IDEA Complaint Decision 13-057

On November 6, 2013, the Department of Public Instruction received a complaint under state and federal special education law from XXXXX against the XXXXX School District. This is the department’s decision regarding that complaint. The issue is whether the district, during the 2013-14 school year, implemented the student’s individualized education program (IEP) regarding the provision of nursing services.

A school district must provide each child with a disability a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment. A school district meets its obligation to provide FAPE to a child with a disability, in part, by providing special education and related services. Related services are transportation and developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education. Districts are responsible for providing services necessary to maintain the health and safety of a child while the child is in school, including nursing services, unless it is the type of service that can only be provided by a licensed physician.

The complaint states the district failed to provide nursing services as required by the IEP between September 9 and December 2, 2013. On September 6, the IEP team met to review the student’s IEP regarding nursing services and revised the IEP to include full-time nursing services during the school day. On September 9, the student began attending school and received the nursing services as required by the IEP. The district acknowledges that it failed to implement the IEP regarding nursing services on September 25, October 1, October 15, October 22, and October 23. The student was unable to attend school during these days due to the lack of nursing services.

The district has agreed to provide compensatory services for the five days the IEP was not implemented. The district must conduct an IEP team meeting to determine the compensatory services and submit documentation of the services and when they will be provided to the Department within 30 days of the date of this decision. All noncompliance identified above must be corrected as soon as possible, but in no case more than one year from the date of this decision. This concludes our review of this complaint.

//signed CST 12/30/2013
Carolyn Stanford Taylor
Assistant State Superintendent
Division for Learning Support

Dec/cms