Complaint Summary

Date Findings Report Sent:

October 18, 2024

Case Number:

25-0085

Grade Level:

Middle

Person filing complaint:

Office of the Child Advocate

School District:

Torrington Public Schools (single student)

Allegation(s):

• The complainant alleges that the District committed a Child Find violation under the IDEA, by failing to identify and evaluate the Student for special education and related services despite multiple indicators of a disability that was interfering with his ability to access his educational programming (34 CFR § 300.111 and RCSA § 10-76d-7).

Conclusion(s):

• While the Student was new to the District in the 2023-2024 school year, and staff did not have any previous educational records, the lack of records did not alleviate their child find obligations. Once the previous records were obtained, the Student’s report card indicated that the Student had marginal to unsatisfactory grades during the previous school year. The District was made aware in December of 2023, that the Student had experienced significant trauma and loss. The District alluded to the suspicion of a disability and the potential need for additional support through a Section 504 plan following a “diagnosis that details the significant impact that the diagnosis has on his grades”. The Student was determined eligible for Section 504 and a plan was developed in June of 2024 based on the diagnosis of PTSD and anxiety provided by the Student’s community based clinician. The concerns with the Student’s attendance and work completion were observed and documented from September 2023 through June 2024, as indicated by emails to the Parent from various staff members working with the Student. The District convened Student Support Team (SST) meetings between October and June and provided supports and general education interventions including access to the LEAP program and reading intervention. Despite these supports, the Student continued to exhibit behaviors, attendance, and progress that were unsatisfactory or at a marginal level of acceptance. The District should have initiated a prompt referral to a PPT to consider an initial evaluation to determine whether the Student was eligible for services as a student with a disability prior to the Parent’s request for a PPT meeting in late June 2024. It is therefore concluded that the District violated their child find obligations as outlined in 34 CFR § 300.111 and RCSA § 10-76d-7. Corrective action is required.

Corrective Action(s):

1. The District must provide the Student with compensatory education services in order to place the Student in the position he would have obtained but for the District’s failure to act upon their child find obligations. The Student is to be provided compensatory education services in alignment with the recommendations of the PPT meeting held on October 23, 2024, in which the Student was found eligible for special education and related services.
   1. 35 hours of academic support (forty two 50 minute sessions)
   2. 3 hours of individual counseling A log must be kept for each individual service and include the date, time, length of session, service provider, and focus of the session. The CSDE must receive monthly updates on the completion of the compensatory education services beginning on December 1, 2024. All compensatory education services must be completed by June 30, 2025.
2. The District must provide building and special education administrators across the District with training on their child find obligations in accordance with 34 CFR § 300.111 and RCSA § 10-76d-7. Included in this training must be a review of the regulations as well as a review of this final report. An overview of the training including materials as well as staff signatures, titles, and date indicating the completion of the training must be submitted to this investigator on or before November 30, 2024.