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As a parent to a child with special needs, this bill is calling out to benefit the underserved. "Regular" educators often have one Exceptional Education course as a part of their studies and that is often about LAWS, not actually teaching strategies and understanding various learning disabilities and other qualifiers of a student having an IEP that spends any amount of time in a regular education classroom. While a special educator may be a part of the plan, it does not suffice for all students to have partial support in their instructional day. In many cases, it would be best to have a qualified special educator with the student across all settings. Not all instructional assistants are meant for Special Education, either. This means, more education, and at the minimal should require additional training and experience to teachers who have inclusive classrooms. It is not fair to the child nor the educator to not have the tools they need to service a student in their classroom. As a special education parent, and as an educator, I will say what no one wants to say. Not all teachers are meant to teach special education--some really excel at it even when they are not certified in Special Education and others do not. Nothing that is in place seems to make allowances or accommodations for this either. It is another failure to the student that has more specific needs, more one on one attention, etc. Please consider these factors when looking at the big picture. Not only that, please do not lose sight of these children who need and are entitled to an education.

I am a parent of a child with Down syndrome and congenital heart disease. I urge you to consider this bill as one way to improve special education in our state. As a parent, we often look for the schools and districts that "do inclusion well" and "are pro-inclusion." We ask other parents who their children had for case managers and teachers and how the administrators were towards their kiddos with disabilities. "Did they push for self-contained?" "Did they fully include them?" When looking forward to next year, school transfers, and moves between districts, these are some of the more common questions we ask each other. Parents will tell you there is an enormous variance in opportunity for special education between teachers, schools, and districts, and implementing this bill is one way to increase consistency and improve quality.

I am Wendy Little, also known across Virginia and the United States as 'Eryn's Mom'. Eryn and I are thrilled that Delegate Coyner and Senator Favola Patroned HB 1089 following my attendance at the Chesterfield County Legislative Session the very day following a Breast Cancer Surgery, with my large sign that Eryn Little Deserved Access to His Education and just a few pieces of information, in hopes of garnering some attention to our plight, which is not completely unique. I briefly was able to speak with Ms. Coyner and provided her with the attached document, and a prior Letter from Lieutenant Governor, Winsome Sears pertaining to the treatment of my son, Eryn Little, by Chesterfield County Public Schools. Eryn remains without Access to Education more than 1.5 years later. Special Education is complicated and School Divisions have obligations to protect the Rights of Scholars with Disabilities. Often when that doesn't happen, parents and students experience retaliation. The VDOE is not enforcing Corrective Action Plans, and the LEA's often ignore them due to lack of enforcement. I support HB 1089 and hope this bill removes corruption from the Special Education Arena in Chesterfield County and Virginia. Thank you.

Our teachers need professional development and our children deserve it! Standardizing IEPs and providing professional development should be no brainers in a society that is trying to recover from Covid learning losses. Our teachers, who are skilled individuals, meed access to learning the latest methods and techniques so they can deliver the best education possible for Virginia’s children. Expecting principals to deliver professional development to their staff is not enough—it’s an unfunded mandate that is yet one more task set on their shoulders but not supported. Please review this bill and provide for Virginia’s future!

The need for a parent engagement specialist for parents of special needs students cannot be underestimated, especially at the elementary school level when a majority of students are initially diagnosed and parents have the most need for and assistance with the IEP process and engagement with schools. Additionally, though PETA is an excellent resource to assist parents on navigating the IEP system as well as other resources, having regional services available would allow parents closer access to those resources needed. Please consider your stance of this bill carefully. All kids deserve a chance to thrive.

The House has to consider the impact that this bill has on the SLP workload. Requiring objectives to each IEP goal would create a substantial burden to the SLP workload. My current caseload exceeds 85 students across three schools. I love my job, and I love being able to work directly with each of my students. I would feel an undue burden if I were required to create objectives on the 85+ goals that I oversee. The time spent creating the objectives, measuring the objectives, and reporting on the objectives would be substantial. This would take a significant amount of time and would only take away direct therapy time from the students. The SLP workload is already heavily burdened with compliance duties. Please consider what requiring objectives for each IEP would mean.

Please amend this bill to include that specialists (music educators, art educators, physical education teachers, school librarians, etc) also are required to have coursework to support students in an inclusive setting as well. Especially in elementary school, these classes are one of the major avenues for inclusion for students with disabilities, yet these educators receive little to no instruction as to how to support students with disabilities in their curricula. This has to change to truly provide a school-wide inclusive environment. Also, please ensure that any work groups or other work done to improve the Virginia IEP - or any part of this process - includes the parent/caregiver voice on these committees as well as the voice of school districts. In order to create a document that meets academic and social needs as well as the needs of families, families must be a part of the creation and review process. Thank you!

We are completely in support of this bill. Virginia has one of the largest populations of military families in the nation. Families whom Pcs orders can make transfer with a child with an IEP a nightmare. Creating a standardized state issued IEP program makes it so those moves are easier. It also promotes equity because no matter what school a child attends regardless of title status or income levels all children with IEPs will receive the same services and uniformity. This is especially important at the Elementary school level. What these kids are learning are not just the foundation of facts but the foundation of life skills. In addition it will create a digital footprint that I truly believe will help protect teachers across virginia. All documents will be readily available and processes outlined. Our special education students were hit the hardest by covid and are not even close to being where they started pre pandemic which if we are being honest wasn’t where they should have been then either. Please consider passing this bill which will benefit kids like my own three incredible little boys.

As a parent of a student with an IEP, the process needs to be streamlined and consistent across the state. Starting the process in middle school and having to transfer through multiple schools, the process was extremely difficult. It wasn't until we arrived at her current school Tallwood High School, that we were finally able to get her properly assessed and get the process completed. This has shown a major change. I have watched a child who struggled in school for almost 9 years now being able to obtain A/B honor roll. I also feel that there needs to be more training done starting down at the elementary school level to be able to assess these students. Being able to address concerns at an earlier stage will prevent the children from having to struggle through school especially the higher they get in the system. I feel that with proper training on assessment, the kids who are struggling can be helped instead of being labeled as problem children and having less attention paid to them or being sent away to an alternative school. I truly would like to see teachers and counselors trained to be able to recognize the signs of a child who is struggling and may need more help. Then a program that is streamlined and consistent to be able to work across the whole school system and not have to be redone when a child changes schools. This creates a lot of stress on the parents and children when transitioning is already stressful enough. Thank you for your time and I hope to see change happen with this bill!

I have lived the Special Education processing nightmare for nearly four years as we fought for our daughters Mental Health treatment and educational needs. We were “accommodated” with a Section 504 plan, which only sometimes worked and not all teachers were even briefed or aware she was a student covered under a 504. We unfortunately found this out in the middle of a MDR (Manifestation Determination Review of a Disciplinary Referral which had my daughter removed to an alternative school. I appealed her case all the way to the school board with no real resolution. Her school work improved, but discipline declined because of the association with other children with behavioral problems in that school environment… further worsening her mental health decline. Yes, I was watching my 14 year old daughter implode before my eyes as we begged, pleaded and tried everything to get the help we needed to break the bonds of Depression, Anxiety and most of all the worsening effects of ADHD had on our daughter. Angela is a star Volleyball player. Has played at multiple levels. Freshman Letter in Kempsville Middle School, played 7 years with Woodstock Recreation League, coached two years under me there, and is currently playing Travel League for Southeast Regional Volleball (Vb/Ches) on the 18 Select team with ladies two to three years her senior. After losing my daughter for a whole year to inpatient treatment at Youth for Tomorrow, we finally were able to transition Angela to an IEP at Tallwood High. At first her grades were B’s and C’s and she failed Algebra her freshman year. We thought this would be a setback. No, it wasn’t, we met again with her SPED Committee members and reassessed the IEP making it stronger to address her assessment difficulties due to anxiety. As we recently closed the First Semester of her Sophomore Year, I’m proud to report she is an A and B Honor Roll Student for the first time since elementary school. Having the resources is critical to SPED students success. The right staff in the right places is just as critical. Thank you all for the support and I hope and pray this bill passes for all of our kids.

I’m a resident of Virginia and I fully supper HB 1089. My kids have IEPs in their schools. Please vote yes on this bill and help the special education population in Virginia. They deserve the same type of education as the other kids in school. Thanks,

I would like to request that HB 1098 remove short-term objectives from its IEP definition or clarify that short-term objectives apply only to academic IEP annual goals. I am concerned that adding short-term objectives to students' annual IEP goals for communication would increase the amount of time speech-language pathologists spend on "compliance activities" such as report writing and decrease the amount of time available to students for speech-language therapy. According to a SHAV 2019 study, approximately 43% of SLPs have caseloads over the Virginia cap of 68, making this an urgent issue for SLP's who desperately need to provide therapy services to students who desperately need those services. We appreciate your collaboration and urge you to consider this information when voting for HB 1098.

The Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia (SHAV) would like to request that HB 1098 remove short-term objectives from its IEP definition or clarify that short-term objectives apply only to academic IEP annual goals. We are concerned that adding short-term objectives to students' annual IEP goals for communication would increase the amount of time speech-language pathologists spend on "compliance activities" such as report writing and decrease the amount of time available to students for speech-language therapy. According to our 2019 study, approximately 43% of SLPs have caseloads over the Virginia cap of 68, making this an urgent issue for our members who desperately need to provide therapy services to students who desperately need those services. We appreciate your collaboration and would be happy to support HB 1098 with this revision.