Back-to-School Checklist for Special Education Parents: What to Do Before August

For most families, back-to-school season is about supply lists and new sneakers. For parents of children with IEPs or 504 Plans, it is a logistical operation: confirming services are in place, reaching out to new teachers before they meet your child, and making sure nothing falls through the cracks in the transition from summer to fall.

The weeks before school starts are one of the most important windows in the school year. Use this checklist to walk in prepared.

Step 1: Pull Out the Current IEP and Read It

Before anything else, read your child's current IEP — all of it. You want to go into the new school year knowing exactly what is in the document.

Confirm:

The IEP is current (not expired). Check the annual review date.
All services are listed with specific minutes per week, delivery setting (individual, small group, classroom), and provider type.
Goals are still appropriate for where your child is developmentally. If your child met goals over the last year, new ones should already be in place from the spring annual review.
Related services (speech, OT, PT, counseling, ABA) are listed with the same specificity as special education services.
Accommodations and modifications are documented — extended time, preferential seating, read-aloud, reduced assignments, sensory tools, whatever applies.

If the IEP expired over the summer and no annual review has happened yet, the school cannot simply continue last year's document indefinitely. Contact the special education coordinator now to schedule the overdue meeting.

Step 2: Confirm Your Child's Placement

Before school starts, confirm:

What classroom or program your child will be placed in
Who the special education teacher or case manager will be
If your child is moving to a new building (elementary to middle, middle to high), confirm the receiving school has a copy of the current IEP

If your child's placement is changing from last year — moving from a resource room to a self-contained class, or from a self-contained class to a general education placement — a placement change requires IEP team agreement and Prior Written Notice from the school. It cannot happen without your knowledge and signature.

Step 3: Contact the New Teacher or Case Manager Before School Starts

Do not wait for the first day. Reach out via email to your child's incoming teacher, special education case manager, or both in mid-to-late July. Keep the email brief:

Introduce yourself and your child
Let them know your child has an IEP and reference when it was last updated
Note one or two things that are most important for them to know before they meet your child
Offer to provide any supporting documentation (outside evaluations, medical records, prior teacher notes)

This email creates a paper trail and sets a collaborative tone before the year begins. Teachers who hear from parents before the first day tend to be better prepared on day one.

Step 4: Verify Related Services Are Scheduled

Speech therapy, OT, PT, counseling, and other related services do not always start on the first day of school. Caseloads are being assembled, schedules are being built, and transitions between providers happen over the summer.

Contact the relevant service providers (or the case manager) before school starts to confirm:

Services are scheduled and the provider is in place
Your child is on the caseload
Services will begin within the first two weeks of school

If your child's speech therapist left over the summer and has not been replaced, ask the school in writing what the plan is to fill the vacancy and when services will begin. They cannot leave IEP services unfilled without a timeline and a plan.

Step 5: Submit or Renew Medical Authorization Forms

If your child takes medication during the school day, requires a seizure action plan, has a food allergy requiring an emergency protocol, or has any medical condition that affects their school day, ensure the required authorizations are submitted before school starts. These forms typically need to be renewed annually.

Call the school nurse's office in July to confirm:

Which forms need to be updated
Whether the physician-signed medication authorization is still on file or needs renewal
Whether your child's health action plan (seizure plan, allergy plan, diabetes management plan) is current and on file

Many special education students have medical complexities that the classroom teacher and school nurse both need to be aware of. Do not assume last year's forms carry over automatically.

Step 6: Confirm Transportation Arrangements

If your child's IEP includes transportation as a related service — a bus with an aide, door-to-door service, a specialized vehicle, or any modification from the standard school bus — confirm those arrangements are in place before the first day.

Transportation is part of IDEA's definition of related services when a child's disability makes standard transportation inaccessible. If your child's transportation support is in the IEP, the school district is responsible for providing it starting on day one.

Contact the district's transportation department in late July to confirm:

Your child is on the route and the correct vehicle is assigned
Any required aide or monitor is scheduled
Pick-up and drop-off times and locations

Step 7: Confirm Assistive Technology Is Ready

If your child uses assistive technology — a speech-generating device, a text-to-speech program, a screen reader, a hearing loop, an FM system, a specialized keyboard — confirm it is in place before school begins.

Questions to ask:

Is the device charged and ready?
Has the receiving teacher been trained on the device?
Is the software licensed and installed on school computers if applicable?
If the device went home for the summer, is there a plan for school-day use?

Assistive technology delays on day one cost your child access to the curriculum from the very first moment. Confirming it in advance avoids that.

Step 8: Document What You Saw Over the Summer

If your child had Extended School Year (ESY) services over the summer, note whether those services actually occurred as scheduled and whether your child made or maintained progress.

Even if your child did not have ESY, document any regression you observed over the summer — skills that declined, behaviors that increased, goals that slipped. This documentation may be relevant if the IEP team proposes changes in the fall, or if you are requesting additional services due to regression.

A simple written note dated before the school year starts — "Over summer, I observed [specific skill] declined. [Child] now requires [specific support] that was not needed in May" — is far more useful than trying to reconstruct observations months later.

Step 9: Know What to Do If Services Don't Start on Day One

Some service gaps at the start of the year are brief and understandable (scheduling takes a week or two). Others drag on for weeks or months with no plan. Know the difference.

Acceptable: Services begin 1–2 weeks into the school year while schedules are finalized.

Not acceptable: Services are not starting because a provider left and has not been replaced, there is no timeline for replacement, or you receive vague non-answers when you ask.

If services are not in place within the first two weeks, put your concern in writing to the special education coordinator and request a timeline. If services remain missing beyond that, a state complaint is the appropriate formal step — the school has an obligation to implement the IEP as written.

Step 10: Request a Meeting If Anything Has Changed

If any of the following are true, request an IEP meeting before or early in the school year rather than waiting for the annual review:

Your child's needs changed significantly over the summer (new diagnosis, new medication, significant regression, new evaluation results)
Your child is transitioning to a new school building
You obtained a new outside evaluation over the summer with different recommendations than the current IEP reflects
You have concerns about the current IEP that were not resolved at the spring annual review

You have the right to request an IEP meeting at any time. Put the request in writing to the case manager and copy the special education director.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if the school doesn't have my child's IEP ready when school starts?

If a new IEP was supposed to be completed before the school year and was not, contact the special education coordinator immediately and request a meeting date in writing. In the meantime, the previous IEP remains in effect until a new one is signed. The school must continue to implement the previous IEP — they cannot simply let services lapse because paperwork was not completed.

My child's case manager changed over the summer. What should I do?

Contact the school to confirm who the new case manager is, then send an introductory email as described in Step 3. Request that the new case manager review the IEP and contact you with any questions before the year begins. A transition between case managers is also a reasonable time to request a brief check-in meeting early in the school year.

Can the school change my child's classroom or placement over the summer without telling me?

No. A placement change requires IEP team agreement and Prior Written Notice from the school. If you discover at the start of the year that your child's placement was changed without your knowledge or consent, put a written objection in writing immediately and request an IEP meeting.

My child is starting middle school or high school this year. Is there anything specific to prepare for?

Building transitions are high-risk moments for children with IEPs. Key steps: confirm the IEP was transferred to the new building and the receiving case manager has reviewed it, visit the building with your child before the first day if possible, confirm locker access or other physical accommodations are in place, and check whether any transition-specific services were supposed to begin. For students entering high school, confirm that transition planning components are present in the IEP if your child is 16 or older (or 14 in some states).

What if my child has a new teacher who doesn't seem to know about the IEP?

This is more common than it should be. On or before the first day, follow up directly with the case manager and put in writing that the new teacher appears unfamiliar with the IEP. The case manager is responsible for ensuring all service providers have access to relevant IEP information. If the teacher is not implementing accommodations because they do not know they exist, that is an IEP implementation failure — document it and address it in writing promptly.

If you want a professional set of eyes on your child's IEP before the new school year starts, our IEP Review Service identifies gaps in services, vague goals, and missing accommodations — and gives you the specific language to request changes at your next meeting. Our School Appeal Letter Templates include templates for requesting meetings, objecting to placement changes, and addressing service gaps at the start of the year.

For more on IEP rights and what to do when the school is not following the plan, visit our IEP vs. 504 Guide.

Disclaimer: This post is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. IEP timelines, procedures, and requirements vary by state. Consult a qualified special education advocate or attorney for guidance specific to your child's situation.