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PWNed Again – School CYA or Parent Intimidation?

We received a Prior Written Notice (PWN) from our school district … again… on the last day of summer school***. 

It is no big deal for us… we’ve been getting them after virtually every IEP* meeting with our current school district for the last 3 years – though from talking to other parents, it can freak them out.

Personally, I find them fairly amusing…

…but I admit I may be a bit demented about this….

From my conversations with parents of Students with Disabilities, most school districts only rarely send out formal PWN letters to the families. 

As I understand them, a Prior Written Notice doesn’t “do” anything, but can be used as a way for the school district to formally respond to, disagree with, or notify parents of an intent to escalate things (such as take parents to Due Process**). In some sense, it is yet another procedural safeguard.. a written “Hey, we may be planning to do something”.. before they do do something.

Our current school district seems to use them a lot – basically, anytime the Special Education District Office responds to parents officially… we get a PWN.

They can look intimidating.

  • Certified Letter that you have to sign for. 
  • $ for a fancy envelope, postage, and getting a signature!
  • Sent to You on Official School District Letterhead.
  • Very formal language.

Kind of scary and intimidating… and maybe that is the point? Or perhaps they have a lawyer who has told them to ALWAYS send a PWN when someone agrees to the IEP with exception… CYA – Cover Your A**???

… but does it DO anything?

As we also received a proposed IEP amendment with it, THAT is an actual proposed action by the school district that we will respond to.

(They could have just emailed us the proposed amendment, by the way)

As we pretty much ALWAYS sign IEPs with “AGREE WITH EXCEPTIONS”… I think that is the reason for the regular PWNs.

Basically, we “agree to disagree” with the school district (our signing the IEP with exceptions) and they “agree to disagree” with us (the PWN).

Standoff

(cue “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” theme music.. 

Wa Wa Waaa…. Dum Dum Duuuummmmmm)

There are things in the IEP that we don’t agree on, we keep them documented in the IEP by our Agreement with Exceptions, but, so far, neither of us has escalated to Due Process (I’m looking into arbitration on a “curriculum problem” that I think is actually a pretty widespread ADA violation… also a future article topic). 

Food for thought:

  • Parents sign the IEP, the school district doesn’t.  At most, individual staff members sign their reports – at least in California
  • The school district has a “structural conflict of interest” as they both determine services that are needed AND have to pay for them (for which they are grossly underfunded)
  • The IEP is a “blank page” contract – it doesn’t have any boilerplate or other flags to protect parents from making choices that could be detrimental to their child’s education. This is unlike sales agreements for cars or houses or apartment leases…
  • You are constantly reminded that you have “Procedural Safeguards” – this should be a warning that that is ALL you have… and it is up to you to know how to use them.

So, adding this one to the stack.

We’ll be reviewing the amendment, and getting back to summer break.

Have you had any “interesting” experiences with disability or special education related paperwork?

Any quirks in the system that you’ve experienced?

* IEP – Individualized Education Program – the formal term for the educational program and document agreeing to the educational program for a student with a qualifying disability in the US. This agreement can radically change the nature of the educational program your child receives… a topic for a future article!

** Due Process – the administrative hearing to address special education issues between parents and school districts. Formally, either party can start the Due Process process, though it is more typically initiated by parents (I think). Lawyers are not required, though often used by both parties. Parents tend to lose :( BUT, I think this is because parents focus on things being in the “best interest of their child’s education” rather than compliance with procedures… or as I remind parents “They are called PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS not CHILD EDUCATIONAL SAFEGUARDS”… also a topic planned for a future article!.

*** This is extra amusing as we signed our IEP (with Exceptions of course) over two months ago.

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