IDEA Complaint Decision 25-028

On February 17, 2025, the Department of Public Instruction (department) received a complaint under state and federal special education law from #### (parent) against #### (district). This is the department’s decision regarding that complaint. The issue identified is whether the district, since February 17, 2024, properly implemented the individualized education program (IEP) of a student with a disability.

 

School districts meet their obligation to provide a free appropriate public education to each student with a disability, in part, by developing a program based on the student’s unique, disability-related needs that is reasonably calculated to enable the student to make appropriate progress considering the student’s circumstances, documenting that program in the IEP, and implementing the program as articulated in the IEP. The IEP must contain annual goals that are both ambitious and achievable so that the gap in academic achievement or functional performance is narrowed or closed during the period of the IEP. 34 CFR §§ 300.320-300.324; Wis. Stat. § 115.78(2); Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District, 137 S.Ct. 988. 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. 34 CFR §§ 300.320(a), 300.324(a). Related services are services required to assist a student with a disability to benefit from special education. The IEP team must consider whether the student needs related services and determine the amount and frequency of those services. All services must be clearly stated in the IEP in a manner that can be understood by all involved in the development and implementation of the IEP. 34 CFR §§ 300.320(a)(4) and (a)(7). IEPs must be implemented as written. 34 CFR § 300.323; Wis. Stat. § 115.787.

 

The student’s parent alleges that the student did not receive specially designed instruction as written in the IEP since the start of the 2024-25 school year. On October 2, 2024, the student’s parent contacted the district special education regional supervisor and expressed concern that the student was not receiving specially designed instruction. The IEP team met on October 9, 2024, to discuss the parent’s concerns. On October 11, 2024, the special education teacher who was responsible for providing specially designed instruction in attending skills, math, and early literacy, resigned from the district.

 

The district could not provide documentation to demonstrate that the special education teacher had properly implemented the student’s IEP between the beginning of the 2024-25 school year until their resignation on October 11, 2024. After the teacher’s resignation, the district began recruitment in an attempt to fill the open special education teacher position. Whenever possible, a special education teacher served as a substitute, but they were not always available. On November 21, 2024, the student’s IEP team met and documented the parent’s concerns about staffing vacancies and the student’s access to specially designed instruction. On January 8, 2025, the parent spoke with the special education supervisor about transferring the student to a different school so the student would have a full-time special education teacher. The parent toured two different schools within the district and determined the schools would not be a good fit for the student. The student continued to attend their school of residence. A new special education teacher began working for the district on February 18, 2025. The district did not properly implement specially designed instruction as required by the student’s IEP.

 

The student’s IEP team is scheduled to meet on April 17, 2025, to discuss a reevaluation of the student, and the IEP team plans to determine the compensatory services required due to not implementing the student’s IEP as written. Within 10 days of the April 17, 2025, IEP team meeting, the district is directed to send to the department a copy of the student’s revised IEP clearly documenting the discussion and amount of compensatory services to be provided to the student.

 

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.