Page 136 - Special Education in Ontario, Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Resource Guide

Special Education in Ontario, Kindergarten to Grade 12
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IPRC Process and Procedures
Parents and Students
School Principals
At least once every school year, IPRC is reconvened to review student’s identification and/or placement
• Parent may request a review 3 months after placement has begun. A review cannot be requested more than once every three months
• Parent may agree in writing to dispense with annual review
The principal:
• may initiate IPRC review with notice to parent
• if review is held, it follows procedure similar to that of initial IPRC meeting
Special Education Tribunals
Parents who disagree with the identification and/or placement decision made following a meeting of the Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC) and a subsequent meeting of the special education appeal board (SEAB) have the right to appeal to the Ontario Special Education Tribunal (OSET) or the Tribunal de l’enfance en difficulté de l’Ontario (TEDO). In order to appeal to the tribunals, the parent must have completed the IPRC and SEAB processes, discussed earlier in this part of the guide. The parent’s appeal to a tribunal must be made within 30 days of receiving the SEAB decision. To make an appeal, the parent must write to the tribunal, saying that they want to appeal the SEAB’s decision.
When filing an appeal to OSET, there are specific timelines and procedures to be followed. At the pre-hearing conference, the OSET invites the parties to consider mediation, a voluntary process that only takes place if both parties agree to it. The goal of mediation is to help the two parties reach a solution that resolves the issues in the appeal.2
Ontario Special Education Tribunals, created by the Education Amendment Act of 1980 (Bill 82), are mandated to provide final and binding decisions to resolve disputes between a parent and a school board concerning the identification and/or placement of an exceptional student.
2. For more information about cooperative dispute resolution processes in special education, see Shared Solutions: A Guide to Preventing and Resolving Conflicts Regarding Programs and Services for Students With Special Education Needs (2007). Parents and school boards may use mediation at any time to help resolve disputes about any issue.
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