Robert: What options do parents have when a school changes their child’s IEP, and places them in a SPED room for the entire morning, and in the regular class in the afternoon. The child’s IEP did not have them in a SPED room for years, but mainstreamed. The school did this because they did not follow the IEP (provide certified and qualified people to work with them, ABA Shadow, etc.). Would a state complaint work? OCR complaint work? Or can the IEP only be changed by due process if the school refuses to change the IEP? The school even told us to go to another school. Thank you for your help in advance.
I filed a complaint with OCR because the district violated a mediation agreement, as well as ongoing IEP violations.The OCR investigator contacted me to discuss my complaints. She informed me that she was working from home and seemed annoyed with all the information I was giving her. To avoid doing a full investigation, the OCR investigator lied about all the information I provided to her. The OCR attorney then signed off on the investigator’s dismissal of my complaints. The report was full of lies and conflicting information. I contact the head of OCR to complain about the wrongful dismissal of my complaints. I had proof that the investigator intentionally lied, and pointed out several discrepancies in OCR’s notification of dismissal. He didn’t care! OCR is allowed to discriminate.
I’ve had my frustrations with OCR too…. Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I just wanted to let you know that as far as I know, you can FOIA for the investigators’ notes. Might be interesting reading. And it might help you file a more watertight complaint if you ever have to file again in future. Perhaps you’ll get more reliable results if you send in writing all the information you want them to take into account.
I agree with Chuck, and would like to add:
Basically you are advocating for Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). LRE cases are relatively high priority for pro bono legal services — you may want to see if you can get them.
You may want to give mediation a try. In my state that can be done as part of a state special ed complaint.
You may want to join a parents’ group, or form one, to advocate for greater levels of inclusion in your district. In my experience, THREE unrelated, concerned parents meeting with an administrator gives the impression of a MOVEMENT.
State complaint – yes. OCR complaint – probably not. Request for due process hearing – yes. State complaint & due process hearing request can be made at same time. Your state parent training & information center can assist you. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center