How To Communicate With The District?

We suggest all IEP-related communications are put in writing and sent by a friendly email in addition to any other communication method you choose (including verbal communications, mail or certified mail).

So, if you make a verbal request for an initial IEP evaluation, make sure to follow up on that request in writing. When you get home, you can confirm the request by sending an email to whoever it was you spoke with, copying the principal, stating something like: "Thank you for talking with me today about my child's struggles at school. I just wanted to confirm in writing that I requested my child be evaluated for an IEP and you indicated ...." If you fail to put this request in writing, you may learn that no one remembers that you made such a request, and may even deny that the request was ever made. We, of course, suggest you put all the reasons you made the request in that email as well as detailed in our related posts, but if that is not going to happen at the very least confirm the discussion and the request by email.

If you subsequently choose to call a teacher or principal and ask an IEP-related question (whether big or small), or have a face-to-face conversation with them, we recommend you follow up that same day with an email stating something like: “Thank you for taking the time to talk to me today. I just wanted to confirm that we discussed X, and you stated Y.” This email should reflect what the teacher/principal told you and, if relevant, what they agreed to do.

If someone from the district calls you, please do the same, and confirm what was discussed and agreed upon by email. In fact, when parents receive random calls from district personnel, we often suggest that they email the person back, rather than call them back, and try to resolve the issue in writing. It might go something like: "Dear Mrs. A, I got your voicemail message today but wanted to let you know the best way to communicate with me is by email. So, I wanted to follow up and see what you wanted to discuss."

We have had parents ignore this advice and they often regret it because the parent relied to their detriment upon something said to them verbally and then have no proof it was said or agreed upon. Based upon experience, we simply want you to preserve all your advocacy efforts on your child’s behalf and suggest you do so by communicating through email or confirming all verbal conversations by email.