Compliance Complaints

CFR §300.151 – 300.153

One way to resolve a roadblock is to write a compliance complaint to the State Education Agency.

The school district is obligated to follow special education laws and it is obligated to implement your child’s IEP as written. When the school district does not do what it is supposed to do when it is supposed to do it, you may remind the teacher or the principal. You may write a letter to the district’s director of special education. If you do not get an appropriate response within a reasonable amount of time, you may choose to submit a compliance complaint to the State Education Agency.

The compliance complaint is not your first option for resolving issues, for several reasons. First, it may take more time to write a complaint and receive a resolution than if you can get someone at the school or at the district to resolve the issue. Besides, the State will want to know what you have done to try to solve the issue before you submitted the complaint. If you have written emails and letters in an effort to resolve the situation, those will serve as evidence that the district has not complied with the law and that you have tried to obtain compliance with no positive result. Additionally, since school districts frequently don’t always tell the truth, even if you have evidence, there is no guarantee that the State will side with you. Finally, districts frequently do not comply with the law, so you could be writing compliance complaints letters constantly. To avoid that, here are some points to consider:

1. It takes 60 days for the state department of education to investigate and write a report on what it found. That’s if the state education agency follows its timelines. With that in mind, if there is a quicker way to get what you need, try that first.
2. You may have a bazillion issues to complain about, but it is probably best to pick out two or three of the most salient issues to deal with in one letter.
3. If your child’s case is in due process or headed to due process before the 60 days allowed for the investigation and report on the same issues, you will probably want the issue to be resolved at due process. In other words, you will not try to resolve issues at due process and through a compliance complaint at the same time.
4. Finally, no matter how much evidence you have supporting your allegations, there is no guarantee that the state education agency is going to believe you over the school district.

Following are some reasons that you might write a compliance complaint:

• Anytime the school fails to implement something on the IEP.
• Failure to have all necessary IEP team participants in attendance at the IEP meeting.
• Failure to provide prior written notice in response to a request.
• Failure to adhere to timelines when assessing the student
• Failure to provide copies of records within the timelines.
• Failure to give parents a copy of the annual IEP for review and consent after it was completed
• Failure to respond appropriately to a request for an independent education evaluation
• Failure to hold an IEP within timelines

Your state’s department of education should have a form online that you can fill out to file the complaint. If you prefer that to writing a letter, you may find it easier. Personally, I usually need more space to explain than what might be available on a form.

→ The complaint must be filed within a year of the alleged violation.
→ You must send a copy of the complaint to the district (local education agency) at the same time you send the complaint to the State Education Agency.

300.153 Filing a complaint. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/b/300.153

Be sure to include:

• The name of the school district and the name of the school your child attends
• Your name and address
• The name and address of your child
• The facts of your allegations
• A description of the nature of the problem of your child and facts relating to the problem.
• A proposed resolution
• You must sign and date the complaint

Your state education agency’s website will have the address and/or email address of where to send the letter. It should also have the phone number. If you have a question about filing a complaint, call them and ask them.