Suspended, Removed, or Facing Expulsion. Walk In With the Two Questions.
I am an advocate, and I help you look at the MDR like one. I read the district's own paperwork and lay out the questions and concerns you should raise, in your voice, with the district's words as the cite. If an MDR is set, or a removal is counting toward 10 days, the file has to be read against the two questions the committee must answer. I do not sit in this meeting with you unless we later decide that is the job.
This is not legal representation. I am not a lawyer. This is not due process.
When you use this
A suspension, ISS stack, removal, or expulsion path is already in motion. The district has called a Manifestation Determination Review, or the 10-day count is close. You need the paperwork read before that meeting, not after.
This is the job: MDR on the calendar. Change of placement. Pattern of removals. Behavior they want to treat as choice, not disability. IEP or 504 already in place.
This is not the job: A regular annual IEP or ARD with no discipline clock. That meeting has time to plan. An MDR does not. The 10-day count, the discipline clock, and the window to challenge a bad finding all move fast. If the wrong decision gets recorded, it is much harder to unwind later.
Request a ConsultationWhat the parent gets
A packet built for the two questions: was the conduct a manifestation of the disability, and did a failure to implement the IEP contribute. Not a cloned Walk In Ready with the word MDR swapped in.
ON THE TABLE
MDR Findings at a Glance
One page. The two questions, from their documents. What the IEP required. What was implemented. What the incident write-up actually says. Three asks in committee language. What to sign. What not to sign.
YOU KEEP THIS
Full MDR review
Page cites across IEP, FBA, BIP, evaluations, discipline log, and the notice. Removals that add up to a change of placement. Gaps the committee is required to review.
IN THE ROOM
MDR Meeting Guide
How you open on the two questions. Order of the asks. ACCEPT, PWN IT, or DEFER for each no. Force the committee to show its work on the record.
LAST FIVE MINUTES
Closing Card
The finding they just made, in their words. What has to happen next if it is a manifestation. What you will not waive. So a short meeting does not become the path they already planned.
Documents returned within 24 hours
After the required files are in
Intake uses your state's meeting language where it has a specific name, and the federal baseline everywhere else. Weapons, drugs, or serious bodily injury can still mean up to 45 school days in an alternative setting. The packet names that when the file shows it.
What you send
We do not build from a summary. After we confirm, we will tell you how to send the file. Do not email records to staff@theiepcoach.com.
Required, or we cannot start
- Full current IEP or 504, not just the goals page
- Most recent evaluation
- The discipline write-up or incident report
- MDR notice (date, time, purpose)
- Your state
Send if you have them
- FBA and BIP, even if they were never followed
- Every removal, ISS, OSS, and bus write-up this year
- Prior MDR findings
- Emails about the incident or the plan not being used
Two ways to buy
Same documents either way. The add-on is a one-hour one-on-one walkthrough with me after you have read the packet.
MDR PACKET
$297
Emergency MDR documents
- MDR Findings at a Glance
- Full MDR review
- MDR Meeting Guide
- Closing Card
MDR PACKET PLUS WALKTHROUGH
$397
$100 Add-on
The same four documents, plus a one-hour one-on-one walkthrough.
Pay securely with Stripe. After payment you will receive a private upload link. Do not email records to staff@theiepcoach.com.
Not a hearing
If you disagree with the MDR finding, the clock on an expedited challenge is short. We point at that in plain language. We do not run the hearing.
Questions? Email staff@theiepcoach.com or call (512) 865-1937.
That inbox is not for records. Advocacy analysis, not legal advice.