Individual Education Program (IEP) Questions/Concerns

When a parent/guardian of a child with special needs has a question or a concern regarding their child’s IEP, it is important to contact the appropriate staff member(s) at your school site.

If your child attends a private school, skip to the bottom of this page.

Step 1: Contact your child’s school and make an appointment to meet/speak with the general education or special education teacher (this may be accomplished by telephone or email). Depending on the nature of the concern, either the general education teacher or special education teacher will respond with the most appropriate next steps.

If your question/concern involves a Related Service (e.g., Speech or Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, or Adapted PE) that is provided per your child’s IEP, contact the provider directly and cc the special education teacher.

Contact the special education staff member completing the assessment if your question/concern involves a current special education assessment.

If the concern remains unsolved or unanswered,

Step 2: Contact your child’s school and make an appointment to meet/speak with the Principal.

If the concern remains unsolved or unanswered,

Step 3: Schedule an appointment to meet/speak with the appropriate Program Specialist, Special Education Coordinator, or Director of Early Learning. The Table below provides common areas addressed by each staff member, with some areas of overlap. The Special Education Department works as a team and it is possible that multiple staff may be involved in addressing questions.

Staff Name/Role	Areas of Questions/Concerns	Email Address
Andrew Kilpatrick Program Specialist	Special Education Curriculum/Instruction Transitions between programs/schools Professional Development Progress Reports	[email protected]
Rachel Welch Special Education Coordinator	Special Education Assessments IEP services, procedures, and timelines Professional Development Home Instruction Nonpublic Schools	[email protected]
Shannon Huston Director of Early Learning	MBUSD Preschool (including transition into K/TK) Private Schools Extended Day Program (EDP)

If the concern remains unsolved or unanswered,

Step 4: Call the MBUSD District office (310-318-7345; ext. 5919) and schedule an appointment to meet/speak with Dr. Kris Vegas, Director of Special Education.

If the concern remains unsolved or unanswered,

Step 5: Call the MBUSD District office (310-318-7345; ext. 5912) and schedule an appointment to meet/speak with Dr. Irene Gonzalez-Castillo, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services.

Should your child attend a Private Preschool and you are requesting an assessment for Special Education, please call our hotline at (310) 318-7345 ext. 5924 and leave your information and we will send the paperwork to you.
Should your child attend a Private School (in grades Transitional Kindergarten through 12th grade), please contact Emily Allen at ([email protected] or 310-318-7345; ext. 5921).

Additional information may be found on the Manhattan Beach Preschool website Special Education page here.

Please follow the steps below if you have questions/concerns regarding the Individual Education Program (IEP).