January 2024: 

The MLO Minute: “School District of Philadelphia & State Ordered COVID-19 Meetings” 

By Kimberly Caputo, Esq., Senior Counsel – Philadelphia Region — 

From March 2020 through the summer of 2020 and continuing through the entire 2020-2021 school year, students with Individualized Education Plans (“IEPs”), and Section 504 Service Agreements in the School District of Philadelphia (“District”), received virtual instruction as all brick-and-mortar schools remained closed due to COVID-19.  Education and services looked very different during this timeframe and not all students met with success with the virtual model.

When Philadelphia public schools reopened in the fall of 2021, meetings were to have been held for all students with IEPs as well as those receiving support through a Service Agreement. The meetings were to include parents/caregivers and to determine the impact of virtual education on each student, and if warranted, additional services of COVID Compensatory Services (“CCS”) were to be offered.

Many families were not provided with a CCS meeting. The Pennsylvania Department of Education (“PDE”) Bureau of Special Education (“BSE”) has directed that the District must now convene these meetings. These meetings must occur no later than February 29, 2024.

If you are a parent/caregiver of a student with an IEP or Section 504 Service Agreement enrolled in the District, you may receive an invitation to a CCS meeting. Because these meetings are occurring close to two and a half (2 ½) years after schools reopened, how virtual instruction impacted a student may be a very complex discussion. You should consider sharing information such as:

• How your child was doing in school before March 2020; and
• Challenges with academics, speech, any therapies, and behavior during all virtual instruction.

If you are concerned about attending the meeting, we are here to help. Please reach out for support and thank you for all the work you do supporting students who learn differently.