Back-to-school IEP checklist for case managers

The first month of school decides whether your year is proactive or a chase. Federal law sets the frame: an IEP must be in effect for every eligible student at the start of the school year (34 CFR §300.323(a)), every implementing teacher must know their responsibilities under it, and transfer students get comparable services from day one. Here's the sequence that gets all of that done before it becomes urgent.

Before students arrive

  • Pull your caseload list and verify it against the special education roster — students get added and exited over the summer, and you can't manage a file you don't know you own.
  • Open every IEP and check two dates: last annual review and last reevaluation. Calendar every due date for the year, then set a reminder 30 days before each one for scheduling.
  • Flag any IEP whose annual review lapsed over the summer — those meetings happen first (see FAQ).
  • Read each IEP's services grid and build the service-delivery schedule: who, what, minutes, where. Cross-check against the master schedule before it hardens.
  • Prepare an IEP-at-a-glance for every student: goals, accommodations, modifications, health/behavior notes.

First week

  • Deliver the IEP-at-a-glance to every gen-ed teacher, elective teacher, and provider who implements any part of the IEP — and keep a record of who received what, when. Access plus informed-of-responsibilities is a legal requirement, not a courtesy (34 CFR §300.323(d)).
  • Confirm related services actually started: walk the schedule with your SLP/OT/PT/counselor and reconcile minutes against each IEP.
  • Introduce yourself to families — a two-line email now buys you goodwill for the whole year and satisfies nobody's regulation, which is exactly why it works.
  • For any new enrollee with an out-of-district IEP: comparable services begin immediately while records transfer (34 CFR §300.323(e)–(f)).

First month

  • Collect baseline data on every goal you'll progress-monitor — the post-summer probe is also your regression data point for spring ESY decisions.
  • Build the progress-reporting calendar from what each IEP promises (usually quarterly) and block time to actually write them.
  • Audit accommodations in practice: sit in or ask each gen-ed teacher which accommodations they're using. A listed accommodation nobody delivers is a finding waiting for a file review.
  • Start the paper trail habit: every parent contact, every accommodation delivery, every service make-up, dated and logged.

The two dates that generate most findings

Almost every compliance problem a case manager inherits in September traces to a date: an annual review due 11 months from now that nobody calendared, or a reevaluation quietly hitting the 3-year mark in February. The IEP must be reviewed not less than annually (34 CFR §300.324(b)(1)); reevaluations are due at least every 3 years unless parent and district agree otherwise (34 CFR §300.303(b)). Calendar both for every student in week one and the spring stops being a fire drill. The full list of what monitors check is in our IEP compliance checklist.

FAQ

Does every student need an IEP in effect on the first day of school?

Yes. Federal regulations require each public agency to have an IEP in effect for every child with a disability in its jurisdiction at the beginning of each school year (34 CFR §300.323(a)). If an annual review lapsed over the summer, that meeting is your first priority — the expired IEP stays in effect as the stay-put document, but the overdue review is a compliance finding.

A student transferred in with an IEP from another district in my state. What do we do?

Provide FAPE immediately, including services comparable to the previous IEP, in consultation with the parents — until your district either adopts the old IEP or develops and implements a new one (34 CFR §300.323(e)). Comparable services start now, not after your first meeting.

What about a transfer from another state?

Same immediate obligation — comparable services in consultation with the parents — but the receiving district may also conduct its own evaluation if it decides one is necessary, and then develops a new IEP if appropriate (34 CFR §300.323(f)). Request records right away; the regulations require the new school to take reasonable steps to promptly obtain them.

Do general education teachers legally have to know what's in the IEP?

Yes. Every regular education teacher, special education teacher, related service provider, and other provider responsible for implementing the IEP must have access to it and must be informed of their specific responsibilities and the accommodations, modifications, and supports the IEP requires (34 CFR §300.323(d)). An IEP-at-a-glance plus a documented delivery date covers both halves.

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