Prior Written Notice, Informed Consent and Procedural Safeguards Notice (Whose IDEA Is This?)

1. Procedural safeguards must be provided to the parents once a year. The school district must give a copy of the procedural safeguards notice (Whose IDEA Is This?) to the parents at least once a year, except as noted below:

• Upon initial referral or the parents request for evaluation;
• Upon request by the parents;
• Upon receipt of the first due process complaint or state complaint in a school year; and
• Upon a change in placement for disciplinary action.

2. Procedural safeguards must be provided upon request of the parents. The school district must give a copy of the procedural safeguards notice (Whose IDEA Is This?) to the parents whenever the parents request.

3. Initial referral for a suspected disability On the date of the referral, the district must provide the parents with a copy of the procedural safeguards notice (Whose IDEA Is This?). For a parental referral, the date of referral is the date that the district received either the verbal or written request from the parents to conduct an evaluation. For a district referral, the date of referral is the date that the screening or review team decided an evaluation should be conducted. See Evaluation – 6.2 Request and Referral for Initial Evaluation. Within 30 days of the date of initial referral by the parents for a suspected disability, the district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form to the parents if the district does not suspect a disability.

4. Initial evaluation Within 30 days of the date of initial referral by the parents for a suspected disability, the district must provide the Prior Written Notice PR-01 form to the parents and receive written, informed consent (Parent Consent for Evaluation PR-04 form) from the parents prior to conducting any assessments as part of an initial evaluation. A description of any evaluation procedures the district proposes to conduct must also be provided to the parents. (If the notice relates to an action proposed by the district that also requires parental consent, the district may give notice at the same time it requires parental consent.)

5. Eligibility determination If the evaluation team determines that a child is not eligible for special education and related services the district will provide the parents the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form once this determination is made. If the evaluation team determines that a child is eligible for special education and related services, see Item number 6, IEP Meeting.

6. IEP Meeting The district must use the required Parent Invitation PR-02 form to notify and invite the parents to an IEP meeting. Districts must take steps to ensure that one or both parents are present at each IEP meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate. This requires that the district:

• Notify the parents of the IEP meeting early enough to ensure that they have an opportunity to attend; and
• Schedule the meeting at a mutually agreed upon time and place.

A district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form after an IEP meeting, if the parents do not agree with the IEP or any portion of the IEP or do not attend the meeting.

A district must provide prior written notice to the parents and receive written, informed consent from the parents before the initial placement of a child in special education. The IEP PR-07 form serves as prior written notice unless the parents disagree with the IEP. Written informed consent to initiate special education and related services is provided through the parents’ signature on the IEP form.

7. Reevaluation with assessments conducted A district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form and obtain informed parental consent (Parent Consent for Evaluation PR-05 form) before conducting any tests or assessments as part of a reevaluation of a child with disabilities, unless the district has provided notice and the parents have failed to respond to reasonable attempts to obtain consent.

The district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form after the reevaluation is completed, if the parents disagree with the reevaluation or the reevaluation results in a change in the child’s disability category.

8. Reevaluation without further assessments conducted If the evaluation team determines that no additional data are needed to determine that the child continues to be a child with a disability and to determine the child’s educational needs, the evaluation team must notify the child’s parents. The notification that no further assessments are necessary must include:

• The team’s determination and the reasons for the determination; and
• The parents’ right to request an assessment to determine whether the child continues to be a child with a disability and to determine the child’s educational needs.

The Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form may be used for this notification as long as it includes the information listed directly above.

The district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form after the reevaluation is completed, if the parents disagree with the reevaluation or the reevaluation results in a change in the child’s disability category.

9. No reevaluation conducted If the IEP team, including the parents, agrees that a reevaluation of a child is unnecessary, the district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form.

10. Transfers from out of state and out of district Upon the enrollment of a child with an existing IEP from another district or state, the district must convene the IEP team and determine if the team will accept the existing IEP or change the existing IEP. IIf the parents disagree with the IEP team on the IEP that will be implemented by the district, the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form must be provided to the parents. See IEP – 7.1 General.

Transfers from out of state If the child moved into the district from another state, the district must provide the parents with a copy of the procedural safeguards notice (Whose IDEA Is This?).

If the district determines that a new evaluation is necessary for a child who transfers from out of state, the evaluation is considered an initial evaluation and the district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form and obtain written parental consent (Parent Consent for Evaluation PR-05 form). See Evaluation – 6.2 Request and Referral for Initial Evaluation.

Transfers from out of district If the child transfers into the district from another district in the state, the district provides the parents with a copy of the procedural safeguards notice (Whose IDEA Is This?) if the sending school district had not provided the parents with a copy during the current school year.

If the IEP team refers a child who transfers from another district in the state for additional evaluation, the evaluation is considered to be a reevaluation. The district must provide the Prior Written Notice to the Parents PR-01 form and obtain written parental consent (Parent Consent for Evaluation PR-05 form). See Evaluation – 6.5 Reevaluation.

11. Change of placement The district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form after an IEP meeting, if the parents do not agree with the IEP team’s proposed change of placement on the continuum of alternative placement options. The district may not change the child’s placement until the parents consent to the proposed change of placement.

12. Change in the type and amount of services The district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form after an IEP meeting, if the parents do not agree with the changes in the types and amount of services being proposed. The district may then proceed to implement the IEP.

13. Exit from special education The district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form whenever a child exits special education. In addition, for a child whose eligibility for special education terminates because the child is graduating with a regular diploma or exceeding the age eligibility for special education, the school district must provide the child with a summary of the child’s academic achievement and functional performance, which shall include recommendations on how to assist the child in meeting the child’s postsecondary goals.

14. District refuses services requested by parents The district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form to the parents any time the district refuses the request of the parents to provide special education and related services to the child.

15. District proposes/refuses to change disability category The district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form to the parents any time the district proposes or refuses to change the child’s disability category. The ETR and the documentation of eligibility can be considered a prior written notice if all the elements required in a prior written notice are present in the ETR and determination of eligibility.

16. Releasing personally identifiable information The district must obtain written parental consent prior to releasing any personally identifiable information about the child to any person or agency not entitled by law to see it, and to a representative of any participating agency that is likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services.

17. Destruction of personally identifiable information The school district must inform the parents when personally identifiable information collected, maintained and used is no longer needed to provide educational services to the child. The information must be destroyed at the request of the parents. However, a permanent record of a child’s name, address, telephone number, grades, attendance record, classes attended, grade level completed and year completed shall be maintained without time limitation. This notification may be in writing or provided verbally. If provided verbally, the school district should document this notification in the child’s education record.

18. Transfer of parental rights One year before the child’s 18th birthday, the district must notify both the child and the parents of the parental rights, under Part B, that will transfer to the child upon reaching the age of majority. The district also must provide the child with a copy of the procedural safeguards notice (Whose IDEA Is This?). This notification is documented on the child’s IEP PR-07 form.

19. Upon receipt of the first due process complaint or upon receipt of the first state complaint in the school year The school district must give the parents a copy of the procedural safeguards notice (Whose IDEA Is This?) upon receipt of the parents’ first due process request. The Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children gives the parents a copy of the procedural safeguards (Whose IDEA Is This?) upon the parents’ filing of the first state complaint within the school year.

20. Disciplinary change in placement Whenever a change of placement occurs due to disciplinary action, a copy of the procedural safeguards notice (Whose IDEA Is This?) and Prior Written Notice PR-01 form must be provided.

21. Revocation of consent (must be in writing) The district must provide the Prior Written Notice to Parents PR-01 form if the parents of a child with a disability revoke consent in writing for the continued provision of all special education and related services. This notice must include:

• summary of all of the supports and services the child will no longer receive, and any change in educational placement that will occur as a result of the revocation of consent.


• Statements that once the revocation takes effect, the district will not be considered to be in violation of its requirement to make FAPE available, is not required to convene an IEP meeting or develop an IEP, is not required to conduct a three year reevaluation, is not required to offer the child the discipline protections available under IDEA and is not required to amend the child’s education records to remove any reference to the child’s receipt of special education and related services.


• A statement that by revoking consent for special education and related services for the child, the parent is not waiving the right to request an initial evaluation or to receive services in the future.