Do I have to sign my child's IEP?

I have come across parents who think that if they do not sign their child's IEP, the school cannot implement the IEP. This is incorrect. There are three main times that a parent's signature is required for implementing the IEP:

• You must give informed consent when your child is evaluated for the first time.
• You must give informed consent when your child is reevaluated.
• You must give informed consent before the initial provision of special education and related services.

There are of course, exceptions to every rule. If you do not consent to the initial evaluation, the school can request due process or mediation. If you do not respond to the request, after reasonable measures have been taken to get your consent for reevaluation, the school can reevaluate without your consent.


Once a child has an IEP, the district is required by law to provide a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), with or without your consent. This means that if you simply walk out of a meeting, or refuse to sign the IEP, the new IEP goes into effect without your consent. Not signing does NOT invalidate the IEP.

So what can you do if you disagree with the IEP?

First off, lets start with what to do in the meeting, once you've realized that you do not agree with what the IEP states. There is an article at Wrightslaw called "How to Disagree with the IEP Team Without Starting World War III". I suggest you read the article in it's entirety. Especially helpful is the section where it discusses what to do if you disagree with the IEP:

Your Consent to Implement Inappropriate IEP

When the team asks you to sign consent to the IEP, pick up a ball point pen and put the IEP on a hard table top. Write this statement on the IEP: "I consent to this IEP being implemented but I object to it for the reasons stated during the meeting."

Sign your name.

Do not be surprised if someone gets upset and claims that you are not allowed to write on the IEP because it is a legal document. This is not true - you can write on your child's IEP (although the person who objects may not know this).

You are a member of the team and a participant in the IEP process. The law requires you to make your objections clear. The IEP is the best document to use when you need to make your objections clear.

If someone tries to stop you, continue to write. If someone tries to pull the IEP out of your hands, press down hard with your ballpoint pen and continue to write. If someone yanks the document away from you, continue to write as the IEP tears.

Stay calm. Take your copy of the IEP (whatever is left), stand, say "Thank you. I guess this meeting is over." Extend your hand to shake theirs. Pick up your tape recorder and leave.

The IEP team has a problem. You have advised them in writing that their proposed program is not appropriate for your child. You also consented to their implementing the program so they should implement it.

Your next step will be to immediately write a letter of Dissenting Opinion. State all the issues that you have with the proposed IEP and ask that your letter be attached to your child's IEP. Send this letter to your case manager, the director of special education, and to the superintendent of the district.

Often a child study team will try to work out your issues with you. This keeps them from having to take official and sometimes costly steps to resolving the issue. Be open to suggestions (perhaps trying the suggested implementation for a set period of time to see how it works).

If you feel strongly that the suggestions are not appropriate for your child, and the district won't budge, you can request mediation. In mediation, a third party will step in to try to solve the problems.

Alternately, you may request a due process hearing. In a due process hearing, the parent/s and district representative will go before an impartial hearing officer, who will decide how to resolve the problem.

Another option is to file a complaint with the state. This requires that a letter be sent to the state detailing the issues the parent has, and the part of IDEA that the parent believes are violated. The state agency has 60 calendar days in which to resolve the issue (unless there exceptional circumstances, in which case there can be an extension).

Find out when and how to file a complaint from the official NJ DOE pamphlet located here.