Graduation in the Time of COVID

The end of the second COVID school year is near, and many parents are asking whether their school district has met the requirements of their child’s Individual Education Program (IEP). For students expected to graduate this year, these questions are particularly urgent:

1. Has my child received all the services in their IEP?
2. Has my child met the goals and objectives in their IEP?
3. Were necessary transition services delivered as expected?
4. Is my child really ready to for the post-secondary programs, work, independence and activities we planned for?

Last spring, schools were forced to suddenly close, leaving parents and educators scrambling to cobble together what special education services they could.

Throughout the pandemic, schools have offered remote, hybrid, and in-person services, depending on schools’ response plans and local health conditions. As a result, it may or may not have been possible for a district to effectively deliver all special education services set forth in a student’s IEP. And the services may not have led to the outcomes expected.

Both the US Education Department (USED) and the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) issued informal guidance to school districts stating that, regardless of the type of instruction being provided, districts must make every effort to provide special education and related services in accordance with a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). The NJDOE guidance states that educational services are to be consistent with the child’s IEP “to the most appropriate extent possible.”

In March 2021, NJDOE issued additional guidance to districts regarding “Compensatory Education Determinations for Students with Disabilities as a Result of COVID-19.” Compensatory Education, sometimes referred to as “Comp Ed,” involves providing additional educational programming to remedy deficits in knowledge and skill acquisition that may have caused a denial of a “free and appropriate public education” (FAPE).

Taken together, the state and federal guidance indicate that the IEP in place at
the time of the COVID-19 school closure remains in effect, unless it was changed
by parental agreement or in accordance with IDEA. IEP teams should also make individualized determinations as to whether compensatory services are needed under IDEA and/or state education regulations.

Here are some considerations:

• If your school district reopened fully for in-person instruction, your child’s IEP should have been fully implemented as of the date of reopening, with all services delivered as they would have been before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• If your school district implemented “hybrid” schedules (part of your child’s instruction was provided at home, and part was provided in-person) the district is still responsible for satisfying all elements of the IEP. The IEP Team should have worked to make sure that services that needed to be provided in-person were scheduled on in-person instructional days.
• If your child received fully remote services, it may not have been appropriate – or possible – to implement all portions of your child’s IEP through instruction at home.

If a district has not adequately provided the individualized programs and instruction set forth in the IEP, or if a Distance Learning Plan did not mirror the programs and services in the IEP, parents and districts may agree that additional service(s) are needed and should be provided to make up for missed instruction. According to the March 2021 NJDOE guidance, “It is the role of the IEP team to determine the need, type, amount, frequency, duration, and location of compensatory education necessary to address lack of progress toward IEP goals and objectives resulting from missed services.”

Considering Compensatory Education or Additional Services for 2021 Graduates

For students who are scheduled to graduate, or age out of school at the end of this school year, now is the time to determine if compensatory education is needed. Once a student accepts a diploma, their right to special education services and programs with the district ends.

Comp Ed For High School Seniors: 5 Steps

1. Review the special education programs and related services in the student’s IEP.
2. If a Distance Learning Plan was developed, (such plans were not required) know what the Distance Learning Plan was for the student and review it carefully. (click here to read more about Distance Learning Plans. Learn more about Distance Learning Plans >>
3. Understand and note the student’s daily activities with distance learning.
4. If you believe that the student’s needs are not being met, document the issues, so they can be raised and addressed with IEP team.
5. Ask for an IEP team meeting as soon as possible, in writing, to express and share concerns, and discuss the anticipated graduation schedule.

The IEP team is required to measure a student’s advancement toward IEP goals and objectives and produce IEP progress reports. Progress reports from before the shut-down -which may show that the student was progressing satisfactorily and expected to achieve IEP goals and objectives -should be compared to more recent progress reports and observations. Your child’s report card as well as informal assessments conducted by your child’s teacher are also data sources.

Districts are required to provide a graduating student with a written summary of academic achievement and functional performance, (NJAC 6:14-4.11 (b) 4) as well as recommendations to assist the student in meeting postsecondary goals. This summary may be helpful to the IEP team in determining the nature and extent of the additional services the student may receive after graduation. If parents or guardians disagree with the district’s proposal to graduate the student, the parents or guardians may file a request for a mediation conference and/or a due process hearing.

Whether a student was due to graduate or reach the age of 21 by June 30, 2021, NJDOE has encouraged IEP teams to convene virtual or in-person meetings to discuss the services that were not provided and to determine the need for additional services. The additional services are not required to be part of the student’s IEP because students who graduate or age out are no longer eligible for IDEA services beyond June 30, 2021. (See the important update on From the Capitols about Senate Bill 3434, which would allow students over the age of 21 to remain in school.) However, NJDOE encourages school districts to provide to the adult student and/or the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) a written description of the additional services being offered, based on transition goals, as well as notice of their right to seek compensatory services via a special education due process hearing.