Key Considerations to Keep in Mind While Relocating with Children

Moving process often bring chaos to any family. The life of each and every member in the family goes upside down. While you all will be ready to welcome the newness, having a maddening confusion can be a prime feeling. 

Things become even more complicated when there are kids in the family. It is advised to the parents to develop a strategy before the move and follow it rigorously to ensure smoothness of the events. For parents with school going children or kids with special needs, there are a lot of things to be considered. 

Pricing Van Lines has a large network of moving services providers out of which, majority of the interstate movers’ state that relocation in the middle of the school year is extremely common. They add that such moves are complicated and planning plays a key role. 

Parents, to ensure that they have the best roadmap ready with them to deal with the moving process, must consider the following questions as well the answers to them.

Q 1: What are the best schools in my neighborhood?

It is very important that your child’s education does not suffer because of the relocation. Parents must search for the best schools in the neighborhood/ state/ city in advance. Making a list of the potential schools and evaluating each one of them for quality of education, extra-curricular activities and student’s personal development programs is very essential. Do not forget to read the testimonials of the parents and students.

Q2: Does school in my neighborhood provide special education?

As per the Federal laws, Public schools are obligated to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to all children, irrespective of the handicapping condition of the child. IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is the key guiding law in this regards. Depending upon the state, the name of the programs for differently abled, eligibility requirements and processes of evaluation may differ. 

Q3: What is PTI?

PTI is an abbreviation for Parent Training and Information Center a must have for every state. It is very important for the parents to get in contact with the new state’s PTI or CPRC. CPRC is also a similar organization and stands for Community Parent Resource Center. Both the centers help parents with disable children in education related concerns.

By contacting these organization you can:

• Know the services and resources available in your area.
• Educate yourself about state laws and policies related to early intervention services and special education services.
• Connect with other families and parents.
• Search better opportunities for your child.

Q4: Will the new school consider the IEP of my child from the old school?

One of the best questions to consider is about the IEP. Surprisingly, the answer depends on a lot of things and different situations:

Situation 1:

You are moving within the same state, the child will be under the same school system but the school will change:

As the school system won’t change, the IEP of your child from the previous school will be implemented in written at the new school.

Situation 2:

You are moving within the state but the school system is different because of the change in the district:

Here, a different agency will be responsible for the education of your child. The school system has options to reevaluate the IEP of your child or consider the one from the previous school. Till the time the school opts to develop its own IEP, the school must provide FAPE to the child. This must include services comparable to the ones described in the IEP of the previous school.

Situation 3:

You are changing the state altogether:

Here an entirely different school system will be responsible for your child’s education. The new agency will provide FAPE to the child as well as the services included in the IEP from the previous school. The agency will have the autonomy to decide whether it wants an evaluation or not. If yes, the permission of the parents is a must.

Q5: Should I get in touch with other parents and disability groups?

Yes, you should. Meeting with other parents and disability groups will help you know which one the best school or best program for your child. You can get as many opinions as possible and accordingly decide the best option by evaluating attributes like, non-school topics, like day care, respite care, recreation, medical facilities and the like.

Choosing the best school for your special child is difficult and while moving to another place you have to start from the scratch. Hope these questions help you in finding the best school for your child with special needs.