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By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Time and time again, I meet with parents who are baffled why their child's IEP (Individualized Educational Program) or 504 Plan (accommodations plan) is not being implemented at school.  Sometimes parents do not notice for years that although their IEP or 504 has many items which are supposed to be done, not all of them ARE being done.  This can be a heartbreaking discovery as lack of implementation may waste years of valuable time for a child. Special education (both IEPs and 504 Plans fall under special education), is awash with issues like this.  There are always questions of qualification and what to include in the IEP or 504.  But, once the 504 or IEP is finally complete, most parents mistakenly put their minds on other things, trusting the school to follow through.  Not so fast.  A parent's job is NEVER EVER done when their child is in school, special education or otherwise. ...

By  Michelle Ball , California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 In the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision Anchorage School District v. M.P. (July 19, 2012, No. 10-36065), the Court ruled that the lack of an updated annual IEP (Individualized Education Program) plan resulted in M.P. (student) not receiving a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE).  The Court also ruled that the parents were to receive reimbursement for private tutoring and attorneys fees. In  Anchorage, Judge Paez stated that a school district has only two options if the annual IEP remains unsigned (e.g. a parent wants more changes, rejects it, etc.). The District must then either: 1)  Continue working with the parents to develop an IEP which is accepted by all, OR 2)  Revise the IEP on their own and file a due process hearing to seek administrative approval of the proposed IEP. This is significant.  There are many times that parents have a signed IEP, e.g. fr...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Oftentimes parents attend an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting, and although their child needs additional services to meet his or her goals, can be denied needed services based on reasons such as: "no funding," or "we just don't have the resources," or "that is not available here as there are no staff."  Are these legitimate reasons to deny a student services that will meet their unique needs?  No! The whole special education system can be very overwhelming for parents and they often "trust" the IEP team to guide them on what their child should or should not receive as far as services, placement, and education.  Parents may also simply accept an IEP team denial of services based on money woes of the school district.  However, regardless of the funding problems school districts seem to be having right now, they cannot deny special education services based on t...

By  Michelle Ball , California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the denial of a parents request for reimbursement ($$$) for the cost of a private placement at Lindamood Bell .  This case illustrates how tricky it can be to obtain reimbursement from a school district for the unilateral placement (e.g. by parents alone) of a child in a private school. In the case of Berns v. Hamilton Southeastern Schools , decided December 22, 2011, Judge Gottschall opined that the student in question had been provided a Free and Appropriate Public Education ( FAPE ), as the student made adequate progress toward his goals during his public school placement.  According to the case, the student in question suffered from a Traumatic Brain Injury ( TBI ) at age 4.  After that time, the school assessed him and placed him in a pre -kindergarten classroom for four weeks.  While in the placement the student met several of hi...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 There are so many special education resources for parents, I thought I would briefly explain just a few and provide links for parent use. 1)   OAH- Office of Administrative Hearings :  This is a very critical agency in California for parents.  OAH is where parents file due process hearing requests to attempt to resolve special education placement, service, FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education), and other special education issues.  Information on how to proceed, and even a searchable opinion database  can be accessed at their site. 2)  CDE - Procedural Safeguards Referral Service :  This is the branch of the CDE (California Department of Education) which takes complaints for failure to implement an IEP, procedural failures of districts and other district issues. 3)    OSEP- the Office of Special Education Programs :  OSEP is a branch of the United States Department...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Recently, the Ninth Circuit Court affirmed the United States District Court for the Central District of California's decision in CB v. Garden Grove Unified School District (2009).  This case (hereinafter "Garden Grove") addresses the issue of parent reimbursement for placement of a special education student at a non-public agency.  The affirmation solidified further the rights of parents to be repaid when a public school district  does not offer a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). It is yet to be seen whether this decision will be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, but for now, Garden Grove stands for/reconfirms the following propositions: 1)  If a District fails to provide FAPE, full reimbursement may be sought by the parents. 2) Such reimbursement may be sought even if the parents place a student with a non-public agency, rather than a non-public school. 3)  Th...