Changing from an IEP to a 504 in senior year of high school – a few thoughts

Although colleges are not bound by the law that creates special ed and IEPs (IDEA) they will lean on the IEP heavily to inform their own "assessment " of the student's needs. They will also use a high school 504 for this same purpose. But an IEP has much more information that a 504, so will provide more information to inform their decision over college accommodations. It also may be that the student will choose to submit any triennial assessments as further documentation.

For a student who is a senior in high school - If the student has had an IEP they can use the IEP to now continue with an appropriate fade plan to reduce supports they would not receive in college, without terminating an IEP. And IEP services can be adjusted to build college readiness skills (personal insight of strengths and challenges, knowledge of their own needs and which accommodation would be useful, advocating for their own accommodations in classes, using office hours effectively, learning about the college system they will be transitioning into, understanding of personal needs and self care vis a vis emotional regulation, etc...) during the senior year of high school. This would be a provision of the ITP part of an IEP, per IDEA 300.1:

300.1 Purposes.

The purposes of this part are

(a) To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs **and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living;**

This means there is work for the district to do in senior year in high school if they continue with this IEP. And it means you can hold their feet to the fire to compel them to start doing college prep skill building.

While there are some circumstances to legitimately terminate an IEP, outright or transition to a 504, often school districts will use all kinds of BS justifications to let themselves off the hook of an IEP - the student doesn't need it, they are doing well in their classes, they have graduated from needing an IEP, it wouldn't roll over to college anyway, we need to provide the student with the least restrictive setting, etc........ All with a grain of truth, but all effectively reduce services and support to the student and allow the district to reduce their responsibility to the student. And they now are not responsible for.

Good rule of thumb is to advocate for keeping the IEP, cite IDEA 300.1(a), and start building college readiness skills.