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SIRAS Newsletter October 2026
IMPORTANT Information for all users in SIRAS
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ELPAC Domain Exemptions: Districts are now required to state the justification for Domain Exemptions on the ELPAC. If your IEP team is recommending a domain exemption for a student, make sure to document the justification using the exemption worksheet and in your IEP meeting notes. The worksheet is uploaded under Tools>Added Forms.
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Reclassification for EL students: Due to recently approved changes in legislation, students obtaining a 4 on the ELPAC or a 3 on the Alt-ELPAC are being reclassified immediately afterward and retroactively to the 25-26 ELPAC and Alt-ELPAC results. Please work with your English Learner Development team through this process so you know which student are being reclassified. Be prepared to document with your families of students reclassified why the ELD pages and ELD goals are no longer part of their IEP the next time you meet with them.
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Upcoming IEP/504 Reviews and Reevaluations: SIRAS reminds users of upcoming and overdue meetings using color coding. Yellow signifies upcoming and red signifies overdue. Compare both last IEP annuals and last IEP evaluations to make sure both stay in compliance. Periodic reviews and reevaluations of 504 Plans usually follow the same IEP timelines, annually for reviews and every three years for reevaluations. Check with your District administration for specific 504 timeline expectations.
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Initial Evaluations Held before Census Date (10/7/2026): Please see the link for finalizing initial evaluations with a meeting date is prior to 10/7/26 (the next census date) but a plan effective date which will be after the next census date of 10/7/26: 'How to finalize initial evaluation when meeting is before census date but plan effective is after' https://sirassystems.happyfox.com/kb/article/489. It is important for your District’s fall data submission and student counts to have these meetings reported correctly.
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Use the Student Data Overview links on your home page to monitor your caseload. Review your students who have overdue or upcoming meetings (annuals due within the next 30 days and triennials due within the next 75 days). When you click on the color to see the list of students, you will see in the final column if a meeting is currently being worked on or if one needs to be created so the timeline can be met.
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Review your open meetings regularly. Finalize IEP meetings as quickly as possible, right after parent consent has been received. Finalized IEPs are sent to CDE as they occur throughout the year. The absence in reporting of a timely IEP meeting appears late. Follow your district’s guidelines for follow-up after an IEP is completed.
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Review Electronic Signature request completion: Check your Incoming Messages on the homepage to see completed signature requests. Go to the meeting in the IEP Manager to verify all signatures needed have been received before finalizing. Remember to double check the form for initials and checkboxes where those are part of the required parent response to determine consent and areas where parent does not consent.
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Service logs: Follow your District’s guidance and expectations to document the completion of an IEP service, a supplementary service, an evaluation, or the hours a student participated in work-based learning using the service log.
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Uploaded Documents: When uploading documents to SIRAS, the name of the document you are trying to upload should not contain any special characters in it. It’s recommended that all documents be uploaded in PDF format so that they can be opened and read by other users within the system. Documents uploaded as Word documents will download to users’ computers to view and must then be deleted from the individual’s downloaded files to protect student privacy.
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Placeholder Meetings: When a student arrives with an IEP/504/SST not created within SIRAS or they have an IFSP from the Regional Center, the uploaded document can be used to create a “Placeholder” meeting, allowing that document to show up in the IEP manager along with other IEPs/IFSPs completed within SIRAS.
IMPORTANT Information for SIRAS Data Administrators in SIRAS
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User accounts for agency staff: Contact Brian@SIRASsystems.com for account creation for agency staff. These users should not have District emails and their accounts are managed through SIRAS with LEAs assigning the students once the accounts are created.
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Program Setting changes: Update preschool and kindergarten program settings for Census Day reporting. You may also have other students requiring program setting changes you can find with your Queries. These program setting changes do need to be reported to CALPADS, so remember to archive for reporting or attach to a PLAN record already being sent. Continue to monitor throughout the year as placements change and students turn 5, requiring additional program setting changes
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Print Census Day reports on October 7, 2026. Utilize Happy Fox and the SIRAS4CensusDay Padlet as resources for preparing your data and to access the Census Day reports checklist. Be sure to follow the directions for Search and Store as well. Waiting to run these SIRAS reports will make your supporting data less accurate as it will then include students not eligible and participating on Census Day.
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CALPADS Fall 1 snapshots will soon be available. Review reports from CALPADS, make needed changes to SIRAS records, and send/re-send to CALPADS. Follow the Regular Data Monitoring Procedures and the Preparing for Census Day tasks posted on Happy Fox prior to meeting with SELPA.
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Schedule SELPA and/or SIRAS Fall 1 review meetings now so we can expedite getting SELPA approval completed for you. Meeting prior to your District doing LEA Approval will be an important piece.
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A list of 2026-2027 SELPA Reporting Due Dates is linked here. In addition, reference the CDE Fall 1 2026 due dates/checklist/roadmap.
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Review Accountability Reports in CALPADS on a regular basis. 16.21, 16.24, and 16.25 generate a to-do list of IEP meetings that need to be completed. After the meetings have been held, finalize, and send them to CALPADS. Review/correct if needed, the meeting delay reasons on 16.21, 16.24, and 16.25 reports for Fall 1 reporting. 16.21 will also help you identify new students who enroll in your LEA and have an active SWDS status in CALPADS.
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The deadline for Fall DRDP data in SIRAS with errors cleared is December 11, 2026. Backwards map these dates for your district to make sure all data is reported prior to staff leaving for fall and winter break as apply to your district. After reviewing data for accuracy, report students with all Unable to Rate on the DRDP Exception list and access DRDP Help on the SIRAS4Admins Padlet.
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Review the New Referral List for students with Parental consent. See help sheet. If meetings will happen prior to census day but the student will not participate until after census day, check to make sure we are reporting appropriately.
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Degree of Support: For grades TK - 12th, when doing an Initial Eval, Triennial, or Annual Review Degree of Support should be reviewed to see if the team’s determination has changed since it was initially identified on the MIS page. Additionally, TK students who did not need a degree of support reported as preschoolers may need one now. Use the predefined query to find required and missing degree of support. Please work with your Director regarding your LEA’s process for reviewing this.
Open Access – Learning & Participation for ALL
Open Access is a statewide California Special Education Resource Lead funded by the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE).
Through Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Accessible & Assistive Technology (AT), and Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC), Open Access partners with county offices of education, SELPAs, school districts, and educators to build inclusive learning environments where every student can engage, actively participate, and learn.
Explore FREE UDL, AT, and AAC resources and professional learning opportunities designed to strengthen Tier 1 instruction and improve outcomes for all learners.
Learn more at www.openaccess-ca.org.
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