IEP Review
An IEP can run to dozens of pages of goals, service minutes, accommodations and evaluation data. Most parents are handed one at a meeting and asked to sign it. Knowing whether it actually delivers what your child is entitled to is genuinely difficult — and it’s where districts most often fall short.
We review IEPs as part of our Legal Information and Strategy Session (LISS). We previously offered a free IEP review; we no longer do, and the reason matters.
Why a proper review isn’t a quick favour
Reading an IEP usefully means reading it against the evaluation reports, the progress data, the district’s own policies and the relevant law — then telling you specifically where it falls short and what to do about it. That is legal work, and doing it in fifteen unpaid minutes produces the kind of vague reassurance that helps nobody.
What the LISS gives you
- At least one hour of record review before we meet — your IEP, evaluations, progress reports and correspondence
- A full hour with your lawyer, by Zoom or phone
- A written memo setting out the gaps, what the law requires, and your next steps
The LISS is $600, and it is credited against your advance fee if you go on to retain us. Some families take the memo, use it themselves at the next IEP meeting, and never need a lawyer again. That’s a good outcome.
Common problems we find in IEPs
- Goals that aren’t measurable, or that repeat year after year without progress
- Service minutes reduced without evaluation data to justify it
- Accommodations listed but not actually delivered in the classroom
- Behaviour addressed through discipline rather than a functional behaviour assessment
- Placement decided before the meeting rather than during it
- Evaluations refused or delayed — a potential Child Find violation
If any of that sounds familiar, a review is worth having.
Montgomery Law represents parents and students. We do not represent schools or school districts.