Ask the district to write the plan the FBA already earned
A BIP letter asks the team to build a Behavior Intervention Plan from a finished FBA, or to revise the one already on file. No new diagnosis needs to come first, and you do not need to wait for another suspension before sending it. You can send it today: paste it into an email, replace what sits in brackets, and write down the day the school received it; the table below says which day starts each clock.
What the rule says
“… revises the IEP, as appropriate, to address … any lack of expected progress toward the annual goals described in §300.320(a)(2), and in the general education curriculum, if appropriate …”
34 CFR 300.324(b)(1)(ii)
A plan that stopped working stays on file until somebody changes it. Sending this letter is what starts that change.
When to send it
- The FBA report came back naming a function, and no meeting has turned that finding into a plan.
- The plan sitting in the file has not changed all year, and neither has the number of incidents.
- A second suspension followed the same behavior the first one did, and the plan on file never got revised.
What happens after you send it
| What is being counted | By when | How it is counted |
|---|---|---|
| The team’s response | Set by your state | Building or revising a plan sits outside IDEA’s calendar; the number belongs to your state’s own rules.34 CFR 300.503(a) |
| The plan gets revisited anyway | 1 year | A year is the outside limit; the team checks progress toward the goals at least that often.34 CFR 300.324(b)(1)(i) |
What the letter has to contain
The function the FBA named
A plan drafted before the reason is on paper treats the behavior as random, and prevention can only aim at a reason.
The team weighs your child’s most recent evaluation in building the plan. 34 CFR 300.324(a)(1)(iii)
A replacement skill to teach
Removing a behavior without teaching what earns the same result leaves the need standing, and something similar fills the gap.
Any goal written for this must be measurable, and must name what it targets. 34 CFR 300.320(a)(2)
An adult who can deliver it
A reward nobody in the building can actually give disappears within a week, and staff drift back to the old habit.
A regular classroom teacher sits on the team that picks the strategy. 34 CFR 300.324(a)(3)
A count of it, today
A later number means nothing without a starting one, and a revision with no baseline has nothing to point back to.
The team’s later revisions answer whether the goals are being met. 34 CFR 300.324(b)(1)(i)
The letter
Replace everything in brackets. The rest sends as it stands.
- To
- The team’s behavior specialist, copied to the case manager
- Subject
- Turning the FBA on [Child’s full name] into a plan
Dear [Behavior Specialist], [Child’s full name], who attends [School name] as a [Grade], has an FBA completed on [FBA date]. Please have the team build a Behavior Intervention Plan around what it found, or revise the one already on file. The assessment named [the function — escape from a task, access to attention, or sensory input] behind [the behavior, named once]. Please cover: • A step that heads off [the behavior] before it starts • A replacement skill that gets my child the same result, taught directly • A named adult who can deliver reinforcement every time it is earned • A current count of how often it happens now Should the team decide against building or revising it, please explain the decision, citing 34 CFR 300.503. Sincerely, [Your name] [Date sent] [Phone] · [Email]
If no answer comes back
How long the district can take before answering is your state’s call, counted from the day it arrived.
- Keep this exchange in one place so the date you sent it stays attached to whatever follows.
- State the day this letter arrived, and ask which member of the team owns it now.
- Contact the district’s behavior specialist directly if nobody at the school responds.
A no owes you prior written notice: the decision, the reason for it, and the records behind it (34 CFR 300.503).
This is a template, not legal advice: it does not replace your state’s procedures, or advice from someone qualified to read your file.
Have the pages you are writing about read back to you, free.
The review reads every page you upload, names the wording that is vague or missing, and gives you its page number.
Review my IEP — freeFree, no card. It reads your pages and contacts no one.
Where this comes from
- Development and review of IEPs (34 CFR 300.324)The words quoted above.
- What an IEP contains (34 CFR 300.320)The shape of a goal.
- PBIS Technical Assistance Center: behavior intervention plansHow a function becomes a plan.
- Prior written notice (34 CFR 300.503)What a no owes you.
Response deadlines are set state by state, and the state pages carry each number with its rule.