Pinellas County Public Schools staff run the IEP meetings in Tarpon Springs. These advocates sit on your side of the table.
3 based in Florida · 3 virtual advocates who work with Florida schools
Advocates get hired after a meeting goes badly, rarely before the first one, which is why most of them start by reading a file that already carries a year of history in it.
Families in Tarpon Springs and Lutz run into the same problem. The school says the current plan is working, and the progress report shows the same goal repeated from last year with the same numbers under it.
Paperwork is where cases are won or lost, and an advocate who has read every progress report in the file will find the sentence a Tarpon Springs team wrote two years ago that contradicts what it is saying now.
Read the evaluation report twice. The second read is where the missing service usually shows up.
No advocate in this directory lists Tarpon Springs as their home base. These advocates work from other parts of Florida, and each card names the city.
Based in Wesley Chapel, FL
Special Education Advocate
With 24 years of experience in the K-12 sector, I serves as a Student Support Specialist specializing in academic and behavioral ESE services.
Based in Leesburg, FL
CEO IEP Advocate Espanol
Evelyn Roman-Santos is a bilingual Special Education Advocate with 30 years of experience as a School Social Worker.
Based in Hialeah, FL
Advocate
Hello! I look forward to helping families and their students get the crucial support they need. I have varied experience working with families and educators at the state and local levels.
These advocates are not based in Florida. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Lamar, CO · works with Florida schools
Special Education Advocate
I’ve been a science teacher, a Director of Financial Aid, and a Dean of Students at a rural community college — always at the table with students and families navigating systems not built for them.
Virtual · based in Los Angeles, CA · works with Florida schools
Strategic Special Education Advocate
I combine the precision of a Columbia Law attorney with over a decade of special education leadership to help Los Angeles families navigate the IEP process with clarity, confidence, and results.
Virtual · based in Atlanta, GA · works with Florida schools
Special Education Advocate
My name is Jalani Traxler and I have loved teaching sense I myself was a student with an IEP receiving my own accommodations in elementary school.
Pinellas County Public Schools met 40 of 64 state special education indicators in the most recent Florida report.
Families who move between Lutz and here change districts, and the new team is not required to keep the old plan word for word.
Confirm your child's district by address before you send a letter or name a district-specific process.
A written request for an evaluation starts a second clock in Florida, and the district has to answer inside 30 days.
Put the request in writing and date it. An email to the Tarpon Springs school counts as writing.
Florida gives a school district 60 calendar days to finish an initial special education evaluation. A written request for an evaluation has to be answered inside 30 days. Missed deadlines are handled by the Florida Department of Education, Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services, which takes written state complaints from parents.
Training varies, and so does what it proves. A parent who asks how many Tarpon Springs IEP meetings an advocate sat in last year learns more than a certificate would show.
Ask what training the advocate actually finished and who ran it. A one-day webinar and a two-year program both end in a certificate.
Advocates charge for this. At $75 to $150 per hour, a standard IEP cycle with two hours of prep and two hours in the meeting runs about $400, and that money does not come back if the answer is still no.
Pinellas County Public Schools is allowed to say no. What it is not allowed to do is say no without written notice that explains the reason.
Being listed for Florida is not the same as taking Tarpon Springs cases, so read the service area on each of the 3 in-state profiles before you write to anyone.
Experience with Pinellas County Public Schools matters more than the number of years printed on a profile page.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Tarpon Springs, Florida, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What do special education advocates charge in Tarpon Springs, Florida?
Flat fees are common for a single meeting and hourly billing is common for everything else. Many advocates give a free first call. Nobody bills you through this site, so ask each person how they invoice.
Who runs special education for Tarpon Springs schools?
Most Tarpon Springs families work with Pinellas County Public Schools. Charter and magnet enrollment can change which agency owes the service, so ask that question before the first meeting.
How is Pinellas County Public Schools doing on special education?
40 of 64 indicators met. Read that as a compliance signal rather than a rating, because a district can meet the indicator and still miss the service your child needs.
Can I bring an advocate to a Section 504 meeting?
Yes. Section 504 work looks the same as IEP work, which is records, a written request and somebody in the room who knows what the school already agreed to.
Where does a written special education complaint go?
Three routes stay open when you disagree. Mediation is voluntary for both sides, a written state complaint is decided on the record by the Florida Department of Education, and a due process hearing takes evidence.
Official Florida links for parents in Tarpon Springs.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Florida rules apply in Lutz, Temple Terrace, Sunny Isles Beach, Winter Park and the other cities listed here, or see every Florida advocate.
You are not limited to advocates inside Tarpon Springs. The closest listed office is in Leesburg, and distance matters less than whether that person has worked a case in your district.
Have the most recent Pinellas County Public Schools progress report open on the first call. It shows whether the goals moved at all.
