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Issues of Concern for Students with Special Education Needs
Understanding Your Child's Abilities and Limitations
The IPRC Process
Before the First IPR Committee Meeting
What will Happen at the IPR Committee Meeting?
The IPRC Review and Appeal Process
Individual Education Plans (IEPs)
Roles and Responsibilities
Special Education Advisory Committees (SEAC)

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What will happen at the IPR Committee meeting?

The Chairperson of the meeting, usually the Principal of your child’s school, will introduce everyone at the table, and describe the purpose of the meeting.

The Committee will then review all available information about your child, including educational assessments, and health or psychological assessments if these were obtained.

The IPRC will also consider any information that you submit about your child or that the child, if 16 or over, submits on his or her own behalf.

If school staff think it will be useful, they may also request permission to interview your child (Permission of the parent is not necessary if your child is 16 years of age or older).

Both the parent or guardian and the student are required to give their consent to an interview before the interview may take place. Parents or guardians are entitled to be present for the interview.

You will be encouraged to ask questions during this meeting and to participate in any discussion.

Once all of the information has been presented and discussed, the committee will make its decisions regarding the identification of your child as having an exceptionality, the category of exceptionality, and the classroom placement of your child.

The written statement of the IPR Committee should also include a description of the strengths and needs, the abilities and limitations of the student. The IPR Committee may also make recommendations about special services that will meet the students special education needs.

The IPRC will also consider the parent's preferences, and you may ask the Chairperson of the committee to include your preferences in the written statement of IPR Committee decisions. However, these preferences are not binding. The parent’s recommendations may be included in the written statement of the IPR Committee.

What will Happen after the IPRC?

The chair of the IPR Committee will notify the parent, and the student if 16 or older, in writing of the IPRC's decision. If you did not attend the meeting, this will be mailed to you. The principal of your child’s school and a representative of the School Board will also be notified about the decision.

You will be asked to sign this document to indicate that you agree with the IPRC's decisions. If you attended the meeting, you may be asked to sign at that time. You have 30 days to return the signed document to the IPRC.

The principal is responsible for implementing the classroom placement decisions of the IPR Committee. As soon as your child is placed, the principal is responsible for beginning the process of developing your child's Individual Education Plan (IEP).

Signing the Written Statement of the IPR Committee Decisions

You do not have to sign the form at the IPRC meeting. Instead, you may ask to have some time to consider the decisions of the committee before you sign.

Make sure that you understand what programs and services the school and School Board is offering you.

If you are not sure that you support the IPRC decision, you may request a second meeting of the IPR Committee to discuss their decisions. If you have any doubts, or would like some time to think about the decisions of the Committee, you have 15 days from the date of the first IPR Committee meeting to request a second meeting of the IPRC. At the time of the next meeting, you can ask for clarification of the decision, sign the written statement, or give your reasons for not signing the written statement.

If you do not sign the written statement of the IPR Committee decisions, and you do not request a second meeting of the committee or appeal the decision to the School Board, the decisions of the committee will be implemented 30 days following the IPR Committee’s first meeting.

Before the next meeting think about whether:

a) you understand the decision
b) you are happy with the decision
c) you disagree with the decision

“I Understand, and I am Happy with, the IPR Committee Decisions.”

If you understand, and you are happy with the decisions of the IPR Committee, you have 30 days in which to sign the written statement of the IPR Committee’s decisions.

Within 30 days of the start of your child’s placement, the education team is required to develop an Individual Educational Plan, or IEP. A copy or the IEP will be provided to the parent or guardian, and to the student if 16 years or older.

Once the document is signed and returned, the board will notify the principal of the school.

“I Do Not Understand the IPR Committee Decisions.”

If you do not understand the IPRC Committee decisions, you can review the decisions with the chairperson of the committee, or request a second meeting of the IPR Committee to discuss the decisions of the committee.

“I Understand, but I Disagree with the IPR Committee Decisions.”

If you don't agree with the IPRC decision, you do not have to sign the written statement of the IPR Committee decisions.

You also have the right to request a second meeting of the IPR Committee, or to appeal one or more of the decisions of the IPR Committee in writing to the School Board.

If you do not request a second meeting or file an appeal, the placement decision of the IPRC will be implemented within 30 days of the IPR Committee decision. The parent or guardian will be notified in writing that the student has been placed.

What happens if I request a second meeting of the IPR Committee?

If you do not agree with the IPR Committee decision, you may request a second meeting of the committee to review the identification and placement decisions of the committee. The written request for a review meeting of the IPR Committee must be delivered within 15 days of receiving the written decision of the IPR Committee. On receiving such a request, it is the responsibility of the Principal to arrange a second meeting of the IPR Committee as soon as possible, and must inform the parent (or student 16 years or older) of the approximate date of the review meeting within 15 days of the request.

After this second meeting, the IPR Committee can decide to . . .

Uphold its original decision and notify all parties of this decision; or

Change its original decision and notify all parties of this decision and the reasons for the revision.

If there is still disagreement after the second meeting, parents, or students 16 years or older, have the right under the Education Act to appeal the decision of the IPR Committee within 15 days of receipt of the decision of the review meeting of the IPR Committee.

Parents may request a review of IPR Committee decisions 3 months after the student has been placed, and may request a review of these decisions every 3 months.

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