Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School & Child Care

Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School and Child Care
violations themselves impeded the student’s right to a free appropriate public
education, significantly impeded the parent’s opportunity to participate in the
decision-making process regarding the provision of a free appropriate public
education to the student, or caused the student to be deprived of educational
benefit. 34 C.F.R. 513. A student can raise the procedural violations at a due
process hearing, but under the IDEA, the procedural violations will not be
meaningful in the hearing officer’s determination of whether or not the student
received a free appropriate public education unless the procedural violations
were significant enough to meet one of the three criteria listed above.
8:14Q: When would a due process hearing request be appropriate?
A: A due process hearing request would be appropriate when a student’s parents
and the school district have been unable to reach an agreement about some
aspect of the student’s special education program or the identification or
evaluation of the student. Because of the IDEA’s emphasis on voluntary dispute
resolution and the availability of other less burdensome resolution options,
including mediation, a due process hearing generally should occur only after
other efforts to resolve the issue have failed.
8.15Q: How would a parent request a due process hearing?
A: Either a parent or a school district may file a request for a due process hearing.
There is a two-year statute of limitations, meaning that the hearing request must
allege an IDEA violation that occurred not more than two years before the date
the parent or public agency knew or should have known about the alleged action
that forms the basis of the due process complaint. If the state has a different
statute of limitations, that timeline would apply. 34 C.F.R. 300.507.
The party filing for a due process hearing must send a copy of the request to the
state education agency. If a parent files a due process complaint, the school
district must file a response unless the district has already met the requirements
of prior written notice with respect to the issues. 34 C.F.R. 300.508(e). Prior
written notice is the notice that a school district must provide to parents when
the district proposes or refuses to initiate or change the identification,
evaluation, or educational placement of the student or the provision of a free
appropriate public education to him or her. 34 C.F.R. 300.503. If the district
files the hearing request, the parent must file an answer. 34 C.F.R. 300.508(f).
8.16Q: Does the due process hearing request have to include specific information?
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A: Yes. The due process hearing request must include the student’s name, his or her
address of residence, the name of the school the student is attending, a
description of the nature of the problem relating to the proposed initiation or