On May 13, 2010, the Department of Public Instruction received a complaint under state and federal special education law from XXXXX against the Bayfield School District. This is the departments decision regarding that complaint. The issue is whether the district, during the 2009-2010 school year, implemented the students individualized education program (IEP) regarding contacting and accessing the school nurse.
The students IEP provided for the student to see the school nurse on request and when behavior incidents occurred. On February 8, 2010, a behavior incident occurred, and the school nurse was not contacted. The student requested, but was not allowed to go to the school nurse. The students behavior escalated, and the student was suspended for three days. On February 11, the special education administrator contacted the parent and admitted the district had made an error. The suspension was removed from the students records, and the district offered to provide additional services to the student to make-up for the time missed due to the suspension. All staff who worked with the student were reminded of the conditions under which the student was allowed to access the school nurse and when the student nurse was required to be contacted. An email reminder was sent to staff on February 25, 2010. While the district failed to implement the students IEP regarding contacting and accessing the school nurse, it timely corrected the error and took steps to ensure subsequent compliance. No additional corrective action is required.
This concludes our review of this complaint.
//signed CST/SJP 6/22/10
Carolyn Stanford Taylor
Assistant State Superintendent
Division for Learning Support: Equity and Advocacy
Dec/pfv