IDEA Complaint Decision 24-124

On October 28, 2024 (form dated October 27, 2024), the Department of Public Instruction (department) received a complaint under state and federal special education law from Michael and #### (parents), against the #### (district). This is the department’s decision regarding that complaint. The issue is whether the district, during the 2024-25 school year, properly implemented the individualized education program (IEP) of a student with a disability regarding one-to-one support, study skills class, advanced notice of changes to staffing or schedule, psychological services, and specially designed instruction in reading, math, emotional and behavioral concerns.

 

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 a FAPE to each student with a disability, in part, by implementing each student's IEP. 34 CFR §§300.323(c)(2) & 300.324. Each student’s IEP must address the student's needs that result from the student's disability in order to enable the student to be involved and make appropriate progress in the general education curriculum and toward their IEP goals and meet the student's other educational needs that result from the student's disability. The IEP must include a statement of the special education services to be provided to the student. The description of services must be stated in a manner that makes the district’s commitment of resources clear to the parent and all involved in developing and implementing the IEP. 34 CFR §§300.320(a), 300.324(a). The district must ensure that the student's IEP is accessible to each regular education teacher, special education teacher, related services provider, and any other service provider who is responsible for its implementation and that they are informed of their specific responsibilities. 34 CFR § 300.323(d).

 

The IEP in effect for the student during the period of time relevant to this complaint was developed at an IEP team meeting on January 17, 2024, and adjusted through changes without an IEP team meeting on May 15, 2024. The student’s IEP includes a supplementary aid and service described as “1:1 special education support throughout the entire day for: academic support, monitoring of emotional behavioral needs, attending, regulation, reinforcement, breakdown of concepts and directions” for seven hours every day across all school environments. The parents indicated that the student’s one-to-one assigned support person was not consistently with them throughout the day. The district acknowledged that there were times, such as during lunch, where the student was supervised by other staff who also were responsible for monitoring other students in the area. The district did not consistently implement the student’s IEP regarding one-to-one support.

 

The parents believe the student’s IEP is not being implemented during the student’s study skills class regarding the student’s computer use. Although the student’s IEP indicates that their screen time should be limited to educational and break purposes only, the parents shared that the student spends most of this class using their computer for reasons other than education and taking breaks. District staff shared that this class may use a computer for a variety of reasons, and it would be the teacher’s or one-to-one support person’s responsibility to redirect the student to use the computer only for appropriate reasons. However, the language in the IEP does not make clear how or whether staff should intervene or how to determine whether a particular activity is appropriate. Additionally, district staff interviews demonstrate an unclear understanding of this support. Given the lack of specificity in the description, it is not possible to determine whether district staff are properly implementing the student’s IEP regarding their computer usage in their study skills class.

 

The student’s IEP has a supplementary aid and service described as “Preview of schedule in advance when … [student’s] daily schedule is going to change (verbal reminder or notice of): leaving school early for an appointment, having a substitute teacher, emergency drills, seeing different adults during the day, etc.” The parents indicated that this portion of the student’s IEP was not consistently implemented, including one occasion where the student was not told ahead of time about a fire drill. The district acknowledged that staff may not have properly informed the student of the fire drill.

 

The student’s IEP includes psychological services as a related service. The IEP indicates that this should occur twice monthly for twenty minutes in a special education setting. District staff indicated that the psychologist met with the student twice a month every month of the school year except for October when the psychologist met with the student only one time. Although the psychologist provided this service twice a month with exception to October, the service was provided mainly during lunch in a regular education setting when the student was in spaces with peers to support him in social settings. The district did not properly implement the student’s psychological services in the placement as specified in the IEP.

 

The student’s IEP includes specially designed instruction in the following areas: reading and literacy essentials, math essentials, and emotional or behavioral concerns. The student’s parents thought the IEP required the instruction to be provided one-on-one. However, the student’s IEP does not require this. While district staff provide the student’s specially designed instruction in the special education and general education environment as described in their IEP, instruction takes place with other students in those classrooms. The district properly implemented the IEP regarding the provision of specially designed instruction.

 

Given that the district is not consistently implementing several supplementary aids and services as described in the student’s IEP and to ensure that moving forward, there is a shared understanding of the district’s commitment of resources between district staff and the parents, the district is directed to convene the student’s IEP team within 30 days of the date of this decision. At that meeting the IEP team must discuss, clarify, and appropriately document the student’s supplementary aids and services; including those regarding one-to-one support, study skills class, and advanced notice of changes to staffing or schedule. Additionally, the IEP team should discuss and clarify the nature and manner of delivery of the psychological services to be provided to the student. The district is directed to submit a copy of the IEP to the department within 10 days of the IEP team meeting.

 

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. 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.