New or returning students

Aug 03, 2026

New or Returning Students – Onboarding & Special Education Status Review

Use this guide whenever a new or returning IEP-age / Part B student enrolls in the district and staff need to determine whether the student has an existing U.S.-based special education eligibility or plan, what CALPADS currently reports about the student, and what SIRAS workflow should happen next.

The goal of onboarding is to establish the student's current eligibility, participation, enrollment, and most recent plan information before staff assign providers, create a Plan Adoption transaction, create a meeting event, or report a new special education status.

Is the child currently in the Part C / IFSP system?
Use New, Transferring & Incoming IFSP Students for new Part C referrals, IFSP transfers, Regional Center handoffs, and help determining whether the situation is a Part C-to-Part B transition. Continue with this article for IEP-age / Part B onboarding.

First responsibility: determine the student's actual special education story.
Do not assume a student has no special education history because the family did not provide paperwork, and do not assume CALPADS is completely current. Review available records, check CALPADS, and confirm the real situation with the IEP team.

Fully update the MIS Summary before assigning providers or creating any transaction or meeting event.
The MIS Summary should reflect the best and most current eligibility, plan, service, meeting, and participation information available. Holding provider assignment until this review is complete reduces the risk that staff archive outdated information or begin the next meeting from an inaccurate understanding of the student's history. When Plan Adoption is required, create the Plan Adoption transaction before any meeting event is created. See Plan Adoption Guide.

New / Returning Student Workflow

Find or obtain the existing SIRAS record
Complete due diligence before changing the record
Fully update the MIS Summary before assigning providers or creating new work
Determine the student's arrival status and next workflow
Apply SWDS 1 / 2 / 3 arrival rules
Review special arrival scenarios
Hand the record off to the correct next process

1. Find or Obtain the Existing SIRAS Record

Before creating anything new, determine whether the student already has a SIRAS record.

Search first. Avoid creating a duplicate student record when an existing SIRAS record can be obtained.
If the student is moving from another SIRAS district during the school year, use the appropriate Request Student Transfer process.
If the student is an expected beginning-of-year transfer that is still showing as Incoming after rollover, do not use Request Transfer. Follow After Rollover – Record Processing & Cleanup.
If no SIRAS record exists, see Create a New Student Record.

A record arriving in SIRAS is not automatically ready for the IEP team.
The receiving district still needs to verify the student's current special education status and update the MIS Summary with the most recent information available.

2. Complete Due Diligence – What Is the Student's Actual Status?

For IEP-age / Part B onboarding, Whenever a student arrives, the district has a Child Find responsibility. The onboarding review should reconcile three sources of information:

Source	What to learn from it
Family / incoming records	IEP paperwork, eligibility information, services, meeting dates, prior district/school, and what the family understands about the student's current plan.
CALPADS	The student's most recently reported CALPADS SWDS, MEET, PLAN, and SERV history. This may identify an existing U.S.-based eligibility or plan even when no paperwork has arrived.
IEP team / current facts	Whether the student is actually eligible now, whether they were participating before arrival, whether participation is expected at the new district, and whether the information in CALPADS still reflects reality.

No paperwork? Check CALPADS before concluding the student has no IEP.
CALPADS may contain the most recent special education history available to the receiving district. See Create or Update SIRAS MIS Information from CALPADS.

Four questions to reconcile as of arrival

Eligibility: Is the student currently eligible for special education?
Prior participation: Was the student participating in special education immediately before arrival?
Expected participation: Is the student expected to participate at the new district immediately or after a meeting to review the incoming plan?
Enrollment: Did the student actually enroll in the district, and on what date?

CALPADS is an important source, but it may lag behind the real-world situation. When CALPADS conflicts with verified information from the field, determine what CALPADS should say and correct/report the appropriate status through the proper workflow.

3. Fully Update the MIS Summary Before Assigning Providers or Creating New Work

Once staff understand the student's arrival story, reconstruct the MIS Summary so it accurately reflects the best and most current special education information available. This is the foundation for whatever the district documents next.

Use the best available information

If the family or prior district provides the current IEP or other records, use that documentation to update the MIS Summary.
If an existing SIRAS record is received from another district, review the Current MIS information rather than assuming it is complete or current.
If paperwork has not arrived, review the student's CALPADS SWDS, MEET, PLAN, and SERV reporting history and use it to reconstruct the most recently reported plan information. See Create or Update SIRAS MIS Information from CALPADS.
Confirm important information with the IEP team when family records, prior-district records, SIRAS Current data, and CALPADS reporting history appear incomplete or inconsistent.

Hold provider assignment until the record is ready

Do not assign the record to providers merely so the next team can begin working. First complete the MIS review and update. Assigning providers too early can allow a transaction to be archived or a meeting to be created from outdated or incomplete information.

The first document the IEP team prepares or presents to the family should begin from an accurate understanding of the student's known history. This is important whether the student will participate immediately, participation is still being considered, or the team needs to document another outcome.

Prepare SIRAS to document what actually happens

The purpose of the MIS update is not only to prepare for services. The IEP team may need to document that the family declined services, that the student did not begin participating, that the district did not approve a request made by the family, or another field outcome. Accurate Current data allows SIRAS to produce documents and CALPADS transactions that reflect the real sequence of events.

Preserve incoming IEP documentation

When a scanned copy of the incoming IEP is available, use Placeholder Meeting for Inherited IEP Documents so the inherited document is available from the student's SIRAS record.

Inherited IEP document access example from the existing New or Returning Students guide

Accurate MIS data comes before provider access, archives, and meetings.
Do not create a Plan Adoption, Plan Review, Initial Evaluation, or other IEP Manager meeting using incomplete inherited information when better information is available from family records, prior-district records, the existing SIRAS record, or CALPADS reporting history.

4. Determine the Student's Arrival Status & Next Workflow

After the due-diligence review and MIS update, choose the workflow that best matches the student's actual situation.

What you determine	Next workflow
Child is currently in the Part C / IFSP system	Stop this workflow and use New, Transferring & Incoming IFSP Students.
Student has an existing U.S.-based IEP eligibility and participation is expected immediately or after a meeting to review the incoming plan	Plan Adoption. Complete Plan Adoption Guide before creating the follow-up meeting event.
Student is eligible but continued non-participation is expected	Do not create Plan Adoption solely because the student arrived. Use the appropriate Inactive / non-participation workflow in When Students Leave, Stop Participating, or Become Inactive, applying the SWDS rules in Section 5 below.
No existing special education eligibility has been established within the United States, and the student is being referred for special education	Use the Initial Evaluation Process to establish eligibility through the local IEP process. Do not use Plan Adoption.
Family presents an IEP based on eligibility established in another U.S. state, with no California CALPADS history for that plan	The out-of-state IEP can use the Plan Adoption workflow, with additional SWDS/MEET reporting. See the out-of-state section in Plan Adoption Guide.
Family presents special education eligibility documentation or a plan developed outside the United States	Do not treat the international documentation as an existing U.S.-recognized eligibility for Plan Adoption. Use the Initial Evaluation Process to establish locally based eligibility and, when appropriate, an IEP.
Student was expected to arrive but never actually enrolls in the district	Do not create/report a Plan Adoption or other arrival transaction merely because the student was expected.

5. SWDS 1 / 2 / 3 – What Does the Incoming Status Mean for Onboarding?

Use the student's CALPADS SWDS status as an important clue, then reconcile it with actual enrollment and expected participation.

Incoming SWDS 1 – Participating

If the student enrolls and participation is expected to continue, complete Plan Adoption Guide.
This is still true when participation may begin after a meeting to review the incoming plan, as long as staff reasonably expect the student will participate.
If it is already clear the student will not participate at the new district, do not perform Plan Adoption simply because CALPADS currently says SWDS 1. Use the appropriate Inactive / cessation-of-services workflow to report the newer situation. See When Students Leave, Stop Participating, or Become Inactive.

Incoming SWDS 2 – Eligible, not participating

Participation expected: complete Plan Adoption. The Plan Adoption workflow will address the new SWDS 1 reporting that is needed.
Continued non-participation expected: reflect the appropriate Inactive / non-participating status in SIRAS. Because CALPADS already has SWDS 2, no new SWDS status is needed solely because the student arrived.

Incoming SWDS 3 – Eligible, not enrolled

Student now enrolls and participation is expected: complete Plan Adoption and report the appropriate SWDS 1 through that workflow.
Student now enrolls but continued non-participation is expected: SWDS 3 no longer matches the student's enrolled status. Make the record Inactive in SIRAS and report a new SWDS 2 effective as of arrival.

Participation was expected, but the outcome later changes?
If the student actually enrolled and the district reasonably expected participation, a valid Plan Adoption does not need to be erased merely because staff later determine the student will not participate. Report the subsequent exit or non-participation status when it becomes known.
It is appropriate for CALPADS to contain successive SWDS records when each record accurately reflects an event or status change that occurred in the field. Do not erase a valid earlier status merely because the student's circumstances changed later.

6. Special IEP-Age / Part B Arrival Scenarios

Student never enrolls – true no-show

A true no-show requires that no district enrollment or valid district arrival event occurred.
Make the anticipated Current record Inactive promptly. Do not create a new SWDS status. If an anticipated Plan Adoption or PLAN/SERV transaction represented an arrival that never happened, correct that transaction rather than reporting a later exit.

If the student was only expected to arrive but never enrolls anywhere in the district, do not report a new special education arrival simply because the student was anticipated. If a Plan Adoption was created in anticipation of enrollment, correct the SIRAS/CALPADS reporting so the arrival is not represented as having occurred.

Student moves into the district and enrolls in private school but continues not participating

Do not use Plan Adoption when continued non-participation is established. Reflect the appropriate Inactive / cessation-of-services status and report SWDS 2 as of arrival. See When Students Leave, Stop Participating, or Become Inactive.

Out-of-state U.S. IEP

If the IEP was developed in another U.S. state and there is no California CALPADS history for that plan, the student can still use Plan Adoption. SIRAS uses the out-of-state indicators to report the fuller arrival history required for this situation.

SELPA From = Out of State
CA Entry Date = District Enrollment Date when this is the student's California entry associated with the out-of-state IEP

See When to Use SELPA From as Out of State and Plan Adoption Guide for the detailed reporting workflow.

Returning from out of state is not automatically the same as an out-of-state-developed IEP.
Review the student's California history before using CA Entry Date or the special out-of-state Plan Adoption reporting options.

Plan type will change immediately – IEP ↔ ISP

The arrival review still starts with the plan the student arrived with. If Plan Adoption is required, adopt the incoming plan first and use the Plan Type is Changing option in the Plan Adoption archive. The subsequent meeting can then establish the new plan type. See Plan Adoption Guide.

CALPADS appears wrong or incomplete

Do not force SIRAS to match data that staff know is outdated. Determine the verified real-world status first. The prior district may need to correct its CALPADS reporting, or the receiving district may need to report the next valid status based on the student's actual situation.

When another LEA's correction is needed, use the CALPADS LEA Contacts directory to locate the appropriate contact.

7. Finish Onboarding & Hand Off to the Correct Next Process

Before handing the record to the IEP team, confirm the onboarding review is complete.

The correct SIRAS student record has been located or created.
Actual district enrollment has been confirmed.
The student's current eligibility and participation status are understood.
CALPADS SWDS / MEET / PLAN / SERV history has been reviewed when appropriate.
The most recent available plan information has been entered on the MIS Summary.
Provider assignment has been held until the MIS Summary and incoming history review are complete.
Incoming IEP documentation has been attached/preserved when available.
The correct next workflow has been selected.

Next step	Go to
Infant / toddler Part C or IFSP onboarding	New, Transferring & Incoming IFSP Students
Adopt an existing plan	Plan Adoption Guide
Conduct an Initial Evaluation	Initial Evaluation Process
Student is not participating / needs Inactive status	When Students Leave, Stop Participating, or Become Inactive
Understand Active / Pending / Inactive status	SIRAS Record Status

Plan Adoption required?
Stop the onboarding workflow here and complete Plan Adoption Guide before creating any meeting event. Once the Plan Adoption is complete, the IEP team can proceed with the Plan Review or other appropriate meeting workflow.