaluating how the school closure affected all students. This evaluation will take place over a period of time yet to be determined (based in part on the length of the closure). After this evaluation period, if a student has not received services after an extended period of time, IEP teams may need to hold IEP meetings to make an individualized determination whether and to what extent additional services may be needed, consistent with applicable requirements, including to make up for any skills that may have been lost.

If a student has missed regularly scheduled sessions/contacts/virtual lessons during the school closure period, the IEP team will need to consider the reasons for missed sessions once school reopens and the evaluation period has passed when making individualized determinations whether and to what extent additional services may be needed, consistent with applicable requirements, including to make up for any skills that may have been lost.

Please provide guidance based on the SCDE Grading and Graduation Guidance memo received this week. The memo has waived instructional times and seat times for students. Can you please provide clarification on the impact of the guidance from the SCDE as it pertains to IEP service times for students with disabilities if any?

There is not an expectation that the exact minutes/times in the IEP will continue to be provided during school closures. The expectation is that district, in collaboration with the parents, will provide services that support the equitable access to the general education learning opportunities to the maximum extent practicable. It is further expected that this provision of services will be clearly documented and communicated to the parents.