PLAN Component: Plan and Program Information
Use this article to understand the PLAN component stored in a SIRAS archived transaction and its relationship to SWDS and SERV.
Contents
| What PLAN Represents | When PLAN Is Included |
| Plan Effective Date | Relationship to SWDS |
| PLAN and SERV Pairing | Plan Adoption |
| PLAN Progression | Review and Correct |
| Related Help |
What the PLAN Component Represents
PLAN preserves the special education plan and program information effective for the student at a dated event. PLAN commonly includes plan type, Plan Effective Date, program setting, participation, placement, and related plan characteristics.
When PLAN Is Included
A PLAN component is appropriate when the event establishes or changes the plan the student will participate under. Examples include:
- an eligible Initial Evaluation with an accepted plan;
- an Annual Plan Review;
- a Triennial Reevaluation with a continuing or revised plan;
- an accepted amendment that creates reportable plan changes; or
- Plan Adoption at a receiving LEA.
Review the parent response, actual outcome, report status, and any stay-put implications before submitting PLAN or SERV.
Plan Effective Date
The Plan Effective Date identifies when the plan becomes the applicable plan for reporting. It also links the associated SERV records to that PLAN.
- The Plan Effective Date may differ from the meeting date.
- The date must align with the actual plan implementation or approved workflow.
- For Plan Adoption, the receiving LEA’s Plan Effective Date is normally the District Enrollment Date.
- Correcting the Plan Effective Date also changes the effective date used for associated SERV reporting.
See Plan Effective Date, Service Start Date, and CALPADS SERV Reporting.
Relationship to SWDS Status
PLAN describes the plan; SWDS describes eligibility and participation status. They must tell a coherent story.
- SWDS [1] Eligible and Participating normally requires an applicable PLAN and SERV baseline.
- After SWDS [2] Eligible and Not Participating or [3] Eligible and Not Enrolled becomes effective, later participating PLAN/SERV records should not be introduced unless a later status change supports them.
- A receiving district may submit PLAN and SERV without another SWDS [1] when CALPADS already contains the unchanged [1] status.
PLAN and SERV Are Paired by Date
SIRAS normally submits SERV records with PLAN because a participating plan contains at least one reportable regular service. The records are associated through the Plan Effective Date.
Plan Adoption at a New LEA
For an incoming student with an existing U.S.-based plan who is likely to participate, Plan Adoption establishes the receiving LEA’s PLAN and SERV baseline.
- Review existing SWDS, MEET, PLAN, and SERV history.
- Reconstruct accurate Current plan and service information.
- Use District Enrollment Date as the Plan Adoption Report Event Date and Plan Effective Date.
- Add SWDS [1] only when a real status change requires it.
- Create the Plan Adoption before opening the follow-up review or amendment.
See Plan Adoption and Archive for Reporting.
PLAN Progression Over Time
Each accepted later plan is represented by a later PLAN record rather than by rewriting a valid earlier plan. The screenshots below preserve the prior article’s examples of an Initial Evaluation plan followed by an Annual Plan Review plan.
Review and Correct a PLAN Component
- Verify the actual accepted plan and effective date.
- Review the plan information in Current and the associated meeting.
- Open the archived transaction and inspect PLAN and SERV component selection.
- Confirm that the SWDS status supports participation under the plan.
- Correct the archive when the historical plan or date is wrong.
- Correct Current separately when only the present-day information is wrong.
- Resubmit and verify CALPADS acceptance when required.
