Yes, you can but it's not an easy task. We did it with my son (had him retained in 1st grade) and had to fight tooth and nail to get him retained. In the long run we were persistent and he was retained. It was the best thing we ever did for him.

You should defiantly be able to have your child stay back. Any major change must be done through the IEP. I live in Rockdale County Ga and the school district don't want to do there work. Luckily we have a great Autism support group, we had a former school state attorney who saw what wrong districts were doing to save themselves and not helping children with disabilities. She gave us A LOT of information explaining our rights in the state of GA with IEP's laws and regulations that works for the families. If you would like I can email it to you. Just send a message to my email [[email: [[email: [[email: [[email: (Email address can only be seen by the question and answer creators) I would be more than happy to help.

I don't know anything about public school, but my son stayed back this year in 4th grade. We are lucky to go to a small private school. It was on the suggestions of his teachers and principal. It is the best decision we could have ever made. You should fight tooth and nail for it! My sons grades were not the issue. His Social skills were the problem.