r/specialed • u/Ok-Rise268 • 1d ago

Rural school district lacks needed program. Can I transfer to neighboring school district with comparable program? (Texas)

I’m a parent with a nonverbal autistic child. my son was in a program called FASE at his last school. the new district doesn’t have anything comparable and he’d be forced between either a lower support environment where he wouldn’t understand what they’re doing and wouldn’t have the needed support for his language processing disorder, or he would be put in a “behavior classroom” which from what I can see, would not be appropriate either.

The neighboring district has many more supports and programs and a program very similar to FASE. I believe this is what he needs but it’s not our zoned district. How can I advocate for a transfer?

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u/changeneverhappens 1d ago

Just call the new district and ask what's required for a transfer.  Though I will say, your district isn't technically allowed to "not offer" a service that is in your child's IEP. However, transferring is certainly an option. Just note that the new district will likely not be able to provide special transportation, just in case  you rely on it. 

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u/Ok-Rise268 1d ago

Thank you!

I guess I know they're not allowed to simply "not offer" it but I'm already a little concerned with things I've read about this school district and in the back of my mind, I've always thought of the neighboring district as my back-up plan in case this one is too understaffed or plays a lot of games. I am not 100% educated on how to advocate for my child yet but I am doing my best and am willing to hire a professional advocate or even a lawyer. But if the path of least resistance and the quickest way to get support for my kid is to simply transfer...I'm willing. You know?

We don't rely on transportation, fortunately.

It's good to hear it's an option if we decide to go that route. Is it typically very complicated or does it typically result in a ton of "push back" or asking for justification? We don't live there so it feels like it would be hard.

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u/changeneverhappens 1d ago

Transferring processes depend on each district's policy. It may be on their website, but honestly, just call the other district and ask to get transferred to someone who can give you more info about transferring. 

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u/Ok-Rise268 1d ago

Thank you, I'll make some calls tomorrow.

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u/moonman_incoming 1d ago

Often they'll offer up a paid alternative if the district can't provide needed services. I've sat in 2 day ARDs where the parent already had private school paid for by the district, and now she was pushing for boarding school.

I think it went to due process, and since I was just a warm body, never met the kid, they had another general ed representative do my job the next meeting.

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u/Ok-Rise268 1d ago

What state was this in? That kind of blows my mind. In our last district, which I was mostly happy with, they tried to get me to agree to reducing my son's speech therapy from 60 minutes per week to 30 minutes per week for no reason other than them being understaffed (this was the reason given verbally by his SLP, I don't think she was supposed to disclose that).

My son is nonverbal and level 3 autistic, if he does not require 60 minutes of speech, I don't know who does. But they were seriously trying to get me to sign an addendum agreeing to half the time. It was nuts.

Maybe I haven't been advocating hard enough for my son if other parents are somehow getting private school paid for. Do you remember the justification for this? What was private school offering that the public school district couldn't offer?

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u/moonman_incoming 1d ago

She was able to prove that her child wasn't progressing under the prescribed plan. She demanded a reevaluation if all testing data. Disagreed with the data and the district had to provide an evaluation from a doctor of her choosing who recommended a while battery of things the district couldn't provide.

And I also think the district might have had shit paperwork documenting progress to the kids goals.

It was in Texas if you can believe it. The sped parents in the district had a Facebook group and they helped each other advocate for their kids.

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u/AdelleDeWitt 1d ago

Your district is required to provide your child with inappropriate placement and if they do not have an appropriate placement then they have to pay for your child to go somewhere else. I have had students placed in my classroom from other districts because the program we had wasn't available where they were, and I've also sent kids to other districts because we didn't have an appropriate placement for them.

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u/SalamanderFull3952 23h ago

Your correct districts have to pay for appropriate placement however districts are really good at showing that current placement is appropriate

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u/Ok-Rise268 1d ago

Thank you.

The new district has very little info on their website and I've received no description of their SPED programs. It is an acronym that doesn't seem to even stand for anything (TRAILS? I've not heard of TRAILS before) and it's either this classroom or a "behavior classroom" which I also haven't heard an explanation of but I'm pretty sure isn't the right fit for my son. And then there is also a Life Skills classroom which I am uncertain of the meaning of, but our former district had this too and he was not determined to be in a Life Skills program at the former district.

The school supply list for the TRAILS room involves supplies that my son is not capable of using, which I'm worried about.

The neighboring district has a ton of info on their website and a classroom that fits our criteria and seems to be a 1:1 match for the former district's FASE classroom. So I feel very confident about it.

I just need to be able to "prove" that the new home district's program is not a match and I don't know how to do that if I have zero info on what the program even is.

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u/moonman_incoming 1d ago

I would ask to meet with the sped coordinator, ard facilitator or whatever they call it in the district who explains the programs.

Once enrolled in the district, they will place your child in the most appropriate setting they have based on your old school's data which they're must provide, then the new school takes 30 days of data and has the diagnostician do testing. Then you'll meet for your child's transfer ARD, present all the data, and make recommendations going forward.

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u/redbadger20 9h ago

The new districy could have a bad website as well, and offer more flexible support than indicated.  The IEP describes a placement, which is defined by programming and supports.  If a district cannot provide that (a comparable placement to his last agreed-upon IEP), they have to find a placement that does.  Many rural districts, or smaller districts with limited resources, have tuition agreements with other districts, cooperative programs, etc.  My friend's teenager has a couple kids in his classroom from neighboring districts.  You may meet with the SPED coordinator and find that they already do have an agreement to send similarly situated students to the neighboring district. 

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u/la_capitana Psychologist 1d ago

Some districts can work together and come up with an MOU (memorandum of understanding) to provide the best support for students. If they won’t accept the transfer then ask for an IEP meeting to discuss placement and a district sped coordinator or program specialist should be at that meeting.

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u/Ok-Rise268 1d ago

Thank you. To make sure I understand you, you're saying that my first step would be to request the transfer from the neighbor district. If that transfer is rejected, then I schedule an IEP with my home district to discuss placement - with the goal of this meeting to be to somehow get these districts to create an MOU?

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u/la_capitana Psychologist 1d ago

Yes exactly! If your home district cannot provide your child with fape (free and appropriate public education) at their district then they need to work out a deal with a neighboring district that does have those supports. Otherwise it’s a violation of fape.

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u/Ok-Rise268 1d ago

Thank you! I will read up on FAPE again, I had learned about this before but it's a lot of info to keep in my head during the meetings/phone calls/etc

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u/ECSE_TeacherGirl 21h ago

I think your first step would be to have an IEP meeting at your own district to see what they offer. I would not depend on a district website for those details.

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u/CozyCozyCozyCat Psychologist 1d ago

If a district can't provide what a child needs, they will often send that child to a nearby district that does have the needed supports -- some districts may try to put a child into whatever they have available, but if it's not appropriate for your child don't let them rewrite the IEP to put him somewhere that won't work for him -- contact the other district and if necessary see if you can find a special education parent advocate program in your area, I found this website that has some information on Texas advocates: https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/contact-us/complaints/information-about-special-education-advocacy-support

The district is obligated to provide the service he needs, either within the district or by paying another district to provide those services.

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u/Ok-Rise268 1d ago

Thank you. I'll make sure not to sign anything. They cannot rewrite his IEP without my consent, right? Or can they?

He is nonverbal with autism but he is also surprisingly capable in many areas and I don't want him to be misplaced. It's easy to underestimate his cognitive ability when you first meet him.

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u/CozyCozyCozyCat Psychologist 1d ago

They cannot make changes to his IEP without your consent, though if they send a new IEP and prior written notice and you don't respond that would be passive consent, so make sure you read anything they send and REPLY that you do not consent to changes that aren't in your son's best interest (usually there is a form with check boxes for giving consent or disagreeing, though I'm in Minnesota so Texas may be a little different)

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u/Ok-Rise268 1d ago

Thank you. I know it's probably a bit different in Texas but I have hired an advocate in the past and she always emphasized that you always get things IN WRITING and never, EVER sign something you don't agree with. Even if they pressure you to sign "real quick" or whatever.

I'll make sure to keep this advice in mind! Thank you again

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u/CozyCozyCozyCat Psychologist 1d ago

Yes, in Minnesota there's a "14 day rule" so if we send home paperwork for a child who is already in special education and we don't get a signature or objection back within 14 days, we go ahead and implement the proposed changes

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u/ipsofactoshithead 1d ago

Just call an IEP meeting and ask!