School District Complaint

A complaint was filed with the State Department of Education (SDE) for a young man in a nearby school district because the school failed to provide a timely notice of a Manifestation Determination (MD) review date, did not provide a notice of proposed actions for the MD meeting, did not conduct the MD meeting prior to suspending the student long-term, did not inform the parent of his right to appeal upon disagreeing with the result of the MD, did not document in a prior written notice the proposed program changes discussed at the MD meeting and the school did not develop a timely and appropriate Functional Behavior Assessment or Behavioral Intervention Plan.

The SDE cited the school district for failing to do all of the above plus more. The district was also cited for not considering options including the Interim Alternative Educational Setting (IAES) and alternative school, for not developing goals and objectives in areas in which the student was deficient, and for not developing measurable goals and objectives. There were a total of 13 citations to the district. It is hoped that the findings and citations of this investigation will positively affect other students in the district with similar problems.