Having a complaint about your child's special education program can be a frustrating experience for you, your child, and the school staff. If your child is covered by IDEA or Section 504, there are regulations providing you with ways to address these problems such as formal complaints, mediation, and due process hearings under IDEA. Section 504 allows formal complaints and civil suits. Before you file a formal special education complaint, learn how to avoid common mistakes that are not helpful and may be harmful to your child's program.
1. Not Knowing and Understanding Your Parent Rights under IDEA and Section 504
Parents who do not understand their rights and limitations may file actions that:- At best, do not resolve the problem; and
- At worst, cause increased anxiety at home and in interactions with the school staff.
2. Failure to Prove Your Allegations - Failure to Provide Evidence of Your Charges
If you cannot prove your allegations against the district, you may want to reconsider filing a complaint. It is possible that your state's department of education may not investigate if you cannot provide proof through documentation or reliable witnesses accounts of the violation. If the state does investigate, you may only succeed in annoying the school staff if the allegations are not proven. Avoid this by keeping evidence before there is a problem. Evidence may include items such as documents, assessment and evaluation reports, progress reports, grades, correspondence between you and the school staff, police reports, IEP team meeting documents, reports from reliable school staff or advocates.3. Unprofessional Conduct - Remain Calm and Professional to Boost Credibility
It is difficult to remain calm when you feel your child's rights have been violated. Avoid allowing anger and frustration affect your interaction with school staff, investigators, or hearing officers. Losing control of your temper can:- Shift the focus away from your child and onto your behavior;
- Cause others to perceive you as irrational, possibly leading them to miss the truths underlying your argument;
- Cause officials, consciously or not, to rush through your case to "get it over with;"
- Make reconciliation difficult for everyone involved; and
- Mark you as a problem parent, causing teachers to avoid communicating with you about this or future issues.
4. Asking Too Much - Unrealistic Expectations of Special Education Programs
Before filing a complaint, ensure expectations are reasonable. Examples typically denied or not addressed by IDEA include requests for:- Services that are not educationally relevant or are above IDEA requirements.
- Specific teachers / service providers.
- Non-standard, experimental, or unproven forms of service delivery.
- Medical services that are not educational.
- The best available versus adequate or appropriate services.
- Complaints about suspensions of less than 10 days.
- Criminal court-related matters schools cannot address.
- Intervention with schools over disciplinary policies or general operations unless there is a clear relationship between the school's practices and discrimination against the child.
