On May 21, 2024, the Department of Public Instruction (department) received a complaint under state and federal special education law from ####
(complainant) against the #### (district). This is the department’s decision regarding that complaint. The issue identified is whether the district, during the 2023-24 school year, properly developed and implemented the individualized education program (IEP) of a student with a disability regarding specialized transportation.
Related services include transportation required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education. 34 CFR § 300.34. Each 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.
The student’s IEPs in effect during the period of time relevant to this complaint indicate that the student was to receive specially designed transportation between home and school twice per day. The IEP does not indicate the student requires door-to-door transportation. The complainant shared that the student fractured their hip in early May 2024 which required them to use a wheelchair through the end of the school year. The complainant felt that the district did not provide sufficient options to accommodate the student’s temporary transportation needs. The district reports that as soon as they were notified of the student’s temporary need to use a wheelchair, the district took steps to offer alternative options to the student’s transportation. However, after the complainant rejected both of the offered options, the district should have held an IEP team meeting to explore other possibilities to enable the student to benefit from special education while they temporarily required the wheelchair. Although the district implemented the IEP as written, the district did not properly develop the student’s IEP regarding specialized transportation between the student’s injury in May 2024 and the end of the 2023-24 school year.
Within 30 days of the date of this decision, the district is directed to hold an IEP team meeting to determine whether the student requires compensatory services as a result of any school the student missed between May 2024, and the end of the school year due to transportation challenges. Because the student’s IEP team did not determine that the student required extended school year services, the district does not need to consider compensatory education for missed sessions during summer school. The district must send the department a copy of the IEP within 10 days of the IEP team meeting.
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