Letter to Request a Review ARD (IEP) Meeting

cARD (IEP) Meetings can happen for a variety of reasons and as a member of your child’s ARD (IEP) committee, you can request a review ARD (IEP) meeting.

Reasons to Request a Review ARD (IEP):

• Your child is not making progress on one or more of their IEP goals or has regressed;
• Your child has mastered one or more of their IEP goals;
• Your child recently received a new diagnosis or private assessment that needs to be shared with the committee;
• You feel your child needs more services or additional services in order to make progress;
• Your child does not have goals in all areas of need;
• The school calls you frequently to pick your child up early or to inform you of behaviors;
• Assessments need to be updated due to any of the above;
• There has been a major life change with your child such as an illness, injury, or surgery.

The Letter:

This request needs to be in writing as it triggers a timeline for the school to follow in Texas. You can send it via e-mail or print it and bring it to your child’s school. Once the school has received your written request for an ARD (IEP) meeting they have 5 school days to either:

• Schedule the ARD meeting at a mutually convenient time; or
• Provide written notice explaining why they refuse to convene an ARD meeting.

Items to Include:

• Your child’s name, grade, and date of birth;
• That you are requesting an ARD meeting to discuss changes in your child’s IEP;
• State your reasons for requesting the meeting but don’t go into details. Save those for the meeting;
• If you would like a related service provider or district specialist to attend request that they be invited; and
• Provide two to three dates and times that you are available to meet.

Next Steps:

• Start gathering your evidence (data, progress reports, notes from the teacher, assessments, etc.) to support your concerns and/or what you are requesting;
• Make sure your Parent Notebook is up-to-date;
• Start preparing your Parent Agenda for the ARD meeting;
• If time allows request a Pre-ARD meeting with your child’s teacher or special education case manager to work on goals.

Upcoming Posts:

In my next post, we will discuss writing a letter requesting a copy of your child’s school records.

If you require help in writing a letter or desire an additional perspective to review one you have already written, do not hesitate to contact me.