What to say when the school says your child doesn't qualify
By Jared Ohman · IEP, IPP, ISP, LSP and 504 meetings
When the school says
“We don't think your child qualifies.”
You say
- “What would need to be true for that to be possible: funding, an assessment, something else?”
- “Can you show me where that is in the document?”
- “I hear that. Can we get both the request and the reason for the no written into the notes?”
Sentences 8, 6, 7 of the free Parking-Lot Script.
Why this works
“Doesn't qualify” is a decision, and decisions rest on criteria and data. The first question asks for the criteria without a fight. The second asks to see it in writing, because a threshold that lives only in someone's head is not a threshold. The third records the no. A school that has to write down why a child does not qualify, and what data it used, will sometimes discover it does not have that data yet. That discovery is the door to an assessment.
Then, the same day
Follow up in writing and ask for three things: the reason, the data the decision was based on, and what the school is offering instead. In the United States this is close to what a Prior Written Notice contains. In Canada, ask for the equivalent in writing. Then start a folder. Every later request stands on this one.
If you are in Alberta
In Alberta, qualifying usually means a funding code, and codes rest on assessments the school does not always have. A student who does not qualify for a coded IPP may still be supported through an Instructional Support Plan (ISP) or a Learner Support Plan (LSP), which some divisions use for exactly this situation. Ask which plan your division writes for a student without a code, and ask for it by name.
Not in Alberta? The sentences are the same in an Ontario IEP, an IPRC, a US IEP or a 504 meeting. Only the paperwork changes.
Related guide: What Alberta Schools Can and Can’t Do in an IPP Meeting
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