

April and May are known as the time we review IEPs and create those transition plans for the following academic year. Here in 2025, those Transition Plans should also include our schools and our teachers as a cloud of uncertainty hangs over public education. We must not neglect the regular transition plans we do for our students. We may need to look at them a little differently than we have in the past. Along with that, we also want to make sure that we prepare ourselves for the questions which may arise going into the 2025-26 academic year.
Let’s start with our students and their plans. As we go through our IEP meetings each year, we look at the progress of our students and initiate the plan we would like to see them utilize the following year. When we have students moving from one building to another, those transition plans also include setting up meetings with the new team and reviewing the activities which have worked. This year, we want to be cognizant of the fact that the way things were done in the past may not be consistent with what we see starting the next academic year. What if programs or classrooms are moved to another building and we just are not aware that may occur? What if we prepare a student for that movement only to learn that they will remain in the same building with different support team members? These are the questions which are hanging over the head of districts right now.
In speaking with administrators throughout the country, concerns about how their programs will be structured come to the forefront of our conversations. One Special Education Director shared with me that if cuts were made over the summer, most of her classrooms would be allocated in one building. To her, almost 50% of the transition plans would need to be updated. Work that has been done to prepare students to move to a different building would have to be redone as they could be going somewhere else. There would also be a few students who were supposed to move to another building but now would be staying in the same one. She has significant concerns about how those students might react; would they think that they had done something wrong or were not good enough to move on?
A Director of Pupil Services shared with me his concerns about how any reduction in funds could create issues with services along with class sizes potentially growing larger. His frustration carried into a discussion we were having about the need for proper AT support for his students. “How can I make sure we have the right AT, when I don’t even know where those students will be or who their teacher will be with any certainty?!” His frustration was borne out of his care for his students.
So how should we go about our Transition Plans for next year? I just finished a call a little earlier today with a Special Education Director who had called with questions about a specific young lady who is transitioning from middle to high school. I asked her how she was approaching her IEP meetings and it was a great response. “I am focusing on my kids and their needs first. Instead of looking ahead to meeting teams or doing walk-throughs, I am looking at the tools to help them succeed no matter where they are doing their work. The particular child who we were discussing had visual impairments. By focusing on the student’s strengths and academic needs, we were able to put together ideas of products to bring to the IEP meeting. If approved, these products will be ordered. As she said to me afterwards, “Everything else will fall into place once she can do her work.”
As we look at ourselves, are we able to focus on the students and their specific AT needs first? There may be already some fiscal restrictions. How can you evaluate what alternative devices might work? Calling those groups, you trust can help with that for sure. Why do I suggest that? What if you are able to find a text-to-speech device that can work for a few years and addresses that student with dyslexia or some other reading issues? We can get so focused on finding one thing that we might miss the obvious. My example here came from a Reading Specialist who wanted to know the cheapest text-to-speech software programs. When I asked why, her response shocked me. “I want the cheapest because I am going to have to also find someone or some company to digitize the older texts and documents we are using. When I suggested a reader pen as a tool to both support the text-to-speech side of things as well as the scanning abilities to “digitize” texts, she seemed flabbergasted. “Why am I looking at software then? Good question which could probably be answered by the fact that someone said find a text-to-speech software. Uncertainty, like what surrounds us both inside and outside the walls of education, creates a diminished ability to think “outside the box.”
Hence, if we begin our Transition by looking at the students and their AT needs, don’t forget to think through what alternatives might be there for the first “solution.” This was made quite obvious in a discussion I was having with a former colleague who reached out more to vent about the times than to ask any specific question. When I slowed down the venting and asked for examples, she shared a case where the AT Evaluation came from a certified evaluator who also works for a sales company. She was frustrated that the evaluation stated that the student needed a very specific product that was also very expensive. When we spoke more about the student and the need, we realized that other manufacturers had less expensive products that might actually work as well if not better than the recommended device. Make it a part of your transition plan to talk through all alternative devices that your students might need.
The next part of your Transition Plan should begin to look at “what if” scenarios. If your budget got cut, what would happen for classes to go on as smoothly as possible? In the previous examples, we heard the potential disaster situations which could occur. How do we prepare for disasters if we are not sure they are going to happen? We actually do this every year. As an administrator, I had to make sure that we had fire drills every month. One of the things we would do is create scenarios where certain stairwells might be blocked to simulate a fire being there. I have also been through tornado drills as well as active shooter drills. We can’t be ready for everything, but we can have a general plan which allows us to pivot if one of these events occurs. You want to create the same structure, so that if something drastic does happen, you are not starting from scratch.
Finally, there is one other thing that you must build into your Transition Plan and that is you! What are you going to be doing after the school year for yourself and your mental health? Plan that vacation or staycation. Have time for yourself where you are able to refocus and recenter yourself. Even a weekend of recharging can have you more energized and thinking clearly in the event that one of these drastic scenarios takes place. You are not alone in this as well! Reach out to your network and those you trust so that you can be at your best to do your best for your students!