What to say when the school says there is no funding or resources
By Jared Ohman · IEP, IPP, ISP, LSP and 504 meetings
When the school says
“We don't have the resources for that.”
You say
- “I hear that. Can we get both the request and the reason for the no written into the notes?”
- “What would need to be true for that to be possible: funding, an assessment, something else?”
- “If not now, then when can we revisit it? Can we put a date on it?”
Sentences 7, 8, 9 of the free Parking-Lot Script.
Why this works
A no about resources is a statement about this year's budget, not about what your child needs. You are not arguing with it. You are recording it. Once the request and the reason are in the notes, the school owns a written gap between what the plan says and what it delivers, and that record is what every later conversation runs on. The second question turns the no into a path: funding, an assessment, a code. The third puts a date on it, because “later” with no date is how requests disappear.
Then, the same day
Send one email the same day. “Confirming from today's meeting: we asked for X, the team said it isn't possible right now because Y, and we agreed to revisit it on DATE.” Now the no exists outside the room, in writing, with a date attached.
If you are in Alberta
In Alberta the plan is usually called an IPP. Some divisions call it an Instructional Support Plan (ISP) or a Learner Support Plan (LSP), and an LSP can exist for a student with identified needs and no funding code. Whatever yours is called, the move is the same: get the request and the reason into the plan or the meeting notes. Funding here follows codes and assessments, so “what would need to be true” will often turn into a conversation about an assessment. That is a useful place to land.
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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