As a parent of a child receiving special education, you’re entitled to prior written notice (PWN) when changes are made to your child’s individualized education program (IEP). This ensures you’re always informed and involved in changes to your child’s plan before they happen. This guide will dive deeper into the topic of PWN and your procedural safeguards protected by The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Everything You Need to Know About PWN
PWN is a crucial component of your procedural safeguards as a parent. Continue reading to learn about why PWN is important, when it’s used, what it contains, examples, and more.
- Why Is PWN Important?
- When Do Parents Receive PWN?
- What’s Included in a PWN?
- What Is an Example of a PWN?
- What Happens if a School Fails To Provide a PWN?
- When Is PWN Not Required?
- What Are Other Procedural Safeguards?
Why Is PWN Important?
PWN is important because it ensures that parents are properly informed about what’s going on in their child’s special education. PWN alerts parents of a school’s changes, approvals, and denials to their child’s IEP early on. This lets parents respond to refusals and voice their opinion on the school’s proposals. Parents’ rights to PWN are covered in IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), which has a section dedicated to procedural safeguards.
When Do Parents Receive PWN?
Parents are protected by the IDEA when changes are made to their child’s IEP. The following examples are instances when parents must be notified via PWN. Keep in mind, this is not an exhaustive list.
- The school wants to make changes to the student’s IEP
- The school wants to change the child’s educational placement
- The school denies or proposes an educational placement for the child
- The school wants to change aspects of the related services or special education that the child is receiving
- The school wants to change how it identifies the child’s disability
- The school wants to conduct an initial assessment of the child
- The school denies the parent’s request to evaluate the child
- The school wants to change or begin the child’s identification as a “child with a disability”
Verbal interactions over the phone or in-person do not count as PWN. Parents always have the right to request written notice. This is helpful because a record of the decision is put down on paper, and a detailed explanation of why a decision was reached is included. This information is kept in the student’s file and will follow them should they change schools. Parents can also elect to receive PWN over email if offered by the school.
What’s Included in a PWN?
Every PWN must include specific information according to IDEA. When a school sends parents a PWN, it must have the following information.
- A statement of the action taken or not taken by the school
- An explanation of why or why not the school made a change that was requested
- A description of each record, report, assessment, or evaluation procedure the school used to help them decide
- A description of other options considered and why they were rejected
- Details on how parents can obtain a written copy of their legal rights
- A statement that reminds parents that they have legal rights to procedural safeguards
- Contact details to help parents understand their legal rights
There are also rules for how a PWN should be written. For example, the PWN must be written in a way the general public can understand.
If parents are less familiar with the English language, it must be written in the parents’ native language or the language most understood. It also must account for needs such as extra-large print or Braille form if needed. If the parents don’t communicate in a written language, the PWN must be translated orally or by other means.
By creating this guideline, IDEA ensures that all parents of children with disabilities are fully informed about their rights and of every decision that’s made. If you’d like to see a template for PWN, the U.S. Department of Education has provided one here.
What Is an Example of a PWN?
Using the template provided by the U.S. Department of Education, I created an example PWN for your reference.
This PWN example is of a parent’s request to implement the help of a full-time paraprofessional to help her son, Charlie, in the general education classroom. The school has decided to refuse the parent’s request
Description of the action that the school district proposes or refuses to take:
Charlie’s parents have requested that a full-time paraprofessional work with him in the general education classroom in order to make progress toward IEP goals.
Explanation of why the school district is proposing or refusing to take that action:
After review, the IEP team has determined that Charlie is already progressing towards his annual goals with the partial support of a paraprofessional during English, Science, and History classes.
Instead of bringing on a paraprofessional full-time, Charlie will spend an extra hour every day with the special education teacher to develop his independence and learning skills.
Description of each evaluation, procedure, assessment, record, or report the school district used in deciding to propose or refuse the action:
We used progress reports, behavioral assessments, anecdotal records, grades, and input from two teachers to reach our decision.
Description of any other choices that the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team considered and the reasons why those choices were rejected:
The IEP Team carefully considered the request of Charlie’s parents to have a paraprofessional help him full time.
After factoring in the input from Charlie’s general education and special education teachers and measuring his progress towards his IEP goals, we determined that bringing on a paraprofessional full-time is unnecessary.
We believe a full-time paraprofessional would hamper Charlie’s ability to self-monitor and develop his independence. Instead, we believe this would encourage Charlie to become fully dependent on the paraprofessional.
He has satisfactorily progressed with part-time help, and we believe he should continue with the current amount of paraprofessional support
Description of other reasons why the school district proposed or refused the action:
When Charlie’s IEP was revised last year, his amount of time with the paraprofessional was decreased. However, his progress in all academic areas including English, Science, and History significantly improved this past year. This demonstrates that Charlie is not dependent on additional time with a paraprofessional.
Resources for the parents to contact for help in understanding Part B of the IDEA:
Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc.
111 Main Street
Albany, NY 12084
(518) 784-5522, Toll Free 1-800-937-8902
Pro-Parents
873 2nd Avenue
Albany, NY 12084
(518) 372-4482, Toll Free 1-800-284-9200
If this notice is not an initial referral for evaluation, how the parent can obtain a copy of a description of the procedural safeguards:
Please refer to the Procedural Safeguards that your child’s special education teacher or case manager has provided.
What Happens if a School Fails To Provide PWN?
Failing to provide PWN is breaking the law. If you don’t receive PWN when required, you can request one from the school. A PWN gives parents the chance to respond or object to changes made relative to their child’s education.
If you have any disagreements with the school’s PWN, you can send a letter requesting a due process hearing or a mediation. Therefore, no changes will be made until the disagreement is settled. This is also known as a “stay put” provision.
When Is PWN Not Required?
Not all instances require a PWN to be sent to parents. The following situations do not constitute a PWN.
- State-level assessments
- General screenings
- Teacher’s assignments
- Classroom assignments
- Observations conducted for instructional reasons
- Evaluation of annual goals progress
- Changes to course schedules
- Changes to intervention strategies
If any of these situations occur, there’s no reason to request a PWN from your school. Although, guardians should be notified of the above changes.
What Are Other Procedural Safeguards?
In addition to PWN, procedural safeguards protect parent interests in a variety of ways.
For example, parents have a right to an independent educational evaluation (IEE) if they disagree with a school’s decision. An IEE is when a professional independent of the school evaluates your child’s needs and skills. While schools must factor in the findings from an IEE, they are not forced to accept them.
Parents are entitled to their child’s records and confidentiality of their information. Personal information like social security numbers, home addresses, child names, and more are protected. Parents can also see child records, request corrections to records, and decide who can view records.
Another procedural safeguard is informed consent, which requires the school to inform parents and get their written consent before performing certain actions. These actions include before inviting external agencies to join IEP meetings, when a school provides special education for the first time, and before the school conducts an initial evaluation of your child.
Parents are entitled to participate in their child’s IEP meetings. Schools are not allowed to change, implement, or develop your child’s IEP without your consent. Parents are considered equal members of their child’s IEP team, and they help monitor their child’s services, create educational goals, and assess their child’s skills.
Parents also have several dispute resolution options available. They have the right to use mediation, due process, or send complaints to the state. Complaints are typically sent when a school violates IDEA. If you believe there is discrimination against your child, you can file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education.
One of the most important procedural safeguards is the “stay put” provision. This means that when parents and schools disagree about a child’s plan, no changes can be made until the dispute is resolved. If you disagree with a school’s decision, send a written dispute immediately after receiving PWN.
Conclusion
Parents need to be involved in their child’s IEP. PWN is a way for parents to receive in-depth details on IEP changes, and it gives them the chance to respond accordingly. If a school fails to provide PWN when prompted, they’re breaking the law. Not all situations require PWN, and parents are entitled to other procedural safeguards as well. To make sure you’re kept in the loop, it’s important to know what should be included on a PWN and when it should be sent.
Feel free to leave a comment or question down below or send me an email. I’m here to help!
