Prior Written Notice (PWN)

Prior written notice, often shortened to PWN, is one of the most useful protections parents have and one of the least understood. Whenever the school proposes to change — or refuses to change — your child's identification, evaluation, placement, or services, it must give you a written explanation. That notice has to say what the school decided, why, what information it relied on, and what other options it considered and rejected.

The reason this matters is that it forces decisions out of the hallway and onto paper. A verbal "we don't think he needs that" is easy to say and easy to walk back. A written notice that lays out the reasoning creates a record you can review, share with an advocate, and point to later if the story changes. It also gives you a clear basis to disagree.

If a school tells you no on something important — a service, an evaluation, a placement — you can ask for that decision in prior written notice. A short request like "Please send me prior written notice for this decision" is enough. Reading the notice carefully often reveals whether the reasoning is solid or thin, and thin reasoning is exactly what you can push back on.