Maine IEP Meeting Checklist: How to Prepare and What to Bring

Most IEP meetings go the way the school wants them to go. Not because the school is acting in bad faith, but because they run these meetings every week and you attend one or two per year. The preparation gap is real, and it shows up in outcomes.

Maine's MUSER Chapter 101 gives parents specific rights they can exercise before, during, and after an IEP meeting. Using those rights consistently — rather than walking in and reacting to what the school presents — is what changes the dynamic.

This checklist covers the full meeting cycle.

Before the Meeting

At least 3 school days before:

Under MUSER VI.2.A, you are entitled to receive copies of all evaluation reports, assessments, and proposed IEP goals at least three school days before the eligibility or IEP meeting. Do not wait for the school to send them — request them proactively in writing.

When you receive the draft materials, block time to review them before the meeting. Read the PLAAFP closely — is it specific and data-based, or vague and generic? Does it accurately reflect your child? Are the proposed goals measurable? Do the service hours align with what your child actually needs?

Write down your questions and concerns before the meeting. Once you are in the room with a team of professionals presenting information rapidly, it is easy to forget what you intended to address.

Confirm who will be present.

Request in writing that the SAU representative attending has written authorization to commit district resources. In Maine's smaller RSUs, the superintendent, special education director, and principal are sometimes the same person or closely aligned. You need someone at the table who can actually agree to fund services.

If any required IEP Team member is going to be excused from the meeting, you must agree to this in writing in advance, and the excused member must submit written input on IEP development beforehand. Do not let excusals happen verbally on the day of the meeting.

Gather your documentation.

Bring your own IEP binder. It should include:

• The current IEP (marked with your annotations)
• All previous IEPs for comparison
• All evaluation reports (school-conducted and any private evaluations)
• Copies of all Prior Written Notices you have received
• Correspondence with the school (emails, letters)
• Any progress reports or report cards
• Notes from any private therapists or specialists working with your child
• Your own attendance records for related services

Notify the school if you are bringing a support person.

You have the right to bring anyone you choose — a Family Support Navigator from the Maine Parent Federation, a private advocate, a relative, or a therapist. Notify the school out of courtesy so they can arrange space, but you do not need permission.

Notify the school if you plan to record the meeting.

Under MUSER VI.2.K and Maine's one-party consent law, you have the right to record. Notify the team at the start of the meeting that you are recording. No school permission is required.

During the Meeting

Slow down the presentation of written materials.

If the team presents a draft IEP at the meeting, ask for time to read it. You are not obligated to respond to a document you have just seen for the first time. If you were supposed to receive it three days in advance and did not, note that procedural violation out loud and ask to reschedule or request adequate review time at the meeting.

Review the PLAAFP first.

The PLAAFP is the foundation of the IEP. If the Present Levels section does not accurately reflect your child's current performance and needs, the goals built on it will be wrong. Ask: "What data was used to determine this baseline?" If the answer is vague, push for specifics.

For each goal, ask:

• "What specific data point shows my child is at this baseline?"
• "How will this goal be measured, and how often will data be collected?"
• "Who is responsible for tracking and reporting progress on this goal?"
• "Is this goal ambitious enough given where my child could be in 12 months with appropriate support?"

Review the services grid line by line.

Confirm: type of service, frequency (times per week/month), duration (minutes per session), location (general ed classroom, resource room, separate setting), and start/end date. If any service is being reduced from the previous IEP, ask for specific data justifying the reduction.

Ask about LRE explicitly.

If your child is being educated separately from non-disabled peers for any portion of the day, ask: "What supplementary aids and services were considered to support inclusion before this placement decision was made?" The burden is on the district to justify any removal from the general education environment.

Do not feel pressured to sign at the meeting.

You are never required to consent to the IEP on the same day it is presented. You can say: "I would like to review this document carefully before I consent. I will respond in writing within [X] days." Take the document home. Compare it against what you prepared. If something does not sit right, do not sign it.

After the Meeting

Review what was signed and what was refused.

Under MUSER, you can consent to parts of the IEP and not others. If you consented to services but are disputing specific goals, document that clearly in your written response.

Review the Prior Written Notice.

After any IEP meeting where the district proposed or refused to take action, you should receive a PWN. Check that it accurately describes what was discussed, what was agreed to, and what was refused. If it omits data used to justify a decision, submit a written addendum correcting the record.

Track service delivery from day one.

As soon as the IEP is implemented, begin tracking whether services are being delivered as written. Note session dates, cancellations, and whether make-up sessions are provided. This documentation is your protection if a compensatory education issue arises later.

Follow up in writing on anything verbal.

If a school team member made a verbal commitment at the meeting that is not reflected in the written IEP — "we'll check in with you in six weeks" or "we'll add the extra reading group next month" — follow up with an email summarizing what was said and asking for written confirmation. Verbal agreements in IEP meetings are not enforceable.

Set a reminder for the 30-day progress report.

MUSER requires districts to report progress toward IEP goals as often as the school reports progress to parents of non-disabled students (typically quarterly). If the quarter ends and you have not received an IEP progress report, send a written request.

The Maine IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a complete IEP meeting preparation workbook with fill-in-the-blank question sheets, a goal evaluation rubric, and MUSER-citing scripts for the most common meeting situations Maine parents encounter. Walking into the meeting with the questions already written down changes the dynamic in a way that improvising in the room simply cannot.

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