Procedural Safeguards
Special Education
The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) includes a system of procedural safeguards designed to protect the rights of children with disabilities and their parents. Procedural safeguards include many rights for parents and students 18 and above including the right to participate in all meetings, to examine all educational records and to written notice when the school proposes to change or refuses to change the identification, evaluation or placement of a child.
The process for ensuring that parents receive information about these procedural rights is described in the Iowa Special Education Procedures on the Iowa IDEA Information website.
A summary of the procedural safeguards may be used to assist in explaining and reviewing parental rights but must not be used in place of a full copy of the complete procedural safeguards.
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Early ACCESS
Parents of students birth to age 3 served in Early ACCESS also have rights, known as procedural safeguards, which apply to every aspect of the early intervention process, including evaluation, access to records and Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) team participation.
These parental rights and procedural safeguards are provided in the Early ACCESS Procedural Safeguards Manual for Parents.
For access to the Special Education Procedures Manual, Procedural Safeguards Manual for Parents, Early ACCESS Procedural Safeguards Manual for Parents and other important documents, visit the Iowa IDEA Information website.
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