IEP Archives - Special Education Spotlight

Back to Bayside: Lessons from Recent Cases (A Saved by the Bell Special)*

Kendra Yoch, Rebecca S. Bailey,

August 28, 2025

Alright, summer’s over, and it’s time to get back to class! The bell just rang on a couple of special education cases from the Fifth Circuit, and let me tell you, they’re dishing out some serious lessons that even Mr. Belding would appreciate. These two cases, both involving the same Mississippi school district, remind us of a golden rule: if a student’s not making progress, it’s time to call a timeout—or in our case, an ARD committee meeting—to rethink the game plan.

Accommodation or Workaround? Artificial Intelligence and FAPE

Kendra Yoch,

November 12, 2024

in: FAPE, IEPs

New and advancing artificial intelligence tools can be effective accommodations for students with disabilities to support their participation in the general education curriculum. But accommodations are not instruction. IEP teams will need to carefully consider when such tools are appropriate and when specialized instruction in underlying skills is warranted. Teams should also take care not to overlook learning gaps when students independently employ AI tools as compensatory strategies to mask lagging skills. A recent Tennessee case highlights this issue and reminds teams that grades may not provide a clear signal of a student’s progress.

What are your goals this year?

Kendra Yoch,

August 27, 2024

in: IEPs, Uncategorized

Welcome back to school! If you are writing IEP goals in Texas, there are new requirements to be aware of.

Each goal must include the timeframe, condition, behavior, and criterion.
Students need goals in content areas when the course content is modified. Goals are also required in content areas for which the student is removed from the general education setting, but the content is not modified.
Short-term objectives or benchmarks cannot be used as the mastery criterion for the annual goal.

For more details, keep reading.

For best results, consult your special education administrator

Kendra Yoch, Rebecca S. Bailey,

May 2, 2024

in: Title IX

The 2024 Title IX rules were finally released. As you may recall, the Department of Education had proposed a new provision in the rules to require the Title IX Coordinator to consult with the IEP or Section 504 team throughout the implementation of the grievance procedures and specifically with respect to the implementation of supportive measures when a party in the grievance process is a student with a disability. While the intersection of Title IX, the IDEA, and Section 504 is complicated and sometimes an IEP or 504 meeting is warranted, the proposed requirements would have been burdensome and unworkable. A coalition of districts across the country worked with Thompson & Horton to submit comments to the Department flagging this concern.

PWN like a Pro

Kendra Yoch, Rebecca Bailey,

March 22, 2024

in: Operating Procedures, Uncategorized

Does your team write prior written notices that communicate clearly to parents and protect the district in case of a dispute? Or are the PWNs somewhat lacking? After a long (possibly contentious) ARD meeting, drafting a cogent and detailed PWN can feel overwhelming. But it’s definitely worth the time and effort. A strong PWN can help avoid misunderstandings and provide compelling evidence in the event of a TEA or due process complaint.

New Student? New Rules

Kendra Yoch, Taylor Montgomery,

August 28, 2023

in: IEPs

When a student transfers to the district during the school year with an IEP, the IDEA provides rules for providing services to the student. If a student moves during the summer, the IDEA is silent, other than the general rule that an IEP must be in effect for all eligible students on the first day of school. The Texas regulations provide timelines to adopt or create a new IEP for transfer students, and revised regulations in effect starting this school year provide additional details and shorten some of those timelines. The requirements can seem a bit confusing because they vary depending on whether the student is transferring intrastate or interstate and during the school year or summer. We have summarized the requirements for you in the chart below.

SpEd Law Spotlight