Start the year with your child's IEP already running.
A free checklist for Florida parents. Everything to have in place before the first bell, so the plan you fought for in the spring does not quietly stall by October.
7 printable pages The plan is usually fine. The handoff is where it breaks.
Nobody rewrites your child's IEP over the summer. It just quietly changes hands.
A new teacher, thirty kids
The team that wrote the plan in the spring is often not the team running it in the fall. Your child’s teacher may not have read it yet.
You already know how this goes
You spend August hoping somebody noticed, and October proving they didn’t. Nobody wants to be the parent who has to ask twice.
And it was already owed
These are not favors you are requesting. They are services your child is legally entitled to from the first day of school.
Merrie has sat on both sides of that table
She spent eight years as a special education teacher in Florida public schools, watching which plans got run and which ones quietly didn't. Then she became the adoptive mother of a Level 3 autistic son, and found herself on the other side of the same table.
She knows what it costs a parent to keep asking. This checklist is simply what she does in her own house every August.
Master's in Exceptional Student Educationand Alternate Assessment
Eight years teaching ESEin Florida public schools, preschool through middle
Adoptive mom to a Level 3 autistic sonon the parent side of the table too
Three steps, and you are ready before the bell
You do not need to know the law to do this well. You need to walk in having already done the parts that matter.
Get the checklist
Drop your email and it lands in your inbox in about a minute. Seven printable pages, free.
About a minute
Work it before the bell
It walks in order, from two weeks out through the first month of school. Nothing on it needs a lawyer.
One evening
Walk in already running
A one-page summary, the right names, and an introduction the teacher has already read before day one.
Before August 10
What is actually in it
Two weeks out
- Re-read the current IEP the way the new teacher will read it
- Confirm the plan does not expire mid-year
- Build the one-page summary that actually gets read
- Capture what changed over the summer
Who owns the plan
- The exact job title your county uses, which differs by district
- How to confirm teachers were told their responsibilities
- A name and a schedule for every service
Week one and after
- A copy-and-send introduction email, written for you
- The five signs the plan is not being run
- What to ask for, and when, if it slips
Page six is the one parents actually use. It is the introduction email to your child's teacher, written out with blanks to fill in. Warm, short, and specific. If you only do one thing on the list, do that one.
The first three weeks decide the year
Not because anyone means badly. Because a plan on paper takes a few weeks to become a plan in practice, and nobody is watching that gap but you.
If nobody checks
- Services start weeks late and the gap never gets logged
- Accommodations get missed until the first progress report
- By October you are requesting a meeting instead of a small fix
- Your child spends a term compensating quietly, and you find out last
When you walk in ready
- The teacher knows your child before the first day
- Accommodations show up in week one, not week nine
- You have names, dates, and a paper trail you never needed to fight for
- You spend the fall watching your child learn instead of building a case
Two of those steps are your legal footing
Most of the list is common sense. Two items are not requests you are making. They are things the school already owes your child.
The IEP has to be in effect on day one.
Not written during the first few weeks back. Already running.
34 CFR 300.323(a)
Every teacher must be told their part.
The exact accommodations, modifications, and supports they are required to provide.
34 CFR 300.323(d)
Want someone to read the actual plan?
The checklist gets you ready for the year. It cannot tell you whether the plan itself is any good. If the goals look like last year's, or the services feel thin, that takes trained eyes on the document.
What Merrie finds most often
- Goals that read almost word for word like last year’s
- Service minutes that don’t add up to what was promised
- Accommodations written so vaguely nobody has to follow them
The Red Flag Audit
$200
A written line-by-line audit of your child's IEP, plus a 60-minute call to walk you through every flag and the words to use.
See how the audit worksFamilies who walked in with her
Merrie brought clarity in the meetings by explaining things we didn't understand and ensuring our voices were heard. Because of her guidance, our son received services thoughtfully tailored to his specific needs.
Merrie was so helpful through the whole process. She really took the time to explain the information, answer all of my questions, and advocate for the most successful plan for my boy. She took all of the overwhelming uncertainty out of it.
Before you grab it
When does school go back in 2026?
Santa Rosa County students return Monday, August 10, 2026. Escambia County students return Wednesday, August 12, 2026. Most other Florida districts fall between August 10 and 13.
Is this only for Escambia and Santa Rosa families?
No. The rules and the checklist apply anywhere in Florida, and most of it applies in any state. The county-specific parts are the first-day dates and what your district calls the person who runs IEP meetings.
My child is doing fine. Do I still need this?
This is most useful precisely when things look fine. The gap between a plan on paper and a plan being run is quiet by nature, and it usually surfaces in October rather than August.
What does it cost?
Nothing. It is a free PDF and we email it to you immediately.
Walk in ready this year
School goes back the week of August 10. There is still time to do this calmly, one evening at the kitchen table.
Already worried about what is in the plan you have? The Red Flag Audit reads your child's actual IEP line by line.