District Representative

IDEA specifies that every IEP team must include a “representative of the public agency” responsible for educating the child in question. (By “public agency,” we’re usually talking about the school system–the local educational agency, for example.) This person must be:

• qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities;
• knowledgeable about general education curriculum; and
• knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the public agency.

The phrase in the first bullet “qualified to provide specially designed instruction” is closely tied to the definition of special education, which begins, “The term special education means specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability…” [§300.39(a)(1)]

Thus, the representative from the public agency who is serving on the IEP Team must be qualified to provide special education or supervise its provision.

The last bullet is very important, too, as to this person’s qualifications. He or she “must be knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the public agency.” It doesn’t do any good to sit and plan in a vacuum, wondering what type of help is available and if someone will actually commit that help on behalf of the child. The public agency representative must know what resources the school has available. This person must also have the power to commit the resources needed so that services can be provided as described in the child’s IEP and be able to ensure that whatever services are described in the IEP will actually be provided.

Final Note

IDEA also states that the public agency may designate another public agency member of the IEP Team to also serve as the agency representative, as long as that person has the qualifications required for the public agency representative. Thus, it’s possible that the public agency representative may also be serving on the team in another role.