(UPDATED) This is an unprecedented time in modern day and the spread of COVID-19 has exposed deficiencies in school districts who are not equipped to meet the demands of online learning and worse yet, the inability to meet the learning needs of its special education population during emergency events. Some school districts located in counties faced with shelter-in-place orders are holding IEP meetings through video conferencing and moving forward with business as usual while others are still scrambling to figure out what to do next. Families have been faced with with kids at home, working from home, loss of work, loss of pay, and the list goes on.

For parents of children in special education, some parents are asking how is my child going to have his or her special education needs met via distance learning in those school districts who are able to provide online learning, and how are they going to receive related services such as speech, occupational therapy and so forth? For those districts who cannot meet the online learning needs of its special education students, how is your child going to receive make-up services? It is important to touch base with an educational advocate to help you understand if you're child is entitled to missed services during the COVID-19 pandemic and to assist you in recovering missed education/services.

Now that Gov. Gavin Newsom and State Superintendent Tony Thurmond have issued its guidance on Distance Learning during COVID-19, this pandemic will expose how deficient school instruction really is, especially for our identified special education students and students with learning differences.

In this time of uncertainty you have a lot of questions and we will do our best to provide you with the most up to date information as it is issued. We've included helpful links below to answer some of your questions and to assist families who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information about the Novel Coronavirus and its impact on education, simply click and COVID-19 link or the box below.