Complaint Summary

Date Findings Report Sent:

August 25, 2025

Case Number:

25-0331

Grade Level:

High school

Person filing complaint:

Parent

School District:

Brookfield Public Schools (single student)

Allegation(s):

• Issue 1: The Parent alleged that District staff refused to implement the Student’s accommodations in accordance with the Student’s IEP on two separate occasions. 34 CFR § 300.17(d) requires that special education and related services are provided in conformity with an IEP.
• Issue 2: The Parent alleged that for one month following the incidents in Issue #1, school staff had the Student go to the library or counseling office instead of attending his co-taught English language arts class, receiving no direct instruction for that class. 34 CFR § 300.17(d) requires that special education and related services are provided in conformity with an IEP.

Conclusion(s):

• Given the disruptive incident that occurred in the hallway on November 19, 2024, it is reasonable to expect that staff would need to clear the hallway for safety reasons. However, the Student’s account of the situation described a follow up interaction several minutes after the initial physical altercation in the hallway which had been cleared. When the Student expressed that he was using a break pass in accordance with his IEP, the staff member should not have further questioned the Student or directed the Student to return to class. The building’s use of the Secure Pass app should have been accessed for confirmation that the Student was approved to be in the hallway. Furthermore, the assistant principal later informed the Parent that the staff member realized their error in how they responded to the Student (Fact #7). The interaction that occurred in the Student’s co-taught English classroom on November 25, 2024, was sarcastic in nature and did not appear to have been conducted in a private setting, as required in the Student’s accommodation. Lastly, even if the Student felt uncomfortable attending his co-taught English class following the incident on November 25, 2024, staff and administration were responsible for addressing the issue and developing a plan to support the Student, not removing the Student from the classroom and excusing the absences. Completing work on Google classroom in areas outside of the classroom does not replace instruction within the classroom. The District is in violation of the 34 CFR § 300.17(d) as it relates to the implementation of the accommodations in question and the Student’s removal from his co-taught English class. Corrective action is required.

Corrective Action(s):

1. The District must provide the Student with 5 hours of 1:1 tutoring in Reading/English Language Arts by a special education teacher based on the Student’s removal from the co-taught English class to the counseling office. A log must be kept and include the date, time, length of session, and focus of the session. The CSDE must receive monthly updates on the completion of the compensatory education services beginning on October 1, 2025. All compensatory education services must be completed by December 31, 2025.
2. The District must provide training to the Student’s teachers and staff, including building administrators for the 2024-2025 school year on the requirements of 34 CFR § 300.17(d) focusing on the implementation of IEP services and school wide implementation of accommodations. A review of this information along with staff signatures and date must be provided to the CSDE on or before October 25, 2025.
3. The District must share this findings letter with the Student’s school team for the 2024-2025 school year as well as the staff member involved in the incident on November 19, 2024. The staff must provide their signature and date following the review of this findings letter which must be sent to the CSDE on or before October 25, 2025.