This guide is a starting point for teachers, case managers, service providers, and other providers who use SIRAS. We cover the things needed in order to learn SIRAS fully. For additional page-by-page help, see the SIRAS User Manual.
Administrators and SEDS Coordinators should also see the Administrator / SEDS Coordinator Support Guide.
Contents
1. Common Questions & Important Tasks
Need help with a situation rather than a SIRAS feature? Choose the question that sounds most like yours. These links take you to the relevant instructions.
Are my students approaching an IEP or evaluation deadline?
Review upcoming Annuals and Triennials for students in your scope and follow up before a timeline becomes overdue.
Has the recent transfer had all the incoming Plan information updated on the MIS before a meeting is opened?
Find the previous dates and compare them with verified records before considering a correction.
Having trouble completing or closing an IEP meeting?
Find help with an unfamiliar warning, validation error, or a meeting that will not finalize.
Trying to close a meeting from last school year?
If a prior-year meeting stayed open after summer rollover and SIRAS asks about Next Year’s Data when finalizing, use the special rollover guidance.
2. Getting Started
3. My Account & Access
- Reset My Password
- Change My Password
- Change My Name or User Account Information
- Manage Users / My Account
Do not create a duplicate account. Use User Account Transfer Request Process.
4. Students & My Caseload
5. Services & Service Logs
6. IEPs, Meetings & Goals
Reviewing IEP and evaluation dates
- Special Ed Profile and Program Pages — see where SIRAS stores past, current, and expected next Annual Review and Evaluation dates.
- Review Previous IEP and Evaluation Dates — use when you need to locate the Previous Annual Review or Previous Evaluation/Triennial dates, compare them with paperwork or other verified history, or investigate a historical date that appears wrong.
Developing and completing an IEP
Meeting setup and finalization
Questions or problems when closing a meeting?
Seeing a validation error, a message you do not recognize, or a meeting that will not finalize? Go to Meeting Finalization Messages & Troubleshooting to find your situation and the next step.
If the meeting was held in a prior school year and remains open after rollover, see After Rollover — Record Processing & Cleanup. If a finalized meeting was reactivated, see Problems With Reactivated Meetings.
Permission boundary: Force Finalize or Abandon a Meeting Using Disable Validations is an administrator-only exception workflow, not a routine fix for validation messages.
- Selecting Meeting Purpose
- Change a Meeting Type
- Understanding Pending Changes
- Set Up a Second Meeting
- Finalizing and Reactivating Meetings
- Problems Related to Finalizing Meetings — messages and troubleshooting
- Administrator-only: Force Finalize / Disable Meeting Validations
Special education procedures
- Student Does Not Qualify
- Student Exit from Special Education
- Transition from IFSP to IEP — Part C to Part B
- Starting a Second Initial Evaluation
Goals
7. Upcoming Meetings & Compliance Monitoring
Providers and Case Managers should not wait for a meeting to become overdue. Use the Upcoming Next Annual/Triennial predefined compliance query to review students in your assigned scope.
Provider routine
- Review the upcoming list at least weekly.
- Confirm that the student has an assigned Case Manager and responsible team.
- Begin scheduling and preparation according to local timelines.
- Verify that Last Annual and Last Evaluation dates appear reasonable.
- If a Current or Previous meeting date appears inconsistent with paperwork or known history, use Review Previous IEP and Evaluation Dates before assuming the meeting was late.
- Notify an administrator when a date is wrong, no responsible staff member is assigned, or the meeting cannot be completed on time.
- Degree of Support Required/Missing: review when the item applies to your assigned students.
- Currently overdue: coordinate immediate follow-up; check whether the meeting occurred but remains open.
- Previously overdue: first verify the historical dates. An incorrect Previous date can make a timely meeting appear previously overdue.
Administrators can run an as-of projection for June 30 or another future date to estimate how many Annuals/Triennials remain. Providers should review the resulting workload for their assigned students and help establish a completion plan.
Review the actual meeting history first. Article 422 explains how to locate and verify the Previous Annual Review and Previous Evaluation/Triennial dates. Correction access and responsibility may vary by role.
See Compliance Monitoring: Upcoming, Overdue & As-Of Meeting Projections and Data Monitoring Tasks.
8. Forms, Documents & Signatures
Forms and documents
- Document File / Forms Manager Help
- Upload an IEP Document from Outside SIRAS for Easy Review
- Trouble Uploading Files
- Make a PDF File Smaller
- Difficulties Entering Information on Forms
- Problems Locating Forms
- Spanish Forms / Translating Forms into Spanish
Printing and PDFs
- Print / Preview / Options in Forms Manager
- When SIRAS Updates Existing Forms
- Why Chrome Downloads My PDF Instead of Opening It
Signatures, sharing, and email
9. Student Data & Record Issues
- Special Ed Profile and Program Pages — find the Program tab and review student-level program, Annual Review, and Evaluation dates.
- Previous IEP / Evaluation Date Looks Wrong — locate the Previous dates and compare them with signed IEP paperwork, scanned records, SIRAS history, CALPADS history, or other reliable documentation.
- Understanding Active, Inactive and Pending Status
- Problems Entering Information in the Student Profile
- Unlocking a Student Record
10. Troubleshooting & Support
- Typical Resolution Steps for Common SIRAS Issues
- Troubleshooting a Slow or Unresponsive Program
- Active and Known Issues
- SIRAS Communications
Email [email protected]. When appropriate, include the SIRAS ID, the workflow you were attempting, and what happened. Do not send confidential student information in unsecured email.
SIRAS Customer Documentation
This article provides general guidance for SIRAS users. Available features, permissions, and local procedures may differ by district or user role. For questions about district procedures or access, contact your district SIRAS administrator or SPED office. For SIRAS application assistance, contact [email protected].
