On March 5, 2025, 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 issues are whether the district, during the 2024-25 school year:
● Properly provided the parent prior written notice;
● Properly conducted individualized education program (IEP) team meetings including all required staff; and
● Provided the student’s parents with meaningful opportunities to participate in the IEP team meetings.
Whether the district properly provided the parent prior written notice.
Under Wisconsin’s interdistrict public school open enrollment program, school districts are required to determine whether and how much space will be made available in their schools, programs, classes, or grades for nonresident students. If a student has their IEP developed or revised while attending a nonresident school district through open enrollment, the nonresident district may consider, prior to the IEP’s implementation, whether it has available the special education and related services to implement the student’s IEP. If it determines it has the special education services and space available to implement the student’s IEP, the nonresident district must begin implementing it as written. If it does not, the nonresident district may, but is not required to, notify the parent and resident district that the student’s open enrollment will be terminated. The nonresident district must then transfer the student to their resident school district. The resident school district must provide an educational placement for the student. Wis. Stat. §118.51(12)(b).
Under federal and state special education law, any time a district proposes or refuses to initiate or change the special education identification, evaluation, or educational placement or the provision of a free appropriate public education to a student with a disability, the district must provide the parents prior written notice, including, if applicable, a copy of the student’s IEP, a reasonable time before any proposed changes take effect. 34 CFR §300.503.
The student who is the subject of this complaint has been attending school in the district since the 2020-21 school year under the interdistrict public school open enrollment program. On September 27, 2024, the student’s parent submitted a referral for a special education evaluation to the district. The student’s IEP team completed the evaluation and determined the student was eligible for special education and related services on December 19, 2024. The student’s IEP team met on January 16, 2025, to develop the student’s initial IEP. The IEP team also determined the student’s initial special education placement would be within the school district at the student’s current school. The parent provided consent for initial placement on January 30, 2025. The implementation of the initial IEP was to begin on February 3, 2025.
On February 21, 2025, district staff emailed the parent indicating that the student’s continued open enrollment was impacted by their IEP and requested a meeting or phone call to discuss the issue. The parent asked for clarification, and requested prior written notice under special education law regarding any changes to the IEP that the district would be proposing. The district responded by again requesting a meeting or phone call to discuss the student’s open enrollment status and IEP.
No meeting was held, and on February 28, 2025, the district sent notice to the parent that the student’s continued open enrollment would be terminated effective April 7, 2025, due to the special education and related services required by their IEP not being available in the district.
The student’s parent contends that the termination of the continued open enrollment of a student with an IEP amounts to a change in educational placement under special education law which requires the district to hold an IEP team meeting and to provide the parent written notice of the changes prior to their implementation. However, terminating a student’s continued open enrollment is allowed under Wisconsin state law and per school board policy. Termination of open enrollment is an action taken pursuant to state law by the district, not a change in special education placement made by a student’s IEP team. While separate requirements under state open enrollment law regarding providing notice to parents remain applicable, the district’s decision to terminate open enrollment, by itself, does not trigger the special education law prior written notice requirement. The district did not violate special education law when it did not provide the student’s parent special education prior written notice when seeking to terminate the student’s continued open enrollment.
The department is not able to determine whether the district properly followed the provisions of the state interdistrict open enrollment law through its special education complaint process. A parent may appeal the decision of a school district to deny continued open enrollment by submitting their appeal, in writing, to the department within 30 days of the date of the notice of denial of continued open enrollment. Wis. Stat. 118.51(9)
Whether the district properly conducted IEP team meetings including all required staff.
Parents may request an IEP team meeting at any time. A school district should grant any reasonable parent request for an IEP team meeting. A district must respond to a parent’s request for an IEP team meeting by scheduling the IEP team meeting at a mutually agreed on time and place or must provide written notice to the parent including an explanation of why the district has determined a meeting is not needed. 34 CFR §300.503.
The student’s IEP team must include the student’s parents, at least one regular education teacher of the child, at least one special education teacher of the child, a representative of the local education agency who is qualified to provide or supervise the provision of specially designed instruction and is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum and the availability of resources in the local education agency, and someone who can interpret evaluation results, who may already be a member of the team. 34 CFR §300.321.
The student’s IEP team convened on January 16, 2025, to develop the student’s initial IEP. All required team members were present for this meeting. No additional meetings were held after this date. The parent did not request another IEP team after the January 16, 2025, meeting. The district properly conducted IEP team meetings including all required staff.
Whether the district provided the student’s parents with meaningful opportunities to participate in the IEP team meetings.
School districts must provide each student with a disability, 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 and implementing each student’s IEP as it is written. While the IEP team (which includes the student’s parents) must work toward consensus, 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 FAPE. A school district may not predetermine matters that are the responsibility of the student’s IEP team. 34 CFR §300.323 and Wis. Stat. §115.787.
The parent alleges that by terminating the student’s continued open enrollment, the district made, and predetermined, a change in the student’s educational placement outside of an IEP team meeting, and the parent did not have a meaningful opportunity to participate in that decision. As discussed above, the termination of continued open enrollment according to state law does not constitute a change in placement under special education law. The district did not deny the student’s parent a meaningful opportunity to participate in IEP team meetings.
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