Prior written notice (PWN): what it is and what to do with it

It's easy to file it away unread. It looks like more paperwork, and it often isn't even labeled "prior written notice." But this one is worth a few minutes of your time.

Prior written notice is one of your most important rights under IDEA, and one of the most overlooked. It's the school's written record of what it decided and why. Once you know what a PWN in special education has to contain, you can use it to hold the school to the reasons it gave.

What is prior written notice?

A prior written notice is a written document the school is required to send you any time it proposes or refuses to take certain actions about your child's education. The rule comes from 34 CFR 300.503, one of the IDEA procedural safeguards.

The notice goes to the parent or legal guardian. Under IDEA, "parent" includes biological, adoptive and foster parents, legal guardians, a person acting in the place of a parent (such as a grandparent or other relative the child lives with) and a surrogate parent (34 CFR 300.30).

The name confuses a lot of people. Despite the word "prior," a PWN usually isn't given to you before your meeting. It's issued after the team makes a decision. The "prior" means it has to reach you before the school acts on that decision.

When the school must send prior written notice

Federal law requires prior written notice a reasonable time before the school proposes, or refuses, to start or change your child's identification, evaluation, educational placement or the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE). In everyday terms, you should get a PWN when the school:

• proposes to evaluate or reevaluate your child;
• proposes a change to your child's eligibility, placement or services;
• proposes changes to your child's IEP;
• refuses a request you made for an evaluation, a service, a placement change or anything else related to your child's special education.

Graduation counts too. Graduating with a regular high school diploma is a change in placement that requires prior written notice (34 CFR 300.102(a)(3)), because it ends your child's eligibility for special education.

The refusals are the ones families miss most. Maybe you asked for something and heard "no" in a hallway or on a phone call. The school still owes you that answer in writing.

What a PWN must include

A PWN isn't only a heads-up. Under 34 CFR 300.503(b), it must contain:

1. a description of the action the school is proposing or refusing;
2. an explanation of why the school is proposing or refusing that action;
3. a description of each evaluation procedure, assessment, record or report the school used as a basis for the decision;
4. a statement that you have protection under IDEA's procedural safeguards and, unless this notice is for an initial referral for evaluation, how you can get a copy of them;
5. sources you can contact for help understanding your rights;
6. a description of other options the IEP team considered and why they were rejected;
7. a description of any other factors relevant to the decision.

The notice also has to be written in language the general public can understand. It has to be in your native language or other mode of communication, unless that's clearly not feasible. If your language isn't a written one, the school has to translate the notice orally or another way, make sure you understand it, and keep written evidence that it did.

The explanation and the other options are often the thinnest parts. "The team considered other options," with nothing listed, doesn't tell you much. A useful PWN names each option and gives the reason it was turned down.

What it might be called

This document isn't always labeled "PWN." Depending on your state or district, it might be called a conference summary, conference recommendations, notice of proposed or refused action, written notice, or simply a letter from the school.

The label doesn't matter. Any written communication from the school that describes a proposed or refused action about your child's education is doing the job of a PWN. Read it with the list above in mind.

What to do when you receive one

You don't need to study it like a legal brief. Four steps:

1. Read it, and check that it matches what was discussed or decided at the meeting.
2. Ask yourself whether the school's reasoning makes sense for your child's needs and the data it lists.
3. Look for every required part. If something is missing, ask for it.
4. Keep every PWN in your child's file, in date order.

That's it. The PWN creates a paper trail. It shows what the school proposed or refused, and why. If you ever need to dispute a decision, it's one of the first documents anyone will look at.

It also tells you exactly where the school stands. That's what you need to decide your next step.

How to request prior written notice

If the school has proposed or refused an action about your child's education and you haven't gotten a PWN, you can ask for one in writing. The school is required to provide it. Email works, and it gives you a dated record. Keep it short and specific, for example:

At the IEP meeting on [date], the team declined my request for [an evaluation, a service, a change in placement]. Please send me prior written notice of this refusal as required by 34 CFR 300.503, including the reasons for the decision, the evaluations and records the team relied on, and the other options it considered.

Timing matters too. The school must provide a PWN before it carries out a proposed action. If a change has already been made to your child's services or placement and you never got notice, that's a procedural violation worth writing down. Note the date you noticed the change.

What to do when you disagree with a PWN

You don't have to accept a proposed action or a refusal just because it arrived in writing. A PWN is the school's position, and you can respond to it. Your options, roughly from least to most formal:

• Write back. Say what you disagree with and why, and attach anything that supports your view, such as outside evaluations or work samples.
• Ask for an IEP meeting to talk through the decision, and ask for the data behind it before the meeting.
• If you disagree with an evaluation the school relied on, request an independent educational evaluation, called an IEE, at public expense (34 CFR 300.502).
• Use the dispute options in your procedural safeguards: mediation, a state complaint, or a due process complaint.

One thing to know, though. For most changes after your child's first IEP, federal law doesn't require your signed consent. The school can move ahead after giving notice unless you challenge the decision.

Your written consent is required for specific actions, including the initial evaluation, the first time services start and reevaluations (34 CFR 300.300). If you file a due process complaint, your child generally stays in the current placement while it's pending, with some exceptions for discipline (34 CFR 300.518).

I can help you read a PWN, compare it with what happened in the meeting, and draft a clear written response. I'm not an attorney, though, and advocacy isn't legal advice. If you're weighing due process or need someone to interpret the law for your situation, talk with a special education attorney. The page on advocates vs. attorneys explains when each one fits.