Karen answers summer IEP questions live - ESY eligibility and transportation, early pickups as removals, IEE limits, and how to get your child's data.
Full Description (plain text, copy-paste ready)
Summer is when the numbers go down and the access goes up. In this live Q&A, Karen Mayer Cunningham takes questions from parents, advocates, paras, and educators - and does not hold back.
If your school called you to pick up your child early, that was a day out of placement. If they told you they do not provide ESY, that is not true - every district provides ESY under federal and state law. And if you are counting on an IEE to fix a bad evaluation, Karen explains why an IEE is like a scratch-off ticket - you can get one, but you are probably not going home with a million dollars.
In this episode:
- Why summer is the best time to file a robust state complaint and meet with leadership
- Early pickup calls are days out of placement - a legal decision the school is making
- ESY: who qualifies, how to prove regression with the district's own data, and the truth about ESY transportation
- IEEs: what they can actually do, what districts are never required to implement, and when one is worth it
- When a school must convene an IEP meeting (eligibility and minutes) versus what can be handled by paper amendment
- ADHD supports: why services come before accommodations
- Reading mastery, dyslexia, and why you never graduate from dyslexia - you move to maintenance
- Transition planning, work-based learning, and the Oregon Transition Resource Handbook
- The Zack Pack: how to introduce your child and put the full IEP in every teacher's hands
- How to request data in writing and what to do when the district will not provide it (34 CFR 300.613)
- Records after graduation: what to request and how long districts keep them
- Karen announces a press conference June 17 at 6:00 PM at Bellaire High School regarding Houston ISD's plan to consolidate self-contained programs
Resources mentioned:
- The Epic IEP, The Epic IEP: PARA, and the Epic IEP Federal and State law book - available in the shop and where books are sold
- The Epic IEP Workbook - releasing in approximately two weeks
- The 2-Day Special Education Advocacy Intensive - live virtual August 22-23, 2026
- The Epic Educator Academy - Mondays at 7:00 PM Central, for school-based educators only, 27 dollars a month
- Special Education Academy - free for the first month, training every Monday at 8:00 PM Central
You don't know what you don't know - but you need to.
When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everyone. - Karen Mayer Cunningham
✨ When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. ✨
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