The procedural safeguards contained in special education laws and regulations are essential to ensuring the substantive rights related to FAPE and education in the LRE are being provided to students with disabilities. At the heart of these procedural protections are requirements related to accessing educational records, parental participation, conducting IEP team meetings, and providing prior written notice of decisions related to the IEP and FAPE. It should also be noted that many of the procedural protections within the special education framework relate to heightened disciplinary safeguards for students with disabilities; this category of procedural safeguards is addressed elsewhere.1

• 1On these heightened protections in the disciplinary context, see Section 8.5.

Parents of students with disabilities have the right to access their children’s educational records. Schools must “permit parents to inspect and review any education records relating to their children that are collected, maintained, or used by the agency under these regulations.”1  In terms of timing, the LEA must comply with a request without unnecessary delay by providing requested records before any meeting regarding an IEP, due process hearing, resolution meeting, or Manifestation Determination meeting.2  “[I]n no case can the LEA take more than forty-five days to provide the records after the request has been made.”3

Additionally, a state statute known as the Louisiana Parents’ Bill of Rights for Public Schools grants all parents of public school children under 18 the right “[t]o inspect their child’s school records, and to receive a copy of their child’s records with ten business days of submitting a written request.”4  Under this law, electronic records must be provided at no charge, and any charges for hard copies must be reasonable and set forth in the official rules and regulations of the school’s governing authority.5  The law applies to academic records, medical or health records, records of mental health counseling, records of vocational counseling, discipline records, attendance records, records related to screening for exceptionalities, IEPs, IAPs, and any other student-specific file, document, or other materials maintained by the school.6

The most well-known law related to the right to access educational records is the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”). Under FERPA regulations, “education records” are records that are directly related to a student and that are maintained by an educational agency or institution or a party acting for or on behalf of the agency or institution. These records may be maintained in any form (e.g., hard copy or electronic) and include but are not limited to grades, transcripts, class lists, student course schedules, health records (at the K-12 level), student financial information (at the postsecondary level), and student discipline files.7  If a record contains identifying information for another student, the educational agency may release the records after redacting the other student’s personally identifiable information.8

• 1La. Bulletin 1706 § 613(A); 34 C.F.R. § 300.613(a).
• 2La. Bulletin 1706 § 613(A).
• 334 C.F.R. § 300.613(a); La. Bulletin 1706 § 613(A).
• 4La. R.S. 17:406.9(B)(2).
• 5Id.
• 6Id.
• 734 C.F.R. § 99.2.
• 834 C.F.R. § 99.31(b)(1).

Parents of students with disabilities have the right to participate in decisions related to their children’s education. First, parents must in general be afforded an opportunity to participate in meetings with respect to the identification, evaluation, and educational placement of the student and the provision of FAPE to the student.1  Furthermore, parents are an integral member of the IEP team.2  As such, special education regulations require LEAs to “take steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of the student with a disability are present at each IEP team meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate.”3  The LEA must provide parents with written notice of the meeting early enough to ensure they will have the opportunity to participate and must schedule the meeting at a mutually agreed upon time and place.4  A school may only proceed with an IEP team meeting without the presence of a parent if neither parent can attend and the LEA attempts to use alternative methods to ensure parent participation, such as telephone and video conferencing.5  If the LEA cannot convince the parent to attend after making reasonable efforts to schedule the meeting at a mutually agreed time and place and complying with notice requirements, it can proceed with the meeting but must keep detailed records of phone calls, correspondence, and visits made to the parents along with any responses received in an attempt to secure their participation. LEAs must also take whatever action is necessary, such as providing an interpreter to a parent with deafness or whose native language is not English, to ensure the parent understands what happens at an IEP meeting.6

Parents are also explicitly granted the right to participate in specific aspects of the evaluation and eligibility determination process, including SBLC meetings when decisions are made regarding their child, evaluation team meetings to consider the results of the data and determine eligibility, the initial IEP meeting, IEP meetings to discuss new concerns and to determine if a reevaluation is needed, and meetings for reevaluations to discuss the review of existing evaluation data to determine whether the student continues to have an exceptionality and continues to need special education and related services.7

• 134 C.F.R. § 300.501(b); La. Bulletin 1706 § 502(B)(1).
• 220 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(1)(B)(i); 34 C.F.R. § 300.321(a)(1); La. Bulletin 1706 § 321(a)(1).
• 334 C.F.R. § 300.322(a); La. Bulletin 1706 § 322(A).
• 434 C.F.R. § 300.322(a)(1)–(2); La. Bulletin 1706 § 322(A)(1)–(2).
• 534 C.F.R. § 300.322(c); La. Bulletin 1706 § 322(C).
• 634 C.F.R. § 300.322(e); La. Bulletin 1706 § 322(E).
• 7La. Bulletin 1508 § 109(A).

An LEA has a maximum of 30 days to hold an IEP meeting and complete the initial IEP after a student has been found eligible for special education through the initial evaluation process.1  The special education and related services listed in the initial IEP must made available to the student as soon as possible but no later than 10 school days after the IEP is developed.2  Afterwards, an IEP team meeting must be held at least annually to review and revise the document, though meetings can occur more frequently if needed.3  At any point after an annual IEP meeting, an IEP can be amended by convening another IEP meeting.4  An IEP can also be amended without convening a new IEP meeting if the parent and LEA agree not to meet and instead choose to develop a written document to amend or modify the IEP.5

Some students are eligible for special education services through an Interim IEP even before the completion of the initial evaluation and a determination of eligibility. An Interim IEP must be developed for students with severe or low-incidence impairments documented by a qualified professional while the initial evaluation is being conducted.6  Interim IEPs may also be developed while the initial evaluation is being conducted for students who have been receiving special education services out of state, who have been out of school altogether, or who formerly received special education services and left public school without obtaining a state diploma.7

• 1La. Bulletin 1530 § 105(A); La. Bulletin 1706 § 323(C)(1).
• 2La. Bulletin 1530 § 105(A)(2)(b); La. Bulletin 1706 § 323(C)(2).
• 3La. Bulletin 1530 § 111(B); La. Bulletin 1706 § 324(B).
• 4La. Bulletin 1706 § 324(A)(6).
• 5La. Bulletin 1530 § 113(A); La. Bulletin 1706 § 324(A)(4)(a).
• 6La. Bulletin 1530 § 111(C). Low incidence impairments include hearing impairment, visual impairment, deaf-blindness, traumatic brain injury, moderate or severe intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, some cases of severe autism, orthopedic impairments, and significant health issues. See La. Bulletin 1508 § 307(B).
• 7La. Bulletin 1530 § 111(C)(1)–(2).

In addition to one or both parents, the IEP team must be comprised of not less than one regular education teacher if the student is or may be participating in regular education, not less than one of the student’s special education teachers or providers, an officially designated representative (“ODR”) of the LEA, an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results, any other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the student at the discretion of the parent or LEA, and the student with a disability, when appropriate.1  When it comes to invited members of the IEP team, the party who invited the individual to be a member of the IEP team is the party who determines whether that person has knowledge or special expertise regarding the student.2  Required members of the IEP team can be excused in whole or in part from attending the IEP team meeting if the parent and LEA agree in writing that attendance is not necessary because the member’s area of the curriculum or related services are not being modified or discussed at the meeting.3  The member can also be excused if the parent agrees in writing and the member submits, in writing to both the parent and the IEP team, input into the development of the IEP prior to the meeting.4

• 134 C.F.R. § 300.321(a); La. Bulletin 1706 § 321(A).
• 234 C.F.R. § 300.321(c); La. Bulletin 1706 § 321(7)(b).
• 334 C.F.R. § 300.321(e)(1); La. Bulletin 1706 § 321(E)(1).
• 434 C.F.R. § 300.321(e)(2); La. Bulletin 1706 § 321(E)(2).

A key procedural protection is that an LEA must provide Prior Written Notice to parents a reasonable time before the LEA initiates, changes, or refuses to initiate or change a student’s educational placement or the provision of FAPE to the student.1  In order for the notice to be sufficient, it must include:

1. A description of the action proposed or refused by the agency.
2. An explanation of why the agency proposes or refuses to take the action.
3. A description of each evaluation procedure, assessment, record or report the agency used as a basis for the proposed or refused action.
4. A reminder that parents have legal rights to procedural safeguards.
5. Sources for parents to get a written copy of their legal rights.
6. A description of other options that the IEP team considered and the reasons why those options were rejected.
7. A description of any other factors that are relevant to the LEA’s proposal or refusal.2

The notice must be written in language understandable to the general public and in the native language or other mode of communication of the parent.3

• 120 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(3); 34 C.F.R. § 300.503(a); La. Bulletin 1706 § 504(A).
• 234 C.F.R. § 300.503(b); La. Bulletin 1706 § 504(B).
• 334 C.F.R. § 300.503(c); La. Bulletin 1706 § 504(C).