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When the School Has Already Decided: How to Name It in an IEP Meeting

By Jared Ohman · 7 min read · Updated October 6, 2026

You can often tell when a decision was made before the meeting started. The draft is finished, the options were never opened, and your questions get answers about policy instead of about your child. Here is what that is called, the questions that bring it into the open, and a letter that names the problem without accusing anyone.

What predetermination means

Predetermination is a school making up its mind before it has heard the parents. IDEA does not use that word. Courts have found it, case by case, when a school's conduct took away a parent's real chance to take part.

The best-known case is Deal v. Hamilton County Board of Education (6th Cir. 2004). The court found that the school system "had pre-decided not to offer" intensive ABA services "regardless of any evidence concerning" the child's individual needs, that this was a procedural violation of IDEA, and that it deprived the parents "of meaningful participation in the IEP process." That is a Sixth Circuit decision, the federal appeals court for Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. Other courts can approach it differently.

The test, in the federal regulation

When a complaint is about procedure, a hearing officer can find that a child did not receive FAPE only if the procedural problems did at least one of three things: impeded the child's right to FAPE, significantly impeded the parent's opportunity to take part in decisions about the child's FAPE, or caused a deprivation of educational benefit (34 CFR 300.513(a)(2)). A predetermination argument is, in effect, an argument about the second.

The rules that protect your opportunity to take part:

  • The school must take steps to have you at each IEP meeting, notify you early enough, and schedule the meeting at a time and place you agree to (34 CFR 300.322(a)). It must do whatever is needed to make sure you understand the meeting, including an interpreter (300.322(e)).
  • In developing the IEP, the team must consider your concerns for enhancing your child's education (34 CFR 300.324(a)(1)(ii)).
  • When the school proposes or refuses something, the written notice has to describe the other options the team considered and the reasons they were rejected (34 CFR 300.503(b)(6)).

Three questions that bring it into the open

You cannot declare predetermination in a meeting, and you do not need to. Whether it happened is for a hearing officer or a court. What you need is the team's answers on the record. Ask these one at a time, and ask for each answer to go in the notes:

  1. "Which of my concerns did the team look at before this was proposed?" The regulation puts that question on the team.
  2. "What other options did the team consider, and why were they set aside?" This is what a written notice has to carry.
  3. "What data is this based on, and can I see it?" A written notice has to list the evaluations, records or reports the school relied on (34 CFR 300.503(b)(3)).

If the answer is "that is just what we do here" or "that is our policy", say: "I understand that is the usual approach. For [child's name], what does the data say?"

If the plan was handed to you finished, ask: "Is this a proposal or a decision?" and "Can we pause so I can read it and come back?"

The follow-up letter

Send it the same day. Name the concern, not the person.

Subject: Concerns about the decision on [topic], meeting of [date]

Hi [name],

Thank you for meeting with us on [date]. I left the meeting concerned that the decision about [topic] was made before the team had heard my input.

Here is what I asked, and the answers I received:

  1. I asked which of my concerns the team considered. The answer was: [answer].
  2. I asked what other options were considered and why they were set aside. The answer was: [answer].
  3. I asked what data the decision is based on. The answer was: [answer].

I am asking for two things. First, written notice of the decision, with the reasons, the other options considered, and the evaluations, records or reports it relied on. Second, a new meeting to consider [the option you want] before the decision takes effect.

Please reply by [date]. I will keep this email in [child's name]'s file.

Thank you, [your name]

If the answers you got were thin, write "no answer was given" next to the question. That is also a record.

If you are in Alberta

The Standards for Special Education have teachers involve parents in developing, monitoring and evaluating the IPP, and have the school obtain written informed parental consent on it to indicate agreement. The standards define informed consent as voluntary, and when a parent refuses consent they require the school to document the reasons and what it did to resolve the concerns. The Education Act adds that before a board provides specialized supports and services to a student, it must consult the parent (section 11(5)).

If the plan arrives already complete, the question is the one on the sign-today page: is this a draft or final? If the answer stays unsatisfying, the school-level dispute policy, the appeal to the board, and the Minister's review are laid out in the guide on getting it in writing.

If you are in Ontario

The rules are different. See the Ontario IPRC guide.

Sources

Checked October 2026.

This guide explains the rules in plain language. It is not legal advice. Whether a school predetermined a decision is a legal question for a hearing officer or a court. Court decisions bind only the courts and districts they cover.

Take it into the car.

The twelve sentences as a one-page printable, for the five minutes before you walk in. By email, free.

No spam. A few short, practical emails over a week, then you decide.

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