Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School & Child Care

Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School and Child Care
8.3Q:
What is an IDEA complaint?
A: An IDEA complaint is an administrative complaint filed with the state
department of education. A complaint can address any alleged violation of the
IDEA for an individual student or a group of students. The state department of
education must investigate the complaint and, in accord with its general
supervisory responsibility under the IDEA, order corrective action as
appropriate. Corrective actions might include compensatory services or
monetary reimbursement; the state department of education might also provide
technical assistance or attempt to negotiate a resolution between the parent and
the local school district. 34 C.F.R. 300.151 and 152. The state department of
education must have a process in place to give the school district an opportunity
to respond to the complaint. The school district might choose to resolve the
complaint or engage in mediation. If the state department of education
determines that an investigation is necessary, the department must carry out an
independent investigation; this investigation can be on-site.
The state department of education must review all information and make an
independent determination as to whether the school district is violating the
IDEA, then issue a written decision to the complainant that addresses each
allegation and contains findings of fact and conclusions, as well as the reasons
for the state department of education’s decision. The state department of
education has 60 days to complete its investigation unless it determines that
exceptional circumstances warrant an extension. 34 C.F.R. 300.152.
It is important that the written complaint contain as much information as
possible to support the allegation. If a conversation would be helpful, parents or
their representatives may want to request that the state department of education
interview them; however, this is not necessarily a routine part of the
investigation process.
8.4Q:
For what types of issues would it be appropriate to file an IDEA complaint?
A: Although an IDEA complaint can be filed for any type of violation of the IDEA,
such complaints are most effective for procedural violations such as the failure
to provide a service that is required by a student’s IEP. Disputes about the
appropriateness of a service or the amount of a service received by a student do
not readily lend themselves to resolution through the complaint process because
they depend on information that has been analyzed by the IEP team, and the
state department of education will generally refuse to second-guess a decision
made by an IEP team. However, for a student with epilepsy, if an IEP team
refuses to take an action when there is a clear requirement to do so, such as
including administration of routine medication on an IEP or designating a person
to administer emergency antiepileptic medication, the IDEA complaint process
might be a quick and effective way of addressing the issue, rather than
proceeding to due process. In these examples, the law is quite clear — students
110