On May 7, 2008, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) received a complaint under state and federal special education law from XXXXX against the Peshtigo School District. This is the departments decision regarding that complaint. The issues are whether the district, during the 2007-2008 school year, properly responded to a parent request for an individualized education program (IEP) team meeting and properly sent a Notice of Graduation to the student.
On September 7, 2007, an IEP team meeting was held to develop the students annual IEP. On January 15, 2008, an IEP team meeting was held to review and revise the IEP at the parents request. During the meeting, the IEP team discussed the students graduation status. A number of options were discussed including the option of the student continuing to receive services for an additional year. No final decision was made regarding whether the student would graduate at the end of the school year, and the IEP team decided to revisit the students graduation status in the spring.
In April, before the IEP team met again, district staff determined the student was eligible to graduate with a regular diploma. A graduation notice was sent to the parent the last week in April noting the IEP team had determined the credit requirements for graduation would be met by the end of the current school year and the students IEP goals would be substantially completed. The graduation notice improperly indicated the IEP team, including the parent, had made this decision during the January 15 IEP team meeting.
On April 30, the parent informed the district he disagreed with the graduation notice and asked the IEP team be reconvened. The parent also requested the district rescind the graduation notice. On May 19, the district acknowledged the student would not be graduating and notified the parent an IEP team meeting would be scheduled prior to September 7, 2008, when the students annual IEP would expire. The parent again requested an IEP team meeting to be scheduled prior to the end of the year and the graduation notice be rescinded. A meeting was then scheduled and held on June 5, 2008. The meeting was held prior to the end of the school year. The district properly responded to the parents request for an IEP team meeting.
On June 5, the IEP team discussed the students graduation status and revised the IEP to reflect the decision to continue providing special education services for the upcoming year. The district also formally granted the parents request to rescind the graduation notice and informed the parent the notice had been removed from the students file. No additional student specific corrective action is needed. Within 30 days of receiving this decision, the district must submit proposed corrective actions to the department to ensure notices provided to a parent of a student with a disability are accurate.
This concludes our review of this complaint.
//signed CST 6/27/08
Carolyn Stanford Taylor
Assistant State Superintendent
Division for Learning Support: Equity and Advocacy
Dec/pfv