Teacher of the Year Ceremony
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Seymour 25-0641

Complaint Summary

Date:

September 18, 2025

Case Number:

25-0641

Grade Level:

Elementary

Person filing complaint:

Parent

School District:

Seymour Public Schools

Allegation(s):

  • Failure to provide safe and appropriate transportation, as a related service, and as required to implement the individualized education program for each child with a disability: (a) Total travel time shall not exceed one hour each way to and from a special education facility. All decisions relating to travel time shall take into account the nature and severity of the child's disability and the child's age. If an appropriate placement cannot be made without exceeding the one-hour travel time limit, written parental consent to longer travel time shall be obtained prior to implementing the transportation service; (b) Operators of vehicles shall be given such in-service training as is necessary to acquaint them with the specific needs of the children being transported and to equip them to meet those needs. Operators of vehicles shall meet the licensure requirements of the department of motor vehicles. (RCSA § 10-76d-19).

Conclusion(s):

  • The Student’s school day ends at 3:20PM and buses are typically loaded between 3:35PM and 3:40PM. The District provided two weeks of data that shows that the Student was on the van on the way home from school. This data indicates that the Student was on the van on the way home from school for an estimated time of 50 to 60 minutes. The Parent provided messages from multiple days in January to April 2025, that indicates that the van was late picking up the Student from school. Although the District provided limited data of the Student’s van route on the way home from school, the Parent indicated that the Student arrived home from school at 4:30PM. If buses are loaded around 3:35PM and the Student arrived home at 4:30PM, this would not exceed more than one hour on the van. There were also many days when the van was late to pick the Student up from school, which would explain why the Student arrived home at a later time on those occasions. Therefore, the District is not in violation of RCSA § 10-76d-19 (a). Corrective action is not required. The Student’s IEP does not specify a plan for wearing a jacket when on the van. Neither the transportation company, nor the District, has an explicit policy regarding students wearing jackets in a car seat on the van. The District created a plan with the Parent for the Parent to remove the Student’s jacket prior to loading onto the van. The District accommodated the Parent’s request to change the Student’s van route in April 2025. The District has provided training for all van drivers and monitors, including training specific to transporting students with disabilities. For these reasons, the District is not in violation of RCSA § 10-76d-19. No corrective action is required. A review of the Student’s progress in school was conducted to determine if the changes to the van drivers and monitors, and changes in the Student’s routine, specifically the removal of the Student’s jacket on the van, had negative impacts on the Student’s school day because of the Student’s disability. The Student has no disciplinary reports for the 2024-2025 school year in school or on the van. The Student’s progress report for IEP goals and objectives dated May 28, 2025, indicates that the Student made satisfactory progress on 2 out of 2 goals and 5 out of 5 objectives. The Parent provided evidence of three messages from the Student’s teacher that indicated that the Student was making progress at school, showing no aggression towards teachers or peers, and enjoyed being at school. There is no evidence that the changes in the Student’s routine had an adverse impact on the Student’s school day and ability to participate in learning. Therefore, the District is not in violation of RCSA § 10-76d-19. It must be noted that the Student missed many days of school due to the Parent’s concerns with the transportation. It is recommended that the District conduct a PPT meeting to review and revise the Student’s IEP, including the transportation plan for this school year. It is recommended that the District and Parent establish and implement a plan for the removal of the jacket prior to the Student loading onto the van and that this plan is included in the Student’s IEP.

Corrective Action(s):

  • No Required Corrective Actions