Can a Parent Refuse an IEP or Special Education Services? What Happens Next.

Can a parent refuse special education services? Can you remove your child from an IEP? And what happens if a middle school or high school student wants to get out of special education?

As a Special Education Advocate, I’ve spent well over a decade helping families get IEPs and appropriate services for their kids, so I’ll admit that it sometimes feels strange to answer questions about how to get rid of an IEP.

But parents ask, and students ask too.

There are many reasons a family might not want special education services. Sometimes parents disagree with what the school is offering. Sometimes they’re concerned about stigma. Older students may decide they don’t want an IEP anymore. Other families want to provide services privately instead.

Whatever brought you here, refusing an initial IEP and removing a child from an existing IEP are both allowed under IDEA, but they don’t work exactly the same way.

And before you get rid of an IEP, make sure you understand what goes away with it.

Can a Parent Refuse Special Education Services?

Yes. A parent can refuse the initial provision of special education and related services.

IDEA requires the school to get informed parental consent before it first provides special education and related services. If you refuse that consent, the school cannot use mediation or due process to force you to accept the services.

If your child already receives special education services, you can also revoke your consent for those services. Revocation must be in writing.

Once you revoke consent in writing, the school must provide Prior Written Notice before it stops providing special education and related services.

So if you’re searching for how to get out of an IEP or how to remove your child from special education, there is a process for doing it. I would not recommend simply telling a teacher that you don’t want the IEP anymore and assuming that takes care of it.

Put it in writing and keep a copy.

How to Get Out of an IEP or Special Education

Parents use a lot of different language for this. I hear “How do I get my child out of an IEP?” and “How do I get rid of an IEP?” Some parents simply say they want their child out of special education.

If your child is already receiving services through an IEP, you can revoke your consent for the continued provision of special education and related services in writing. The school must then give you Prior Written Notice before the services stop.

This isn’t limited to elementary school. There isn’t a separate process for how to get out of an IEP in middle school or high school. As long as the educational decision-making rights still belong to the parent, the parent can revoke consent for continued special education services.

Before you do that, pull out the current IEP and read it from beginning to end. Look at the specially designed instruction, related services, accommodations, behavior supports and other services your child currently receives.

Getting rid of the IEP means getting rid of the services and IDEA protections that come with it.

Why Would a Parent Refuse an IEP?

It doesn’t happen as often as it used to, but I still hear concerns about the stigma of special education.

The scenario often goes something like this: A parent recognizes that their child is struggling at school and asks for help. The school evaluates the child, finds them eligible and develops an IEP. Then the parent hesitates because they don’t want their child “in special education.”

We’re more than 50 years past the original federal special education law, and somehow special education still generates an impressive amount of fiction and stigma.

Some parents worry that people will think their child isn’t smart, that an IEP will make their child lazy or that accommodations give students an unfair advantage. Others worry that special education will hurt their child’s chances of going to college.

None of those concerns changes what an IEP is supposed to do. An IEP provides individualized special education and related services to a student who qualifies for them.

Many students with disabilities work incredibly hard just to access the same curriculum as their peers. Accommodations aren’t an unfair advantage any more than a wheelchair ramp is an unfair advantage. They provide access.

And an IEP does not prevent a student from attending college. In fact, learning which accommodations, strategies and supports work can help a student develop the self-advocacy skills they’ll need after high school.

If your child needs help at school, I would think very carefully before refusing that help because of what someone else might think.

What Happens If a Parent Refuses Special Education Services?

If you refuse the initial provision of special education services, the school does not provide those IDEA services. If your child already has an IEP and you revoke consent for continued services, the school must stop providing special education and related services after providing the required Prior Written Notice.

This means the services in the IEP go away.

That may include specially designed instruction, speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavior supports, accommodations and other related services provided through the IEP.

It also affects IDEA’s discipline protections. Federal guidance explains that when a parent revokes consent for special education and related services, the student generally becomes subject to the disciplinary procedures that apply to general education students rather than IDEA’s special education discipline protections.

This is one reason I don’t recommend making this decision in the heat of a bad IEP meeting.

Go home, and read the IEP first. Look at every service and protection your child currently receives. Then decide whether you really want to end all special education services. (I have a really easy way to read and understand an IEP without going cover to cover)

Will My Child Get a 504 Plan Instead?

Maybe, but don’t assume that removing an IEP automatically produces a 504 Plan.

IDEA and Section 504 are separate laws with different requirements. If you revoke consent for IDEA special education services, that doesn’t mean the school simply converts the IEP into a 504 Plan.

If you believe your child needs accommodations under Section 504, address that separately with the school.

Likewise, your child may have access to general education programs and supports such as MTSS or RTI, but those are not substitutes for an IEP simply because a parent no longer wants special education.

Know what will actually be available before you make your decision.

How Do I Remove My Child From an IEP?

If your child already receives special education services and you want those services to end, send the school written notice that you are revoking your consent for the continued provision of special education and related services.

You do not need the IEP team’s permission to revoke consent.

The school must provide you with Prior Written Notice before it stops providing special education and related services. The school also cannot use mediation or due process to override your revocation and force the continued provision of those services.

Keep your request, the school’s response and the Prior Written Notice with your child’s records.

And yes, email counts as writing.

Can a Student Refuse an IEP or Special Education Services?

Sometimes, particularly as students reach adulthood, but this depends on state law.

IDEA allows a state to provide for the transfer of parental IDEA rights to the student when the student reaches the age of majority under state law. When those rights transfer, the student may become the person making decisions that previously belonged to the parent.

The school must notify the student and parents when IDEA rights transfer.

States also must have procedures for certain students who have reached the age of majority but may not be able to provide informed consent regarding their educational program.

If you have a high school student who wants to get out of an IEP and you disagree, check your state’s age-of-majority rules and the transfer-of-rights information in your IEP Procedural Safeguards. This is something families should discuss during transition planning rather than discovering it for the first time during an argument in senior year.

How to Get Out of an IEP in High School

There is no special federal rule that lets a student automatically get rid of an IEP simply because they entered high school.

Before IDEA rights transfer to the student under applicable state law, the parent generally remains the educational decision-maker. After those rights transfer, the student may have the authority to make decisions about special education services.

If a high school student says they want out of special education, I’d also want to know why.

Are they embarrassed about having an IEP? Are services interfering with electives or other classes? Do they dislike being pulled from class? Do they believe they don’t need accommodations anymore? Is there one particular service they don’t want?

Those concerns deserve to be discussed. Removing the entire IEP may be a much bigger response than the actual problem requires.

How to Get Out of an IEP in Middle School

Middle school doesn’t create a separate IDEA process either.

A student entering sixth, seventh or eighth grade doesn’t suddenly become ineligible for an IEP, nor does moving to middle school give a student the unilateral right to cancel one.

If a middle school student is asking to get rid of their IEP, listen to what they’re actually telling you. Middle school is often when kids become much more aware of differences between themselves and their peers, and they may dislike being pulled out of class or receiving supports that make them feel different.

That doesn’t mean you should dismiss their concerns. It also doesn’t mean you have to remove every special education service because a 12-year-old announced that IEPs are embarrassing.

Bring the student into the conversation and look at whether the IEP can better meet their needs while also building self-advocacy and independence.

Can a Parent Refuse a Special Education Evaluation?

Yes, parents have consent rights regarding special education evaluations, but this area is more complicated than simply saying that the school can never evaluate without your permission.

For an initial special education evaluation, the school must first seek informed parental consent. However, if the child attends or is seeking to attend public school and the parent refuses consent or doesn’t respond, IDEA permits the school, but does not require it, to pursue the initial evaluation through IDEA’s procedural safeguards when appropriate and when doing so is consistent with state law.

Reevaluations have their own rules. Schools generally must obtain informed parental consent before conducting a reevaluation. If a parent refuses, the school may pursue the reevaluation using IDEA’s consent-override procedures. If a parent simply doesn’t respond, consent may not be required if the school can document reasonable efforts to obtain it.

So please don’t use the strategy of ignoring forms and emails and hoping the whole thing disappears.

If you disagree with an evaluation, say so clearly and in writing.

Consent to Evaluate Is Not Consent to Special Education

This is another area that causes unnecessary confusion.

Giving the school permission to conduct an initial evaluation does not mean you’re agreeing to put your child in special education.

IDEA specifically separates consent for the initial evaluation from consent for the initial provision of special education and related services.

You can consent to an evaluation, review the results and participate in the eligibility process without having already agreed to special education services.

For parents who are unsure about an IEP, getting more information about their child’s needs can be useful. You don’t have to refuse an evaluation simply because you aren’t sure yet whether you will consent to services.

Can I Change My Mind After Removing My Child From Special Education?

Yes. Revoking consent now does not mean your child can never receive special education again.

If you later become concerned that your child needs special education and related services, you can request an initial evaluation again.

Keep in mind that this means starting the eligibility process again. The old IEP doesn’t simply spring back to life because you’ve changed your mind.

This is another reason to make the original decision carefully.

Before You Get Rid of an IEP

If you’re thinking about refusing an IEP or removing your child from special education, give yourself enough time to understand exactly what you’re refusing.

Maybe you’ve decided that special education isn’t right for your child. Maybe your older child wants to leave special education. Maybe you plan to provide services privately. Those are decisions families make.

Just make the decision with accurate information.

Read the current IEP. Make a list of every service, accommodation and protection your child receives. Find out what, if anything, the school expects to provide after you revoke consent. If your child is approaching the age of majority, read your state’s rules about the transfer of educational rights.

And put your decision in writing.