Great info to help negotiate your IEP

[Guest guest]

I recently discovered something very interesting that might be helpful when negotiating the IEP for your child. Our

daughter receives after school ABA services and I am having a disagreement with our town about the number of hours provided and the rate paid to the service provider. I feel the rate is too low and the reason I care about it is that we pay the service provider in advance so

she doesn't have to wait a month or more for her checks. When I

asked for information from our town about the rates paid to other service providers and their qualifications, they ignored my request. When I searched "freedom of information" in Google I found this terrific web site: http://www.sunshinereview.org/index.php/List_of_who_can_make_public_record_requests_by_state It

turns out that in New Jersey we have something called The Open Public Records Act. This act mandates that our local board of education is obligated to release most of their records within 7 days of a written request (with some exceptions including anything with 
personal identifying information). Most states have similar mandates.Once I requested the information under The Open Public Records Act, it 
was amazing how quickly they responded.Yesterday

I received time sheets for every student showing the number of after school hours they receive and the hourly rate and resumes for all of the

service providers. There

is a huge range of the number of hours provided (10 hours to 100+ a month) and rate per hour paid to these providers ($15 to $90 per hour). I

just made a second request for information about physical, occupational

and speech therapy services received by every student in town. If

you are in negotiations for your child's IEP, I encourage you to make a

freedom of information act request. I can understand if you are reluctant to ask for this type of 
information because of concerns that it might put you in an adversarial relationship with your board of education and the potential for negative consequences. If you feel that way, perhaps you know someone in your area, even in another town, who doesn't have kids and therefore has nothing to lose. Ask them to request the information as it seems like anyone can request public records.The board of education holds all of the cards and they clearly have the upper hand. They have lawyers on retainer, they do this every day and have no emotional stake in these matters. You are entitled to receive this type of information and it may help your case. I'll

let you know what happens as we continue in our negotiations and let me

know what you find out in your state.

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