Md. Code Regs. 13A.05.01.09

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 25, December 13, 2024

Section 13A.05.01.09 - Individualized Education Program Document

A. IEP Content.

(1) The IEP for a student with a disability shall include:

(a) A statement of the student's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including:

(i) How the student's disability affects the student's involvement and progress in the general curriculum, or

(ii) For a preschool student, as appropriate, how the disability affects the student's participation in appropriate activities;

(b) Measurable academic and functional annual goals, including benchmarks or short-term instructional objectives related to:

(i) Meeting the student's needs that result from the student's disability to enable the student to be involved in and make progress in the general curriculum, and meeting each of the student's other educational needs that result from the student's disability; or

(ii) For a preschool student, as appropriate, to participate in appropriate activities.

(c) The special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, including staffing support, to be provided to the student, or on behalf of the student;

(d) Program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided for the student to enable the student to:

(i) Advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals;

(ii) Be involved in and make progress in the general curriculum;

(iii) Participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities; and

(iv) Be educated and participate with other students with disabilities and students without disabilities;

(e) An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the student will not participate with students without disabilities in the regular class and in the activities, as described in §A(1)(e) of this regulation;

(f) A statement of any appropriate individual accommodations that are needed to measure the student's academic achievement and functional performance on Statewide or district-wide assessments, consistent with 34 CFR § 300.320(a)(6);

(g) If the IEP team determines that a student may not participate in a particular Statewide or district-wide assessment, documentation by the team of:

(i) Why the assessment, or part of an assessment, is not appropriate for the student;

(ii) How the student will be assessed; and

(iii) Why a particular alternate assessment is appropriate;

(h) The projected dates for initiation of services, and modifications as described in §A(1)(c) and (d) of this regulation, including the anticipated frequency, location, and duration; and

(i) A learning continuity plan to address the provision of a free appropriate public education during emergency conditions.

(2) If a student requires extended school year services, the IEP shall include the specific special education and related services to be provided beyond the regular school year consistent with Regulation .08B(2) of this chapter.

(3) Transition Services.

(a) Beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when a student turns 14 years old, and younger if appropriate, and updated annually, consistent with Education Article, § 21-305, Annotated Code of Maryland, the student's IEP shall include:

(i) The transition services, including course of study needed to assist the student reach those goals;

(ii) Appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based on age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and independent living, as appropriate; and

(iii) A statement of needed transition services including, if appropriate, a statement of a public agency's and a participating agency's responsibilities or linkages, or both, before the student leaves the secondary school setting.

(b) If a participating agency fails to provide agreed-on transition services contained in a student's IEP, the public agency responsible for the student's education shall, as soon as possible, initiate a meeting for the purpose of:

(i) Identifying alternative strategies to meet the transition objectives; and

(ii) If necessary, revising the student's IEP.

(c) The Act does not relieve a participating agency of the responsibility to provide or pay for a transition service that the agency would otherwise provide to students with disabilities who meet the eligibility criteria of the agency.

(4) Transfer of Rights at Age of Majority. Beginning not later than 1 year before the student reaches the age of majority under State law, the IEP shall include a statement that the student has been informed of the student's rights under Part B of the Act, if any, that will transfer to the student on reaching the age of majority in accordance with Education Article, § 8-412.1, Annotated Code of Maryland.

(5) Information included under one component of the student's IEP is not required to be repeated under another component.

B. Report of Progress.

(1) An IEP shall include how a parent is to be regularly informed of the:

(a) Student's progress toward the annual goals; and

(b) Extent to which the progress is sufficient to enable the student to achieve the goals within a year.

(2) A parent of a student with a disability shall be informed of the student's progress at least as often as a parent is informed of a nondisabled student's progress.

(3) A public agency shall make a good faith effort to achieve the goals of a student's IEP as described in §A(1)(b) of this regulation.

(4) A public agency, teacher, or other individual may not be held accountable if a student does not achieve the growth projected in the IEP as described in §A(1) of this regulation.

C. Students in Adult Correctional Facilities.

(1) Each school system is required to provide special education and related services to students with disabilities incarcerated in local adult correctional facilities located within the jurisdiction of the local school system to ensure FAPE as defined in 20 U.S.C. § 1401(9).

(2) The local adult correctional facilities identified in §C(1) of this regulation do not include adult correctional institutions under the jurisdiction of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

(3) The Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation provides special education and related services to students with disabilities incarcerated in adult correctional institutions identified in §C(2) of this regulation.

(4) The requirements of §A(1)(f) and (g) of this regulation do not apply to students with disabilities incarcerated in adult correctional facilities.

(5) The requirements of §A(3) of this regulation do not apply to a student with a disability incarcerated in an adult correctional facility, whose eligibility under Part B of the Act and this chapter will end before the student is eligible for release, based on the consideration of the sentence and eligibility for early release.

D. IEP in Effect.

(1) A public agency shall ensure that an IEP is in effect before special education and related services are provided to a student with a disability within its jurisdiction, including students with disabilities:

(a) Placed in or referred to a nonpublic school by the public agency; or

(b) Incarcerated in an adult correctional facility and in need of special education or related services from the local school system as described in §C(1) of this regulation.

(2) A public agency shall have an IEP in effect for a student with a disability at the beginning of a school year.

(3) A public agency shall implement an IEP as soon as possible after the meeting where the IEP is developed or revised, except as described in §D(4) of this regulation.

(4) Exceptions to §D(3) of this regulation are:

(a) When the meeting occurs during the summer or a vacation period; or

(b) When there are circumstances that require a short delay, such as working out transportation arrangements.

(5) Each service provider, as defined in COMAR 13A.05.02.03B(3), responsible for the implementation of the IEP for a student with a disability shall:

(a) Have access to the IEP; and

(b) Be informed of the service provider's specific responsibilities, accommodations, modifications, and supports that shall be provided for the student in accordance with the student's IEP.

E. Program for Students who Transfer School Districts.

(1) Transfer Within the State. When a student with a disability with an IEP in effect in accordance with §D of this regulation transfers from one public agency to another public agency in the State, as specified in 34 CFR § 300.323(e), the public agency in which the student intends to enroll, in consultation with the student's parents, shall provide FAPE to the student, including services comparable to those identified in the former public agency's IEP, until the public agency:

(a) Adopts the student's IEP from the former public agency; or

(b) Develops, adopts, and implements a new IEP.

(2) Transfer from Outside the State. When a student with a disability with an IEP in effect in accordance with §D of this regulation transfers to a public agency in Maryland from another state, as specified in 34 CFR § 300.323(f), the public agency in which the student intends to enroll, in consultation with the student's parents, shall provide FAPE to the student, including services comparable to those identified in the former public agency's IEP, until the public agency:

(a) Conducts an evaluation in accordance with 34 CFR §§ 300.304- 300.311 and Regulations .05 and .06 of this chapter; or

(b) Develops a new IEP, if appropriate, consistent with 34 CFR § 300.320 and Regulation .09 of this chapter.

(3) To facilitate the transition of a student described in §E(1) or (2) of this regulation, the new public agency in which the student enrolls shall take reasonable steps to promptly obtain the student's records from the previous public agency in which the child was enrolled, pursuant to 34 CFR § 99.31(a)(2), including:

(a) The student's IEP;

(b) Supporting documents; and

(c) Any other records relating to the provision of special education or related services to the student.

F. Uniform IEP. Beginning July 1, 2008, each public agency shall use:

(1) The Maryland Online IEP; or

(2) An IEP product that conforms to the form and format of the Maryland Online IEP, in accordance with 34 CFR §§ 300.320- 300.328 and Regulations .08-.10 of this chapter.

G. Learning Continuity Plan.

(1) Consistent with §A(1)(i) of this regulation, each IEP shall include a learning continuity plan to ensure the provision of a free appropriate public education during emergency conditions.

(2) The learning continuity plan shall:

(a) Describe the methods through which the IEP services will be delivered during emergency conditions; and

(b) Be reviewed and updated, as appropriate, at least annually.

(3) The following sections of the IEP shall include planning for emergency conditions:

(a) Instructional and Assessment Accommodations;

(b) Supplementary Aids, Services, Program Modifications and Supports;

(c) Secondary Transition Activities;

(d) IEP Goals;

(e) Services; and

(f) Extended School Year Services.

(4) Notification of Emergency Conditions.

(a) Within 10 days of the local school system, public agency, or school determining that emergency conditions exist, a member of the IEP team shall make a documented reasonable attempt to notify the parent or guardian of a child that the plan for emergency conditions is in place.

(b) In contacting the parent or guardian, a member of the IEP team shall ensure the developed plan is still appropriate and discuss how it will best operate during the emergency conditions.

(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the provision of services under a learning continuity plan during emergency conditions does not alter the child's educational placement for purposes of a due process complaint brought under Education Article, § 8-413, Annotated Code of Maryland.

Md. Code Regs. 13A.05.01.09

Regulations .09 adopted effective December 23, 1991 (18:25 Md. R. 2757)
Regulation .09 amended effective January 21, 2002 (29:1 Md. R. 24); May 7, 2007 (34:9 Md R. 826)
Regulation .09C amended effective October 5, 2009 (36:20 Md. R. 1530); amended effective 49:6 Md. R. 405, eff. 3/21/2022