Safety Matters More Than the IEP
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder argues that when a student's behavior poses a safety threat, protecting people takes priority over following the IEP to the letter.
Key Takeaways
- Safety is the top priority - No IEP requires schools to tolerate violence or put staff and students in danger
- IEPs can be modified - When safety concerns arise, the IEP team should reconvene to adjust the student's placement or supports
- This isn't anti-SPED - Prioritizing safety protects all students, including those with disabilities who deserve a safe learning environment
Transcript
Safety has to come first.
It has to come before everything else.
And I think especially in special education, there's a tendency to put the IEP first.
There's a tendency to try things and put the FBA and the BIP first and set aside safety, at least temporarily.
But often in that interim time, students are getting injured, staff members are getting injured.
I can't tell you how many staff members have reached out to me and told me they had to have surgery, like an orthopedic injury because of a student's unsafe behavior.
And I get that there aren't always placements readily available for students who have more extreme needs.
I get that there aren't always convenient options.
Some of these options are very expensive.
But if we only consider the student whose parents are the most litigious, if we only consider the parent who has the most aggressive advocate.
I block advocates on here all the time because they seem to not care at all about student safety.
If you're an advocate and you care about student safety, great.
I don't have a problem with you necessarily, but this idea that all that matters is the IEP, nothing else matters, no other people matter.
I just think this is not viable and it's just a matter of time before we get more lawsuits from parents whose kids are injured or from staff members who are injured and have to have surgery.
Like this is a very real thing, especially when we have students who are unsafe, right?
Who are very aggressive, who are violent, who are hitting and kicking and causing major injuries to people.
We have to consider the safety picture, not just the IEP goals, not just the FBA, not just the BIP.
Those are documents, right?
Documents legally matter, but people matter more.
People's physical safety matters more.
Let me know what you think.