After pushback from Illinois school districts, an amendment to the Illinois School Code’s special education provisions will alleviate some, but not all, frustrations related to a recent law that added significant procedural requirements for special education teams. Senate Bill 460 (Public Act 101-0598) amended the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code to delay the requirement that special education teams provide a child’s parent or guardian with copies of all written materials to be considered by the student’s IEP team three school days prior to the IEP meeting. Special education teams should be aware of what changes are required now and in the future based on these recent changes.  
Continue Reading Illinois Senate Bill 460 Suspends Implementation of Draft IEP Paperwork Requirement

On October 17, 2019, Franczek P.C. Special Education team members Dana Fattore Crumley and Emily Tulloch presented at the IAASE 2019 Fall Conference on Fighting Friendly Fire in your IEP: Avoiding Internal Challenges to IDEA Compliance. This session provided an overview of common internal challenges that can sabotage IEP compliance. For a summary of

Including Guest Author Tracey Truesdale

One of the things we love the most about Franczek P.C. is the synergy that exists between our practice areas. A recent letter from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is one example in which the worlds of special education law and labor and employment law—our two main practice areas at Franczek—collided. We called on our Partner Tracey Truesdale, who has vast experience in this area of labor and employment law, to help us understand this law and its potential impacts on IEP teams.

The Wage and Hour Division of the DOL issued the letter in response to a request from a concerned parent. The parent sought an opinion on whether the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) would provide job protection to an employee who takes time off to attend individualized education program (IEP) meetings for their children. The DOL determined that parents may take intermittent leave under the FMLA to attend IEP meetings for children who have “serious health conditions.”Continue Reading DOL Gives Working Parents FMLA Pass to Attend Children’s Special Education Meetings