This is a summary of the fifth edition of CSNLG’s podcast Special Education Matters. In this podcast, our host Michael Boll and lead attorney Richard Isaacs discuss what families should do if the school district files a lawsuit against the family. The podcast can be found here.

There are two particular instances where a district might sue a family

1. A parent requests an an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation) to be funded by the school district and the district chooses to defend their assessment

  • In this scenario, the law requires that they file a lawsuit to defend their assessment.
  • At this point, the parent may choose to drop the request for funding, and the lawsuit would go away.

2. The district files a lawsuit to enforce their IEP offer if a parent doesn’t consent to their IEP.

  • For example, there are a lot of families that will disagree with the district’s offer and they’ll push for funding for a private school. The district can then sue to deny your request for them to fund a private school.
  • This typically comes into play when the family files suit for reimbursement of a placement. The district will then turn around and sue the family to defend its placement in response.

Timeframes are different if a district initiates the suit

The time frame is much shorter.

  • When the family files suit: a 30 day resolution period starts, the court has to have a decision within 45 days, so there’s about 75 days for things to work out.
  • When the district files: there is no resolution period, so a hearing has to be held within 45 days.

How do we deal with either of these situations?

It is a scary thing when the district is filing suit against a family. But again, this doesn’t change much – we can usually work it out.

  • Sometimes we countersue, and we join the two cases together and we get new dates set. If the district is going to file, we are also going to file.
  • The OAH (Office of Administrative Hearings) makes the student’s case the controlling case for date purposes and scheduling purposes.

Is it realistic of you to represent yourself in the lawsuit?

  • There are plenty of decisions where parents will go alone and win. The judge is sometimes more lenient towards parents without representation.
  • However, we would never advise a client to go at it alone, although some parents have been quite successful doing that.

To conclude, if you find out that the district filed a lawsuit against you, what steps should you take?

  • Consult with an attorney.
  • There are many attorneys that are able to provide a quick, free consultation and point the family in the right direction.

This summary is part of our complete Beginner’s Guide to the Special Education Legal Process.

Michael Boll, father to a son with autism and CSNLG team member, talks with attorney Richard Isaacs about the scary thought of a district suing the family. It does happen and sometimes they feel compelled to do it.

 

 

 

This article is a summary of the podcast, Deciding to File a Lawsuit from the podcast Special Education Matters, with host Michael Boll and CSNLG lead attorney Richard Isaacs. The podcast can be found here. This conversation focuses on what happens when a family may decide to file a due process complaint if they disagree with the districts offer of services.

What will happen after filing a due process complaint?

  • A Resolution Session within 15 days must be scheduled
  • Mediation may be scheduled
  • Trial/hearing if no resolution reached

What leads to the due process complaint?

  • After an IEP has been conducted there may be outstanding issues to resolve or services expected.
  • The family and the district cannot come to agreement on what is considered a FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education)
  • Parents have paid for educational services and are requesting reimbursement.
  • If there is no agreement, a due process complaint is filed.

How does the resolution process begin?

  • Once the due process complaint is filed, a resolution session must be scheduled within 15 days by the school district.
  • There is a 30 day resolution period before the trial can begin. There are exceptions to this rule.

What happens in the resolution session?

  • In the resolution session, attorneys are encouraged not to attend.
  • If a family brings their attorney, the district can also bring their attorney, however, if the parent does not bring an attorney, the district cannot bring their attorney.
  • This provides an incentive for the district admin to discuss concerns and solutions with the parents and resolve the issues together.

Is this process helpful?

  • The resolution process may be useful, and a resolution can potentially be reached.
  • However, cases are rarely settled at the resolution session.
  • Usually, the resolution session  is not helpful. families t

What happens in the next step, mediation?

  • Mediation is a voluntary process, but is heavily encouraged.
  • Mediation has the benefit of having mediators; typically administrative law judges (ALJs).
  • The benefit here is the mediator understands the law and has experience in helping the parties reach a settlement.

Problems with mediation:

  • In the case of a poor mediator, where the ALJ may be inexperienced  or otherwise unsuitable, a successful mediation may not occur.
  • Another option is to skip mediation and sit down directly with the school district and the attorneys in a settlement conference. This is beneficial when the relationship between the family and district is strong.
  • The bottom line is: mediation can be a waste of time without the right mediator.
  • Currently, about 60% of mediation is a waste of time; it is ineffective, inefficient, and provides an unnecessary expense for families.
  • Clients will be advised differently on how to approach mediation under different circumstances.

Benefits of mediation:

  • Mediation, in the right conditions, can lead to resolutions with more creativity — resolutions that would otherwise not be granted at hearing.

What about trials or hearings?

  • Around 94 percent of due process complaints do not go to hearing. They may be settled or dismissed.
  • It is important to note that clients and the district may not necessarily be opposed in the sense that they are both working to help the student succeed, but may disagree on how to do so.
  • Sometimes, when this decision goes to a judge who is unfamiliar with the student in question, the solution may be unsuitable.
  • Thus, it is important try and  settle each case, rather than go to hearing. Hearing is the last option.

This summary is part of our complete Beginner’s Guide to the Special Education Legal Process.

 

Michael Boll, father to a son with autism and CSNLG team member, talks with attorney Richard Isaacs about the choice to file a lawsuit.

Michael Boll, father to a son with autism and CSNLG team member, talks with attorney Richard Isaacs about deciding on solutions for your child’s specific situation and then advocating for those solutions with the school district.

Michael Boll, father to a son with autism and CSNLG team member, talks with attorney Richard Isaacs about understanding your case through the file review process.

 

 

A Beginner’s Guide to the Special Education Legal Process

This blog is based on the first of a series of podcasts called Special Education Matters, featuring Michael and our lead attorney Richard Isaacs. Michael and Richard discuss the process that begins when a family decides to work with us. Some of this process is specific to CSNLG, but much of the information we share can be taken and applied to your own situation. We begin with the very first stage in the process, deciding to work together.

Stage 1: Deciding to Work Together

You must decide if you even want to work with and involve a law firm

  • The best way to do this is hold a conversation between us and your family to ensure everyone’s needs are met

How we enact this process at CSNLG

  1. We ask you to fill out an intake form for your information that’s on our website at CSNLG.com/intake
    1. We ask you a pretty detailed list of questions about your situation and about the situation for your son or daughter or guardian.
  2. That information is transferred to us and we work to set up a free consultation.
    1. This consultation does take a little bit of time
    2. During this time we learn whether we can help you, or if we should direct you to someone else
    3. It helps us gain an understanding of the case and helps us share with you the next steps for a typical family
    4. We try to get real information that you can use even if you don’t decide to work with us.
      1. For example, what the next steps might be and what the law says regarding your situation.
  3. We then, if you agree, send an agreement to you
    1. This agreement is called a Retention Agreement and it explains the nature of the relationship between you and CSNLG (us).out the
  4. Two additional forms are sent to you
    1. Authorization for representation
      1. Later sent to districts to inform them that you are being represented by a law firm
    2. Authorization to request records
      1. Allows us to request records from districts

This summary is part of our complete Beginner’s Guide to the Special Education Legal Process.

Michael Boll, father to a son with autism and CSNLG team member, introduces our special series on the process of working with an attorney or advocate to help your son or daughter. This is a mutli-part series.

We start with how the process works here at CSNLG and what steps happen to go from someone seeking help and information to hiring a law firm.

If you have a child with special needs such as autism, you may quickly start hearing about Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) and Verbal Behavior (VB) as therapies that are helpful to children.

Today I talk with Dr. Denise Eckman president and executive director of Creative Behavior Interventions. We discuss an overview of what ABA is and which types of children, and even adults, benefit from this type of intervention. We go a little deep and by the end of this show, you will have a functional understanding of behaviors, their antecedents and a breakdown of different types of communication we find in language. In fact, if you listen carefully, you may be able to discuss Mands, Tacts, Intraverbal and Echoic communication!

Dr. Susan Burnett, Paralegal and Advocate 

Have you ever gone to your child’s IEP meeting with the uncomfortable premonition right from the start that it is going to be an adversarial meeting?

You walk in and everyone is friendly enough, but then someone proceeds with a conversation laden with inaccuracies and diversions. When challenged, the friendliness dissipates and the tension begins to grow. You request that the note taker record a detailed and accurate description of what is discussed. This is met with opposition as the person taking the notes is also the one who is running the meeting.

What do you do when the odds of a fair, honest and balanced discussion that could result in appropriate assessments and interventions seem unattainable?

What are your options?

Did you know that you can call an end to the meeting? As an equal IEP team member, you do not have to stay in a meeting where you are being minimized and sometimes bullied. You can simply state that you don’t feel as though the district is allowing you to be an equal participant and therefore the meeting will have to be rescheduled. You can take this even further if needed and send a letter to the director of special education requesting that a particular IEP team member not participate in your child’s meeting.

If needed invite the district education special to meet with you personally and listen to your concerns from the meeting.

Hopefully, you will never have this type of experience and your team already works collaboratively with you. But if difficulties in these meetings occur, it is important to know that as an equal IEP team member you have a vital role in the meeting and can advocate for your child as needed