On December 13, 2023 (form dated November 20, 2023), the Department of Public Instruction (department) received a complaint under state and federal special education law from #### (parent) against the #### (district). This is the department’s decision regarding that complaint. The issue identified is whether the district, beginning December 13, 2022, properly developed and implemented the individualized education program (IEP) of a student with a disability regarding specialized transportation.
School districts must provide each student with a disability with a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment. School districts meet their obligation to provide FAPE to each student with a disability, in part, by developing an IEP based on the student’s unique, disability-related needs that is reasonably calculated to enable the student to make progress appropriate in light of the student’s circumstances, documenting that program in the IEP, and implementing the program as articulated in the IEP. 34 CFR §§ 300.320-300.324; Wis. Stat. § 115.78(2). Specialized transportation is considered a related service. The student’s IEP team determines, based on the student's unique, disability-related needs, whether the student needs specialized transportation and, if so, how specialized transportation services will be provided. 34 CFR § 300.107. While the IEP team must work toward consensus in determining the contents of each student’s IEP, the district is ultimately responsible for ensuring such decisions are made in conformity with the requirements of state and federal special education law to ensure the student receives a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. 34 CFR § 300.116; Wis. Stat. §§ 115.78(2), 115.79.
The student who is the subject of this complaint has several medical conditions that impact their physical and emotional development. The parent provided home-based education to the student for several years. The district conducted an initial evaluation of the student during the fall of 2022. Assessments indicated that the student has a low tolerance for sensory input and difficulty with physical contact. The IEP team determined the student was eligible for special education and developed an initial IEP including transportation as a related service, on December 13, 2022. The IEP team agreed to specialized transportation based on the student’s medical conditions and the risk that riding a regular bus could expose the student to intrusions into the student’s personal space or trigger responses based on past traumatic events. The district and parent used mediation to agree upon an alternative placement, which the IEP team finalized in a meeting on February 13, 2023.
The district contracts with a private company to provide transportation to its students. The student’s first day of school was February 27, 2023. That morning, the private company sent a driver in a minivan with tinted windows to pick up the student. The student’s parent was not comfortable with the vehicle, nor the fact that the driver was not the same gender as the student. The parent provided the student transportation that day and for the remainder of the 2022-23 school year. On March 6, 2023, the parent requested changes to the IEP that would address safety concerns and provide for a driver of the same gender as the student and a bus instead of a van. On March 9, 2023, the district responded with a prior written notice form denying the request. The district wrote that it was sensitive to the parent’s concerns but stated it had been fulfilling its obligation to provide specialized transportation. The district promised to continue to work with the transportation company to meet the parent’s requests. For the remainder of the 2022-23 school year, the student’s parent provided the transportation, and the district reimbursed the parent. On May 4, 2023, the IEP team met to discuss summer programming and determined to provide the student extended school year services (ESY) for one month at the student’s current alternative setting. The IEP team discussed the student’s ESY transportation needs. The student’s parent requested transportation be provided by a driver of the student’s gender, with no other passengers, and in a vehicle with no window tinting. The student’s parent believed that the IEP team had agreed to the requested terms. However, while the IEP team noted the parent’s requests regarding transportation under the section of the IEP describing parent concerns, the IEP team did not revise the IEP to include the parent’s requests in the program summary. The district’s local educational agency (LEA) representative on the IEP team made the final decision that the parent requests were not required to address the student’s disability related needs. Nonetheless, the district worked with the transportation company regarding the parent’s requests, and a driver of the student’s gender transported the student to and from school throughout the time the student participated in ESY.
For the start of the 2023-24 school year, transportation continued with the same driver transporting the student to and from the alternative placement every morning and afternoons Monday through Thursday. The alternative setting’s program ends early on Friday afternoons. The student’s typical driver was unavailable to transport the student at that time on Friday afternoon. District staff communicated with the director of the alternative program and considered several options. The district offered to provide Friday afternoon transportation, but an employee of the alternative facility has been providing the student’s transportation on Friday afternoons.
On November 14, 2023, the IEP team conducted its annual meeting. The IEP team again discussed the student’s transportation needs. The student’s parent requested a driver of the same gender as the student, no other passengers, a small bus (no van), no window tinting, and door-to-door service. The district made a placement offer that provided for a transportation consistent with the program’s Friday schedule. The IEP team agreed to provide a driver of the same gender as the student. The IEP team did not reach consensus on the other transportation terms, which the LEA representative determined were not required to address the student’s disability-related needs. The IEP stated the district would attempt to honor the other preferences except door-to-door. The district confirmed that the parent’s preferences other than door-to-door service had been met since the beginning of the school year.
Soon after the November 2023 IEP team meeting, the parent filed this IDEA complaint. The district’s refusal to revise the IEP on March 9, 2023, was based on its determination that the transportation service as described in the student’s IEP met the student’s transportation needs. The student’s IEP team has discussed transportation frequently, and when consensus could not be reached, the LEA representative made the final decision in accordance with the procedural requirements under special education law. Both parties report the student is doing well in the alternative placement, and the student has not missed school due to transportation. The district has properly developed and implemented specialized transportation to provide FAPE.
This concludes our review of this complaint. This decision is final for the IDEA State Complaint process. These issues may be addressed through other dispute resolutions, including mediation and due process hearings. For more information, visit the department’s website at http://dpi.wi.gov/sped/dispute-resolution or contact the special education team at (608) 266-1781.
For questions about this information, contact dpispeddata@dpi.wi.gov (608) 266-1781