Vermont IEP Transfer Students: What Happens to Your Child's IEP When You Move

Moving with a child who has an IEP introduces a specific set of anxieties: Will the new school honor the plan? Will services restart immediately or will there be a gap? Do you have to start the whole evaluation process over?

Vermont has clear rules on IEP transfers that protect students from falling through the cracks when families relocate. Here's how it works — whether you're moving within Vermont or arriving from another state.

Moving Within Vermont: Same-State Transfer

When a student with an IEP moves from one Vermont supervisory union to another, the receiving SU must:

Provide comparable services immediately. The new district must provide services "comparable in content" to the services in the student's current IEP. This obligation begins on the day the student enrolls — there is no grace period, no waiting list, no period of observation before services begin.

Adopt the transferring IEP or develop a new one. The new district has two choices: adopt the student's current IEP as written, or convene an IEP meeting and develop a new IEP. Either way, services must be in place from enrollment. The district cannot use the IEP development process as a reason to delay services.

Consult with the parents. In making the decision about whether to adopt or rewrite the IEP, the district should consult with you. If they want to change the IEP, they must follow all the normal procedures — providing Prior Written Notice, giving you an opportunity to participate in the meeting, and obtaining your consent for any services requiring it.

In practice, within-Vermont transfers are generally smoother than out-of-state transfers because Vermont's Rule 2360 applies consistently statewide. The bigger variable is the receiving district's capacity and staffing, particularly if you're moving from a larger supervisory union to a smaller rural one.

Moving from Another State to Vermont

When a student with an IEP moves from another state to Vermont, the Vermont district must also provide comparable services immediately upon enrollment. The transferring IEP from the other state remains in effect until Vermont completes its own evaluation and develops a new IEP, or until the district adopts the existing IEP.

The wrinkle with out-of-state transfers is that Vermont has its own eligibility criteria under Rule 2360. Vermont's three-pronged eligibility test — disability present, adverse effect on educational performance in at least 3 of 6 measures, need for specially designed instruction — may differ from the criteria used in the sending state. Some students who were eligible in other states may not meet Vermont's specific criteria; some students who struggled to get evaluated elsewhere may qualify under Vermont's approach.

Vermont cannot simply "grandfather in" an out-of-state IEP indefinitely. The district must conduct its own evaluation and make its own eligibility determination under Vermont's rules. But during that process, comparable services must continue.

The timeline: Vermont's 15-calendar-day rule (requiring the district to initiate the evaluation planning process) and 60-calendar-day rule (to complete the evaluation) apply to reevaluations of transfer students just as to initial evaluations. If you enroll and request that Vermont conduct its own evaluation, those clocks start.

What "Comparable Services" Actually Means

"Comparable" does not mean identical. If your child's IEP from your previous district specified services that Vermont delivers differently — for example, a service configuration that isn't available at the new school's building — the district needs to find an equivalent way to provide those services, not simply tell you the service doesn't exist here.

If the comparable services offered seem substantially less than what was in the old IEP, document your concern in writing and request that the IEP team explain why the proposed services are comparable. Ask the team to show you the data they're relying on.

What to Do Before You Move

If you know a move is coming, there are things you can do to protect continuity of services:

Get all records before you leave. Request a complete copy of your child's educational file from the current district — including all evaluation reports, the current IEP, progress reports, and any behavior plans. You have the right to these records under FERPA. Having them in hand means the receiving district has everything they need from day one and cannot use missing records as a delay tactic.

Request a summary conference. Ask your child's current IEP team to document a clear summary of the child's current performance levels, what's working, what isn't, and what the team recommends for continuity. This information can be shared with the new team.

Contact the new district before you move. Reach out to the new supervisory union's special education director before your child's first day of school. Introduce yourself, explain that your child has an active IEP, and confirm that services will be in place on enrollment day. Get confirmation in writing (email is fine).

Identify the Vermont Family Network. The Vermont Family Network (vermontfamilynetwork.org) can connect you with local support and help you understand how the new supervisory union typically handles transfers. Their family support consultants know the specific SUs across the state.

Navigating the Gap If Services Are Delayed

If you enroll and services don't begin immediately — which shouldn't happen but sometimes does — document it. Note the date of enrollment, what services should be in place under the old IEP, and the date services actually begin. If there is a service gap, the receiving district may owe your child compensatory education to make up for the lost services.

File a written complaint with the special education director if services don't begin within the first week of enrollment. If the district does not respond adequately, file an administrative complaint with the Vermont Agency of Education ([email protected]) documenting the date of enrollment and the delay in service provision.

If the New District Wants to Re-Evaluate First

Districts sometimes try to make re-evaluation a precondition for beginning services. This is not permitted. Vermont law requires comparable services from the date of enrollment — not from the date a new evaluation is completed. A district that conditions services on completing its own evaluation first is violating the student's rights.

The receiving district can initiate a re-evaluation (and may need to eventually), but that process must run parallel to service provision, not as a prerequisite.

If you encounter this situation, cite Vermont Rule 2360 and IDEA's transfer provisions in writing to the special education director and request that services begin immediately while the re-evaluation is pending. If there is no response, contact the AOE.

The Vermont IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a transfer preparation checklist that covers every step from requesting records at the old school to enforcing service continuity at the new one.

Tuitioning and Independent School Transfers

Vermont's town tuitioning system means that some families moving to Vermont towns without a public school will be tuitioned to an approved independent school. Under Act 73 and recent state board rule changes, approved independent schools accepting public tuition funds must accept students with disabilities and cannot discriminate based on IEP status.

The sending supervisory union remains legally responsible for ensuring your child receives FAPE, even when they're tuitioned to an independent school. If the independent school does not have the capacity to implement your child's IEP, the SU must make alternative arrangements.

Don't assume that being tuitioned to an independent school resolves the question of IEP implementation — confirm in writing with the SU who is responsible for each service in the IEP before your child starts.

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