Complaint Summary

Date:

May 9, 2024

Case Number:

24-0416

Grade Level:

Elementary

Person filing complaint:

Parent

School District:

Madison Public Schools (single student)

Allegation(s):

• The District failed to provide the Student with a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in her least restrictive environment (LRE). This claim is based on the fact that the Student has an IEP for 30 minutes per week of speech and language services which was recommended as itinerant speech and language services, and therefore the Student was not recommended for the District’s integrated preschool program. The Student is now attending the full-time integrated preschool program but the District is partially charging the Parent for the Student to attend. Both the Parent and District acknowledge that the Student attends the preschool program full-time but that the Parent is only charged for three of the five days per week. 34 CFR § 300.101 requires that a school district must provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to all children residing in their school district. In order to do so, a school district must offer an IEP that is reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress that is more than de minimis and is appropriate in light of the child's circumstances.
• The District failed to comply with several IEP and PPT document requirements. Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies (RCSA) § 10-76d-13(a)(6) requires a full copy of the individualized education program shall be sent to the parents within five days after the planning and placement team meeting to develop, review or revise the individualized education program.

Conclusion(s):

• The Student’s PPT has determined that 30 minutes per week of speech and language services delivered in an itinerant model is appropriate for the Student to make progress that is more than de minimus and is appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances. This is supported by the fact that following the commencement of services on September 15, 2023, the Student consistently made progress and quickly mastered her goal and objectives. A PPT meeting was convened six weeks after the itinerant services began to review progress and conduct additional targeted assessments. These assessment also supported the PPT recommendations. The Parent continued to request that the Student participate in the District’s integrated preschool program. While this request was refused at each PPT meeting, the District did agree to the Student participating in the preschool program as a peer on the days that the Student did not receive the itinerant speech services. The District amended the IEP services from one 30 minute session per week to two fifteen minute sessions per week to allow the Student to participate in the District’s integrated preschool program at no cost for those two days, in addition to offering full-time transportation at no cost. Preschool is not a required grade in the state of Connecticut. The amount of time a special education student participates in a public preschool program is ultimately determined by the PPT. The PPT further determines the LRE for the provision of services. If a district is able to provide the services outlined in a preschool student’s IEP through an itinerant model, then that is the student’s free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. Therefore, it is determined that the District is not in violation of 34 CFR § 300.101 which requires that a school district must provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to all children residing in their school district. Furthermore, they are not in violation of 34 CFR § 300.101 for charging the Parent for the Student’s participation in the preschool program for the 3 school days each week that the Student is not receiving the special education services outlined in her IEP.
• The District is in violation of RCSA § 10-76d-13(a)(6) which requires a full copy of the individualized education program to be sent to the parents within five days after a PPT meeting. The District stated in their response to this complaint their intentions to address the issue comprehensively. The District stated that they will be providing additional training sessions on timelines and the Connecticut Special Education Data System (CT-SEDS) for all district staff.

Corrective Action(s):

• The District must follow through with their commitment to providing staff with additional training on timelines and CT-SEDS. Included in this training must be a review of RCSA timeline requirements as well as the required documents in CT-SEDS for PPT meetings.
• The District must provide this office with the names of five District students who’s PPTs convene after the training so that this office may review the generation and finalization dates of the IEPs via the state electronic IEP platform, CT-SEDS, to ensure compliance with RCSA timeline requirements.