Novi Community School District staff run the IEP meetings in Novi. These advocates sit on your side of the table.
3 virtual advocates who work with Michigan schools
Advocates work for you, not for the school. That is the whole difference.
Families in Novi and Kalamazoo 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.
After the meeting the work is dull. The advocate reads the draft against the notes and sends a correction back the same week.
Request the full file in writing before you hire anyone. Schools have to give parents the education records they keep.
These advocates are not based in Michigan. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Leesburg, FL · works with Michigan schools
CEO IEP Advocate Espanol
Evelyn Roman-Santos is a bilingual Special Education Advocate with 30 years of experience as a School Social Worker.
Virtual · based in Atlanta, GA · works with Michigan 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.
Virtual · based in Arlington Heights, IL · works with Michigan schools
Special Education Advocate
I am a former special education teacher, with experience in public and therapeutic day schools.
See all 26 virtual advocates who work with Michigan families
Novi Community School District takes most Novi addresses, but not all of them. Check yours before you send a letter, because a request that lands in the wrong district office does not start the evaluation clock at all.
Families who move between Kalamazoo 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. Novi addresses may fall in more than one public school district.
The deadline for finishing an initial evaluation in Michigan is 30 school days. Put that date on your calendar the day the paperwork goes in.
Put the request in writing and date it. An email to the Novi school counts as writing.
Michigan gives a school district 30 school days to finish an initial special education evaluation. A written request for an evaluation has to be answered inside 10 school days. Missed deadlines are handled by the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education, which takes written state complaints from parents.
The Michigan Department of Education oversees special education in Michigan. It does not license the advocates parents hire.
Membership in a professional body is not a licence. It usually means dues were paid and a code of conduct was signed.
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.
Novi Community School District is allowed to say no. What it is not allowed to do is say no without written notice that explains the reason.
Video is normal now. 26 of the advocates listed for Novi work with families by phone or video instead of driving to the school.
Advocates who take Kalamazoo cases usually take these too. Say where you are in the first email so nobody wastes a week finding out.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Novi, Michigan, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What do special education advocates charge in Novi, Michigan?
Most advocates on this directory charge $75 to $150 per hour. A standard cycle with two hours of prep and two hours in the meeting runs about $400. Travel and extra meetings cost more.
Who runs special education for Novi schools?
Most of the city sits inside Novi Community School District. The district writes the plan and holds the special education budget, which is why a complaint about a missed service names the district and not the school.
Do I have to use an advocate from my own town?
Every card on this page names the city the advocate works from. Advocates listed under the virtual heading live somewhere else and work with families here by video or phone.
Can I bring an advocate to a Section 504 meeting?
Nearly every advocate on this page takes both. Compare profiles for experience with accommodations, 504 meetings and school compliance, and ask the school in writing before you bring anyone to a 504 meeting.
Are there free IEP advocates in Novi?
Free guidance exists. Parent centers, disability rights agencies and local parent groups all give it, and none of them will attend the meeting as your representative.
Official Michigan links for parents in Novi.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Michigan rules apply in Kalamazoo, Traverse City, Grand Blanc, Southfield and the other cities listed here, or see every Michigan advocate.
Start with two calls, not six. Ask each advocate what they would do first with a Novi file, and hire the one whose answer is specific enough that you could write it down as a task.
Free calls are common. Use them to compare people, not to collect advice for nothing.
