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Letter 4: The Disagreement Letter: Demanding Prior Written Notice

WHEN TO USE IT

The district told you no - or told you it plans to change something you did not ask for. Maybe they said it in a meeting. Maybe it was a phone call, or a shrug. The law does not let them leave it there. Whenever a district proposes or refuses to initiate or change your child’s identification, evaluation, educational placement, or the provision of FAPE, it must give you Prior Written Notice: a written statement of what it decided, why, the evaluations and data it relied on, the other options it considered, and why it rejected them. 34 C.F.R. § 300.503(a)-(b). A verbal “no” is not notice. This letter makes them put their reasons on paper - where they can be examined later.

Send it to the special education director or the administrator who made the decision, with a copy to your child’s case manager. Send by email so the date is stamped, or by certified mail if the district has a habit of “not receiving” things. Keep a copy in your binder.