Transportation Involvement in IEP Meetings
Does your operation sit at the table with the special education department, parents, the students and other school admins when it comes to setting up an Individualized Education Plan? How can this collaboration help make transportation more cost efficient?
Discussion started by Ryan Gray , on 817 days ago
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Yes I do attend IEP meetings that require special transportation. There are times when extra training is needed for my driver and rider so that my student's needs can be met. This is a must do for all you folks that transport special needs childern. There health and saftey should be #1 on your list along with training to meet those needs.
We're not invited to IEP meetings but we have discussed individual transportation needs from time to time. I'll be discussing our challenges with the local ISD soon. Hopefully they'll agree to collaborate (share the cost) so we can continue helping them provide accessible school related transportation trips for qualified students.
Our school district is looking to reduce bus services and have begun using the local public Dial-A-Ride program to transport special needs children to and from school events and programs. Do any of you contract with your local public transportation provider and if so does this satisfy the requirements of Section 504 (34 CFR 104)?
We see multiple potential cost efficiencies by attending. Just a few are:
- Helping to determine the least restrictive level of service. More centralized bus stops are more cost effective.
- Helping to determine an appropriate / cost effective educational placement for the student.
- Getting a sense of where the classrooms are relative to where the student population is. This can later to be used to help in facilities planning and decisions on where special ed classes are placed.
- Learning about a student's unique equipment or behavioral issues. This might prevent service problems that could impact student safety or operational efficiency. For example, by preventing episodes of extreme behavior, we not only keep the students safer, but reduce liability, improve on time performance and potentially could reduce the need for an additional bus.
- Helping to determine the least restrictive level of service. More centralized bus stops are more cost effective.
- Helping to determine an appropriate / cost effective educational placement for the student.
- Getting a sense of where the classrooms are relative to where the student population is. This can later to be used to help in facilities planning and decisions on where special ed classes are placed.
- Learning about a student's unique equipment or behavioral issues. This might prevent service problems that could impact student safety or operational efficiency. For example, by preventing episodes of extreme behavior, we not only keep the students safer, but reduce liability, improve on time performance and potentially could reduce the need for an additional bus.
Our district special needs department is super! They always invite us to any IEP meetings and/or may be a challenge for transportation. Our transportation request form for special needs children is very specific and provides detailed information to make it easier for our drivers and assistants to transport. I'm not sure how collaboration would make this more cost efficient. Either way we are required to transport and have the equipment to do so. Whether we were involved in the IEP or not doesn't seem to me it would change the cost. Again, we are lucky to have all of the equipment necssary. Maybe that is where I create my bias...
After a new director of special needs came on board.....transportation has never been a part of IEP's. It has made it very hard to know what problmes the child could have until they become a transportation issue. There have many issues where I have taken the child off the bus because of safety to all on the bus. It seems transportation being part of the team still has not changed.