entitled “IEP amendment.” It would include a blanket statement regarding what a child would be entitled to during the shutdown (i.e., twenty minutes of Zoom lessons per week, electronic work posted to See-Saw) but made no mention of the child’s actual IEP. Many Texas parents, distraught by their new situation, either signed the document or missed the email entirely. These unilateral and generic plans went into effect for the parents who did not know their rights. In the fall of 2020, many public schools made plans for the arduous return to campus. Generally, families could return to in-person classes or continue with distant learning. For students with vulnerable health conditions, remaining remote was the only viable option. For them, the fall of 2020 was not much different than the spring of 2020. As the year progressed, districts began to pressure underperforming students to come back to campus. For many remote learners, the family’s first sign of trouble was a letter requesting their child return to in-person learning. However, school districts had a duty to do more for students with IEPs. When a student with an IEP fails to make progress or has a concern to be addressed, such as an increase in behaviors, a school district’s first response should be to reconvene an ARD Committee meeting. To continue to offer an IEP reasonably calculated for a student, school districts must ensure that the IEP team reviews the child’s IEP periodically to determine whether the annual goals for the child are being achieved and revise the IEP to address any lack of expected progress toward the annual goals.11
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Compensatory Services The U.S. Department of Education has outlined that the loss of special education services due to the COVID-19 school closures entitles students to compensatory services.12 As of this article’s writing, more than one year has thehoustonlawyer.com
May/June 2021
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