Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School & Child Care

Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School and Child Care
allowed to attend. If parents choose to pen the proceedings, they may do so.
If parents prevail in a due process case or in court, they may be entitled to
attorney’s fees. 34 C.F.R. 300.517. There are certain circumstances under which
parents or their attorneys may be liable for the school district’s attorney’s fees,
such as if the parents bring a case for an improper purpose. 34 C.F.R. 300.517.
8.20Q: May a party appeal a due process hearing decision?
A: Yes. Either parents or the school district may appeal a due process hearing
decision to court. Decisions can be appealed to state or federal court. The IDEA
sets a 90-day timeline for appeal unless states set a different appeal timeline.
8.21Q: What are the benefits and drawbacks of the due process hearing system?
A: For parents who wish to have their day in court, a due process hearing offers an
administrative trial in front of an impartial decision maker. Due process hearings
have become relatively formal proceedings, and parents generally must go
through the administrative process in order to proceed to court. In very rare
circumstances, parents can go to court without exhausting administrative
remedies, but generally only if exhausting administrative remedies would be
futile. The benefit of a hearing is that parents can let an impartial decision maker
hear evidence and make a decision, instead of continuing to work with a school
district they find difficult. This is also a drawback, however, especially for
parents of young children. Due process hearings by their nature are adversarial.
Children may be in the special education system for many years, and it is helpful
if parents can forge working relationships with school district staff. A due
process hearing will resolve a dispute, but it is generally not the best way to do
so. It is helpful for parents and advocates to look to the alternative methods of
dispute resolution discussed earlier in this chapter in an effort to resolve issues
in the least adversarial way possible, and to save due process for the rare
instances when it is truly impossible to resolve an issue any other way.
8.22Q: What can a parent do if he or she believes that the school has discriminated
against his or her child?
A: One option is for a parent to file a complaint. If the parent believes that the
school district has violated Section 504, he or she can file a complaint with the
U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) or, in some states,
as discussed below, may file a request for a hearing. There is a 180-day timeline
for filing complaints; OCR will not investigate an alleged act of discrimination
raised in a complaint that took place more than 180 days previously, unless the
complaint meets one of the limited reasons for a waiver of the rule. Prior to
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