Washington State IDEA Council
Parent Access Bill
Parent Access HB 3093 started by a mom in rural Mason County, WA.
Wording is as follows:
AN ACT Relating to parental involvement in the development of educational programs for children with disabilities; and adding a new section to chapter 28A.155 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28A.155 RCW to read as follows:
In order for parents of a child with disabilities to participate fully and effectively with school personnel in the consideration and development of appropriate educational programs for their child, policies adopted pursuant to RCW 28A.605.020 must provide that, upon request by a parent, parents and parent-designated independent evaluators and educational consultants shall be afforded timely access for observations of the child's current program and of any program proposed for the child, including both academic and nonacademic components of any such program. Parents and their designees must be afforded access of sufficient duration and extent to enable them to evaluate the child's performance in a current program and the ability of a proposed program to enable the child to make effective progress. No conditions or restrictions may be imposed on the observations except those necessary to ensure the safety of children in a program, the integrity of a program while under observation, or the safeguarding of personally identifiable information consistent with the requirements of the federal family educational rights and privacy act and applicable state laws.
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Wording is as follows:
AN ACT Relating to parental involvement in the development of educational programs for children with disabilities; and adding a new section to chapter 28A.155 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28A.155 RCW to read as follows:
In order for parents of a child with disabilities to participate fully and effectively with school personnel in the consideration and development of appropriate educational programs for their child, policies adopted pursuant to RCW 28A.605.020 must provide that, upon request by a parent, parents and parent-designated independent evaluators and educational consultants shall be afforded timely access for observations of the child's current program and of any program proposed for the child, including both academic and nonacademic components of any such program. Parents and their designees must be afforded access of sufficient duration and extent to enable them to evaluate the child's performance in a current program and the ability of a proposed program to enable the child to make effective progress. No conditions or restrictions may be imposed on the observations except those necessary to ensure the safety of children in a program, the integrity of a program while under observation, or the safeguarding of personally identifiable information consistent with the requirements of the federal family educational rights and privacy act and applicable state laws.
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Comment From Parent
Parent Access to Classrooms
Main issues:
1) Parent and parent consultant access to observe their child's current or prospective special education setting is currently left to individual school district policy. These policies are often not applied evenly or equitably to parents of students receiving special ed services.
2) Many districts policies serve as a BARRIER to prevent parents from observing their own child's classroom under the auspices of "confidentiality" related to the other children in the classroom. Sometimes they state that it would "disrupt the educational environment" or upset their student.
3) This is a burdensome situation that can require diligence and persistence to jump through the individual district's policies and local building principal's hoops and some parents do give up. It causes delays in solving problems, identifying concerns, and often entails x days notice and limited time frames. Please imagine if you had concerns about your child's school program and were denied an observation of your child's classroom.
4) Sometimes parents want a second opinion about the efficacy of their child's program and ask for an "independent" observation from a consultant. Those observations are often conducted by a Master's or PhD level individual, or private therapist. These individuals are often denied access, in the same ways parents are, to observe in the classroom. Such observations can really only be collaborative and productive when the professional or advocate can actually see how the child functions and interacts in their current setting or how services are carried out in a prospective program. They should, by extension, be allowed access to the classroom to assist the parent with ensuring their child receives an appropriate education where they are able to receive benefit from their education.
How The Bill Got Started: 2009
My name is Sarah McQuilkin & I am the mom to a child with unique needs in the 'special education' program. I have certainly had my share of conflict between the school district and myself involving my child. We have been through a few times of witnessing and hearing of abuse by teacher assistants upon our child. Despite our times of writing letters and having school meetings about abusive actions, it fell on deaf ears with no resolve. This bill is not about abuse alone.
Over the past 5 years, we have asked for time to observe our child in class. It seemed to have been met by resistance on the school's part as well as the teachers. We have also had success a few times, but not without hassle and planning. I might add that the school usually has not taken what our professional suggests seriously.
During the summer of 2009, I was having yet another conflict and was doing a lot of research on the internet.
I came across a house bill in Ill. that was passed in June of 2009 in the state of ill. granting parents unimpeded access to their child's special education class room. The bill was written in plain language. I thought to myself "Why not such a bill here?". The following is a synopsis of the Ill. HB 0628. To see the whole bill, go to : http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=628&GAID=10&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=41403&SessionID=76
Synopsis As Introduced
Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Provides that a private evaluator or expert retained by or on behalf a parent or guardian shall be afforded reasonable and unimpeded access to educational personnel, facilities, classrooms, and buildings and to the child for the purpose of conducting any appropriate interviews, observations, assessments, tests, or evaluations of the child and of the child's current or proposed educational program, placement, and educational environment. Provides that a parent or guardian shall be afforded reasonable and unimpeded access to observe the child in his or her current or proposed educational program, placement, and educational environment. Provides that a parent or guardian who is a prevailing party in an impartial due process hearing or in a civil action may recover from an opposing party reasonable expert witness costs if the expert witness contributed to the relief obtained by the parent or guardian. Effective immediately.
I contacted a friend of mine and told her of it, since she has had experience in the system. Within a few weeks, two friends and myself had a meeting with Representative Kathy Haigh who graciously agreed to sponsor such a bill.
My intent for such a bill is not meant for parents to be aggressive or disruptive to any child's class room. It was not meant to usurp any authority or show a lack of respect to school personnel. I am a firm believer that parents are the experts on their child and should be able to have imput on their child's program. I feel that sometimes there is too much red tape involved to even be able to observe their child in their classroom. Observing or having a professional observe should be done in an orderly fashion, but without all the red tape. I also feel that perhaps teachers, etc., being aware that a parent may come in to observe may prevent some of the abuse to disabled children. It is sad to say that this type of stuff does go on. This bill is not all about abuse in class rooms. It goes beyond that. Since parents know their child best, I feel it is important to be able to observe the child's program and have a say in the program.
While the official language of this bill is not fully written up as of yet, the proposed language goes like this:
' ...To ensure that parents of children with disabilities can participate fully and effectively with school personnel in the consideration and development of appropriate educational programs for their child. It shall provide that, upon request by a parent, parents and parent-designated independant evaluators and educational consultants shall be afforded timely access for observations of a child's current program and of any program proposed for the child, including both academic and non academic components of any such program. Parents and their designeees shall be afforded access of sufficient duration and extent to enable them to evaluate a child's performance in a current program and the ability of a proposed program to enable such a child to make effective progress. No conditions or restrictions may be imposed on such observations except those necessary to ensure the safety of children in a program, the integrity of program while under observation, or the safeguarding of personnally identiable information consistent with the requirements of the federal family educational rights privacy act and applicable state laws.'.
You are urged to make comments about this proposed bill in our guest book . If you have questions or would like to post a subject on this, please feel free to post in our forum page.
We urge you to write letters of support for this bill and email them to Donna Obermeyer or Sarah McQuilkin. Please feel free to check back with us for updates and the progress of this bill.
LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD
My name is Sarah McQuilkin & I am the mom to a child with unique needs in the 'special education' program. I have certainly had my share of conflict between the school district and myself involving my child. We have been through a few times of witnessing and hearing of abuse by teacher assistants upon our child. Despite our times of writing letters and having school meetings about abusive actions, it fell on deaf ears with no resolve. This bill is not about abuse alone.
Over the past 5 years, we have asked for time to observe our child in class. It seemed to have been met by resistance on the school's part as well as the teachers. We have also had success a few times, but not without hassle and planning. I might add that the school usually has not taken what our professional suggests seriously.
During the summer of 2009, I was having yet another conflict and was doing a lot of research on the internet.
I came across a house bill in Ill. that was passed in June of 2009 in the state of ill. granting parents unimpeded access to their child's special education class room. The bill was written in plain language. I thought to myself "Why not such a bill here?". The following is a synopsis of the Ill. HB 0628. To see the whole bill, go to : http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=628&GAID=10&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=41403&SessionID=76
Synopsis As Introduced
Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Provides that a private evaluator or expert retained by or on behalf a parent or guardian shall be afforded reasonable and unimpeded access to educational personnel, facilities, classrooms, and buildings and to the child for the purpose of conducting any appropriate interviews, observations, assessments, tests, or evaluations of the child and of the child's current or proposed educational program, placement, and educational environment. Provides that a parent or guardian shall be afforded reasonable and unimpeded access to observe the child in his or her current or proposed educational program, placement, and educational environment. Provides that a parent or guardian who is a prevailing party in an impartial due process hearing or in a civil action may recover from an opposing party reasonable expert witness costs if the expert witness contributed to the relief obtained by the parent or guardian. Effective immediately.
I contacted a friend of mine and told her of it, since she has had experience in the system. Within a few weeks, two friends and myself had a meeting with Representative Kathy Haigh who graciously agreed to sponsor such a bill.
My intent for such a bill is not meant for parents to be aggressive or disruptive to any child's class room. It was not meant to usurp any authority or show a lack of respect to school personnel. I am a firm believer that parents are the experts on their child and should be able to have imput on their child's program. I feel that sometimes there is too much red tape involved to even be able to observe their child in their classroom. Observing or having a professional observe should be done in an orderly fashion, but without all the red tape. I also feel that perhaps teachers, etc., being aware that a parent may come in to observe may prevent some of the abuse to disabled children. It is sad to say that this type of stuff does go on. This bill is not all about abuse in class rooms. It goes beyond that. Since parents know their child best, I feel it is important to be able to observe the child's program and have a say in the program.
While the official language of this bill is not fully written up as of yet, the proposed language goes like this:
' ...To ensure that parents of children with disabilities can participate fully and effectively with school personnel in the consideration and development of appropriate educational programs for their child. It shall provide that, upon request by a parent, parents and parent-designated independant evaluators and educational consultants shall be afforded timely access for observations of a child's current program and of any program proposed for the child, including both academic and non academic components of any such program. Parents and their designeees shall be afforded access of sufficient duration and extent to enable them to evaluate a child's performance in a current program and the ability of a proposed program to enable such a child to make effective progress. No conditions or restrictions may be imposed on such observations except those necessary to ensure the safety of children in a program, the integrity of program while under observation, or the safeguarding of personnally identiable information consistent with the requirements of the federal family educational rights privacy act and applicable state laws.'.
You are urged to make comments about this proposed bill in our guest book . If you have questions or would like to post a subject on this, please feel free to post in our forum page.
We urge you to write letters of support for this bill and email them to Donna Obermeyer or Sarah McQuilkin. Please feel free to check back with us for updates and the progress of this bill.
LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD
