The Brief

How Parents Can Advocate for Their Child’s Education

• Mike Khader • Season 2 • Episode 1

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Practical strategies for parents facing post-COVID challenges like anxiety, slowed academic progress, and unresponsive school districts. Learn from Chrissy Liptrot, Educational Consultant and Special Education Advocate at Liston Education Group, as she explains the key transitional periods children and parents face with practical steps to follow in each phase. 

​​Key Takeaways: 

  • Navigating IEPs, 504 plans and school systems
  • Building a collaborative relationship with your child’s teacher
  • Ways to advocate for children with special needs
  • The importance of documentation and knowing your rights

Whether you’re a parent seeking support or simply interested in how to better partner with your child’s school, this episode offers valuable insights and resources to help every child thrive.

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Mike:

This is the brief. I'm sharing lessons from years in the courtroom representing parents and couples on custody battles, co-parenting, mental health, finances, and more. After 20 years as an attorney, I'm also bringing true law stories from the courtroom to empower you with solid and straightforward advice. I wanna help you become a better partner and parent and be here in a time when you need it the most. I. Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of The Brief with Mike Caterer this week's episode. I am so excited to have this week's guest. I was trying to get her last year. However, she was very busy. So to our listeners, we're very fortunate that we were able to get her in season two. We'd like to introduce Ms. Chrissy Trott, who is an educational. Consultant and advocate. She works at Liston Education Group and helps families and children navigate all educational issues with various school districts. Chrissy, how are you? Thanks for joining the brief.

Chrissy:

Thank you for having me. I'm doing well.

Mike:

We were trying to schedule this in the fall, in the winter and school right around the corner. I think that's right, that the timing of this, you know, is spot on.

Chrissy:

Yeah. I think with school rapidly approaching, I think kids and parents are starting to think about school and. You know, do they have enough support coming up, uh, when school starts?

Mike:

You know, I, I find, uh, as a family and matrimonial lawyer, there are particular times where the phone rings and it's like during the holiday time, right before Thanksgiving or Christmas. Mm-hmm. My phone rings off the hook about, you know, custody disputes and who has the holiday this year? During this time, you know, towards the end of August, we don't really get too much phone calls about issues. We do get it in the spring, so I want to know what's going on right now as parents are gearing up. What is your busy season? How does somebody contact you? What is it that, what an education group does for our listeners?

Chrissy:

Yeah. So for those who don't know, right, as you said, I am an advocate and my background is in teaching. So I actually taught in public school as a special ed teacher for about 10 years before becoming a consultant. You know, I really support families and children. So when parents are, you know, looking at their children and, and looking at their progress in school and thinking they maybe made, they're making progress. Maybe they're, they're doing okay. The teacher reports are saying kids are doing fine, but. Parents are wondering if there could be more support that kids could be getting in school. They would come to me and, and I would look at everything that they have, whether they have report cards or an IEP or a 5 0 4 plan and help guide them on, you know, what other types of supports could they be getting in school. How can they maximize the support that a district is giving them, and how do they navigate the complicated IEP process?

Mike:

I went to the Yonkers public school system and you know, that's where we are. That's where I'm recording right now.

Chrissy:

Mm-hmm.

Mike:

My children went to the school district and bigger school districts can be a giant bureaucracy where things get lost. What are some triggers, you know, where parents are not, hold on a second. I'm not getting the response. I need, or what I'm looking for, I need to call Chrissy up.

Chrissy:

Sure. So I think there are a couple of different scenarios that typically happen, right? One is the reports from school are great, right? We, I have a family I'm working with where. The teachers are saying everything's fine. The kid is happy in school. They're doing all their homework, they're getting decent grades, but the parents are the ones who are supporting the child at home, right? Sitting with the kid every day doing homework and noticing as they're trying to get through all of this work that the kid is having trouble, it's not really understanding the homework, and there's a lot of support that's required at home. And so parents are noticing this disconnect between what the school is reporting and what they're actually seeing. Sometimes the parents will come to us and say. Here's what the school is saying. Here's what we're seeing. Can you help us figure out what to do? Right. A lot of times parents come to us and say, we don't know what to do, and so we can help them kind of navigate and figure out paths forward. Other times it's very clear that a child is struggling at school and maybe they've been referred for an IEP and parents are just starting that process, or parents want an IEP and are not sure how to navigate that. So we can, again, we can help them through with that path and with all of that, you know, and sometimes parents already have an IEP, right? Kids have an IEP, they're getting support in school. And parents just wanna know, is it enough? Is this the right school environment? Should we be looking at something more specialized so we can help answer all of those questions?

Mike:

There's a common saying, each child is unique, each child learns differently, and that's why an IEP literally stands for an individualized education plan. But do you find that there are common challenges for parents and schools in today's modern school environment?

Chrissy:

I think post COVID, right? We are in a post COVID world. I feel that kids just kind of as, across the board have a lot more anxiety. And I think school districts in Westchester in particular have been really trying to figure out how do they support those students, whether it's through counseling at school or social groups or you know, just having more accommodations in the classroom. So I think anxiety across the board. I think kids are really struggling in school. And and having a hard time figuring out how to be in the school building, how to navigate their friendships, how to get their homework done. So I think there's just a lot of anxiety that schools are trying to address in different ways. I think also since COVI, I think parents feel that students aren't really making a lot of academic progress or making as much progress as they anticipated. COVID was a time when parents were literally sitting with their kids doing all of the work virtually, right? So they really got a chance to see. Where their kids were and how that measured up to grade level or you know, how they thought their kids were doing. We get a lot of parents who come to us and say, we just don't think our kid is making enough progress and really isn't growing year to year. How are we preparing them for middle school or, or high school or post-secondary life? So I think those are the big buckets that we see when families come to us.

Mike:

It's funny that you mentioned COVID. I always find that. There's always certain lifetime events that not just change who we are, it changes how society functions. Mm-hmm. And I believe COVID was that generational issue. Basic things as just social gatherings and holding doors and the way we meet, even the way we conduct business mm-hmm. Has changed. And there were some benefits to COVID, you know, doing things virtual now. Never, pre 2020, Hey, let's have a, a podcast doing everything, you know, virtual. Right. But I also find the previous generation, I would think that changed society was not until from nine 11. I think that from nine 11 changed the way we travel, the way we do security checks. And it wasn't until literally 20 years later, COVID changed the world. Yeah. While we're almost five years now, a little over, you know, five years, five months post, I still think that certain communities are still struggling with the effects. I've always said COVID didn't create our problems. COVID exposed our problems. Yeah. And many times we see who suffers the most, you know, the most marginalized schools and most marginalized students in those school districts. Mm-hmm. Do you have any success stories or examples that you can share of what you are able to do for certain families and students?

Chrissy:

There was a family that we worked with who was in a Westchester district and they came to us. Their child had an IEP, but the parents themselves really fought to get that IEP in place. Their child was on the spectrum and had some learning differences and just they knew that he needed more support and, and the district was really dragging their feet and giving him that support. So they were able to obtain an IEP without us, but they came to us. Looking to really maximize his IEP, right? With the question, is he really getting everything he needs? And he was in elementary school and in this district in particular, different schools, different elementary schools in the district, offered different supports in different classrooms. So the question was. How do we make it work in this district? What is the ideal learning environment for this child? You know, should he remain in district? Ultimately? We actually worked with them for two years and attended all the meetings with them, and really very collaboratively worked with the district to make a more robust IEP. He ended up moving schools and being in a. A different classroom, which was super beneficial for him. You know, he struggled with a lot of behaviors in the beginning, you know, was very dysregulated, had a lot of school refusal, and just a lot of anxiety. We got to a point where he was attending school every day. The teacher spoke really highly of him. He was starting to really love school and feel more confident about himself in school, and ultimately the family ended up finding that a private school tailored to more of his specific. Needs was more appropriate and we helped them. I also helped families find boarding day in boarding schools and so we, we learned that there was a private school locally that was more appropriate for this child, but we really maximized his IEP and made it work in district for as long as we could, and he made some really great gains while he was there.

Mike:

That's phenomenal. So, and it's funny when you mention about, you know, school districts, one of the tips that I always tell friends, family, and clients, when you're dealing with a, particularly a big school district mm-hmm. Whatever you file, get a copy of it because just That's right. It, it's so unfortunate right now we use scanners and emails and we upload documents, and there's portals now in many of the school districts. Mm-hmm. I always just say, just whatever you sent. Keep a copy. Send us, send receipt. What type of actionable advice? What can you tell a parent, you know? Yeah. What kind of tips can you give them before they engage with their local board of Ed, or if right now they're having difficulty with the Board of Education, what tips can you give? Sure.

Chrissy:

So I would say the same. I would say document everything. When you're preparing, let's say you are gearing up for an IEP meeting, right? You wanna gather all of your documentation, you wanna look at any school records that you can find. You wanna look at writing assignments that your child has had throughout the school year, like a writing sample. You know, if your child is working with any sort of outside providers. If they have an outside therapist or a speech and language provider or a social skills group, you can get a letter from anybody on the outside team to submit to the CSE group. The, the IEP group. The IEP team, you know, have that as part of your documentation. Anytime someone from school calls you, you wanna take really good notes of that conversation. So you just have like a, a living record. Of your child's progress of everything that's happened at school, put it all in a big fat binder with tabs and have it, because I think, you know, everything's digital these days and it's hard when you're in a meeting or you're on a phone call to search for things virtually, print everything out, put it in a binder with tabs so you have everything in one place. I would also say forming collaborative relationships with your child's teacher or school staff is really important. Your child's teacher is that first point of contact. Right. And is the person who's gonna be on your side and on your child's side to tell you how they're doing and what they need. So going in really collaboratively, I think, you know,'cause sometimes I think meetings, when you're in a meeting and you're really trying to get support for your child, I think it can get a little contentious or a little, you know, like the levels rise a little bit, right. And you can get a little annoyed. So I think just in the very beginning of the year, establishing that collaborative relationship with a teacher. You know, taking part in meetings with your child's teacher I think is really important.

Mike:

And I agree. This last spring of 2025 with, uh, my son's annual CSE meeting, I always documented and I had, some conversations, you know, with my son's teacher and I was talking about some individual therapy as opposed to group therapy, and the rationale was. One, we got a normalized therapy where it's not a taboo or, or a red heron. And I said, I feel that my son will benefit from a little one-on-one because if he's alone, he might answer differently or talk about certain things that he might not wanna do with other people there.

Chrissy:

Mm-hmm.

Mike:

And I just kept on, you know, circling the wagon, Hey, is this gonna happen when we're gonna do this? And then finally. It just wasn't being discussed, and I was like, what's going on here? No. Yeah, I've been asking for this for six months. I'm giving you documentation. I want it now. I want it now. Mm-hmm. And that's all I kept on saying I want it now. And,'cause I usually try to have like a, a composed demeanor and I look at the reports before they're provided, and no one's telling me why I can't have what I want. You're just literally force feeding me to accept it. I'm not, I want my son in therapy now. I wanted it yesterday. I wanted it six months ago. It's unfortunate that I had to get a little, you know, abrasive. But that's what it took. And I later saying here, I am somewhat informed. I try to read and be prepared and attend meetings, but I'm always concerned about the parent that's not informed, the parent that doesn't have time, the parent that doesn't review all the reports. How many people intentional or unintentional, just get railroaded.

Chrissy:

Yeah, once you get into the arena of special ed, right, there are so many acronyms and then, and it's such a nuanced process. And though the districts, you know, they send your prior written notice and they send you some information. They don't educate parents on. Here are all the things right here are the procedures and how, what you're supposed to do and what your rights are as parents. So we do a lot of that education and really just try to tell parents like, here's how it goes. Right? And I actually, I was just, last week I was on the phone with a mom who had never seen an IEP before, but knew that her son needed one. So I sent her like, I have an annotated IEP of you know, what it's supposed to look like and what goes in each section. And we just sat and went through it. Piece by piece because it's, it's overwhelming, right? If you don't, if you're not in this world and you don't know about it, it can be very overwhelming and and scary.

Mike:

It is because we're learning new terminology, new definitions, and we're talking about our kids, right? And then we're dealing with people that know more than us, unfortunately. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes I feel for whatever reason it is, you know, budgetary issues or, or resource issues, they may not necessarily be doing what's best for your child. So you do gotta sp, you know, speak up and as that's saying the wheel with the squeak.

Chrissy:

Oh yeah, the squeaky wheel. Yeah. That's

Mike:

oil. Yes. Yep.

Chrissy:

Yep. It's hard too, because when you're in a public school district, right, you move to a district, the school has a great reputation. You're putting your trust in the teachers, the educators, to care about your child, right? That's, that's what school is, is you're. And the people who teach there love kids and you know, you, you wouldn't choose to be a teacher if you didn't like kids or didn't care about kids. Yeah. So I have a lot of conversations with parents, this kind of big letdown that happens sometimes where your child is clearly struggling and the district doesn't necessarily seem to care so much. Right. And so you're, you're putting all your trust in this district and they're. They're selling your child short. They're not really doing everything they possibly can do. And it's very disheartening sometimes. So it's nice sometimes to have an advocate because it can be super emotional going into these meetings where you know what your child deserves and you know, the district can give it to you. But there are all these roadblocks, so sometimes it's nice to have a, a neutral third party fighting for you and your child.

Mike:

And that's true. And I feel that, you know, and, and this is not. To disparate any school district, but I've dealt with them, you know, as a parent and so as an attorney, when they feel that there's somebody else in the room mm-hmm. There is a little more responsive. You know what? Yep. You do get the reports on time. You do get a timely email. Mm-hmm. And that's really unfortunate that you have to Yeah. Hire someone, bring'em to something where. They're entitled to it. And you said something, and I think I'm hearing the whistle for another episode down the road, Chrissy, what rights do they have? What are they entitled to? Mm-hmm. And I feel that that's not given to parents. They don't realize what they're entitled to. Another issue I wanted to mention is what is the average age where you'll get involved? Is it at pre-K? Is it at kindergarten? Is it when an IEP is involved? Or something else?

Chrissy:

Yeah, I mean, I think our typical client, I guess ranges and it, it varies year to year. We work with kids as young as five all the way through. Our firm works with individuals all the way through adulthood. But I would work with kids, you know, through 12th grade when a child is classified. School districts do have an obligation to provide support through age 21, and I actually think New York just changed it to 22 to give kids a little bit of a longer runway for support for Mike. Caseload. It does vary. We get a lot of later elementary school kids, you know, parents have given the district a couple of years to kind of figure out their child and, and try to put some supports in place. And then when they feel, okay, this is really not working, then they'll come to us and say, we need help. A lot of times we get families around the big transitions. So as a child entering middle school right, they've had a, a decent elementary school experience. Now we're looking to middle school and the demands. The social and academic demands are increasing, so they wanna make sure their child is well supported. And then I would say the same for high school. I just spoke to a family today. Their child is in middle school looking to go to high school and we're transitioning buildings. It's a whole new, whole new place to be and all these new demands, right? What do we need moving forward? Families come to us at all times. But I would say those are the big ones for sure.

Mike:

And this just comes off only'cause you mentioned high school and then going to 21, 22 and, and that's important for people to know. Yeah, particularly with an IEP while when they graduate 12th grade and you know, the classroom learning has been completed, that they're still entitled to services.

Chrissy:

So the clarification there is that a child with an IEP right, they must be prepared to graduate. So if a child is, for whatever reason, maybe they don't have enough credits or they're just really not ready to graduate, they can receive services through the district so long as they have an IEP. Through age 22 or until they graduate. So if a child's ready to graduate at 18, they're done with the district and they no longer receive services through the district if they're not ready to graduate. Right. And they need some more time. They need some, they still have some skills to build. They can stay enrolled in the district until. 22.

Mike:

Understood. And this leads to the next question. So what would happen for college, and this is something that it's entered my mind many times, how do you help if you can, children with IEPs that graduate 18, 19, or 20, when they're ready with college? Is there a different college application process? Are there particular colleges or universities that cater to. Children with IEPs, is that something that you could help families with?

Chrissy:

So we typically refer those families to college consultants who really specialize in that area. And there are great college consultants who work specifically with neurodivergent children. But in terms of services, right? If you have an IEP and you graduate high school, you can take that IEP to your college and apply for accommodations. The difference there is that, you know, the child really has to be the one to advocate for those accommodations, but they can register with their learning center or the program at their college, you know, and have their IEP on file and then the professors would. Give those accommodations as necessary. As needed. There are some really great colleges that have amazing learning centers and you know, and support, mine included. I went to American University and they are known for being really inclusive and having great support systems and supports in place for kids who need it.

Mike:

That's good to hear because like I remember even when I was going to college and you had all these college consultants, they'll help you with your paper and help you out with the application and why do you want to go to this college or why you want to go to law school? Just all these consultants, and I don't remember, not that I was looking for, but you don't remember much targeting. You know the children, you know with special needs, the neurodivergent space, that's a little refreshing and a little relief that there are people out there. Help with that. And more importantly, there are quality post high school institutions. You just mentioned American, one of the best, that they're open to that and there's space for students with an IEP. So you know, absolutely to look forward to. What happens when a parent is requesting a particular class or a particular service and they're either getting non-responsive after a month or they're told flat out No. Do they call you or they do something else?

Chrissy:

Yeah, I mean, I think they definitely can call me, and I think when we talk about in our next episode when we talk about rights, you know, by law. Let's say a parent is officially requesting initial eligibility for an IEP, right? They wanna start the inquiry for an IEP. By law, the district has to react, right? Like they have to respond. There can't just be a no. You know, you could get to a point where they do the deeper dive, they do the evaluations, they go through the entire process, and then a student doesn't qualify. But at that point, you know, there's a lot of documentation that has been developed. As to whether or not a child meets criteria for an IEP. So I think if a parent is asking for support and their child does not have an IEP, A parent can always ask for an inquiry to be made. Uh, again, I think the documentation is so key because. You can't just go off of like, well, I feel like my child needs more. Right? When you have hard data, whether it's a private neuropsych or a psychoeducational evaluation, that tells everything that your, you know, how your child learns, what your child needs, strengths and challenges. If you have, you know, letters from providers, if you have really detailed information that your child needs more, it's hard for a district to say no, but if you're still hitting a wall, which does happen, right? I think districts. Unfortunately, a lot of it is about money, and I think districts like to push parents to five oh fours as opposed to an IEP. But if you're really hitting a wall, I think that's when you call an advocate. And we always have an initial call with parents that's complimentary, where we just wanna get to know what's going on and ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Yep,

Mike:

everybody. That's right. Great. Yep.

Chrissy:

You know, and I, I live in Westchester. I worked in Westchester. I know these districts really well. I'm now an advocate in these districts for parents. I can tell you what you can put on an IEP, what you can be asking a district for and how you can navigate a difficult district.'cause they're out there for sure.

Mike:

Thanks for sharing that. Because a lot of times, I know many parents that I speak to, they can't afford a lawyer. You know, they can't afford that. So, but I do tell them, let's gimme a call. Let me see sometimes. They do need an attorney or sometimes it's more, here, let me help you write a letter, so I'm glad. Mm-hmm. Chrisy, how does somebody reach out to you? Please share your social media, your phone number, your email. How does somebody reach out to you to get into more detail?

Chrissy:

Yeah, so we have an excellent LinkedIn page. We have a as listed education group, has a LinkedIn newsletter. I've written a bunch of articles about the IEP process and really breaking down that IEP and helping you understand. All the difficult pieces of it and the nuances of the system. So you can always find us on LinkedIn. We have a really great website where it talks about all the things, all the ways that we help families.

Mike:

What is the website?

Chrissy:

Liston education group.com.

Mike:

Alright, perfect. And, and do you have an office number you could share, or, email the best way to reach you?

Chrissy:

Email's really the best way. I'm, I'm a millennial, so I'm most responsive via email and you can reach me at Chrissy. C-H-R-I-S-S y@listoneducation.com.

Mike:

This has been great. It's almost been a half hour and, and I think we just scratched the surface. So to our listeners, if you are having a hard time, if you're being ignored, you're being overlooked, the school district is not working with you, please call Chrissy. She'll give you a free consultation and take it from there. But here's some quick takeaways that we agree on. Document everything, write notes, put it on your phone. If you submit paperwork, keep a copy of it. Mm-hmm. Number two that we also said is if you feel something's off with your child, request for an evaluation, and correct me if I'm wrong, Chrissy, they are required to do that evaluation.

Chrissy:

Yeah, they are required to do an evaluation. Yes.

Mike:

Right. Alright, great. And then number three, and if you have a parent advocate, they could attend the annual CSE meeting and you could be there and do the speaking for them. Am I correct?

Chrissy:

Absolutely. And parents have the right to bring anyone they would like to a meeting, whether it's a therapist, an outside provider, an advocate, they are allowed to bring people on their team to the meeting.

Mike:

Alright, well folks. There you have it. You know, Chrissy took time out of her busy schedule. She's there if you have any questions. We appreciate it so much. I know our listeners appreciate it so much. I would love to have you back here. We'll have to schedule it, you know. Yeah. Thank you for, for certain rights, you know, that way we could, so we already know what the topic is, Chrissy. That's right. Thank you so much. Continue to do great work for the children and the families that you serve. Thank you so much for being here.

Chrissy:

Thank you for having me.

Mike:

Thanks for listening. This is Mike Caterer, and I'll help you and your family navigate custody disputes or divorce matters with your best interest First. You can book a free consultation with me and learn more by following me chat, Mike J. I've also included a link in today's show notes. Tune in for our next episode of the brief coming next week.

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