Teacher of the Year Ceremony
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Waterbury 25-0484

Complaint Summary

Date Findings Report Sent:

May 19, 2025

Case Number:

25-0484

Grade Level:

Elementary

Person filing complaint:

Parent

School District:

Waterbury Public Schools

Allegation(s):

  • The Parent claims that the Student has not being provided paraeducator support in accordance with his Individualized Education Program (IEP). 34 CFR §§ 300.323(c)(2) and 300.17 and RCSA § 10-76d-1(a)(1)

Conclusion(s):

  • 34 CFR §§ 300.323(c)(2) and 300.17 and RCSA § 10-76d-1(a)(1) require each board of education to provide in a timely way special education and related services in accordance with the student’s individualized education program. After the IEP is written, the district is obligated to provide the student with the special education and related services listed in the IEP. That includes all supplementary aids and services and program modifications that the IEP team has identified as necessary for the student to advance appropriately toward the established IEP goals, to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum, and to participate in other school activities. Through email and ParentSquare communication by the Parent and District staff, it is confirmed that there were school days in which the Student did not have paraeducator support due to staff absences and the availability of paraeducators to cover those absences. The lack of documentation supporting the District’s paraeducator coverage schedule makes it challenging for this investigator to quantify the exact number of days in which the Student did not receive paraeducator support in accordance with his IEP. The available progress reports on IEP goals and objectives and the classroom teacher’s reports at PPT meetings indicated that the Student was making progress in the classroom and on his individualized goals and objectives. The Connecticut State Department of Education recognizes the challenges faced by Districts to employ paraeducators and have the availability of staff to cover paraeducator absences and/or employ substitute paraeducators. It is however determined that the instances in which the Student was not provided paraeducator support in accordance with his IEP, was a violation of 34 CFR §§ 300.323(c)(2) and 300.17 and RCSA § 10-76d-1(a)(1). Corrective action is required. Through the course of this investigation, the District was unable to produce all of the required progress reports on IEP goals and objectives. 34 CFR § 300.320(a)(3) requires that the IEP must include a description of how the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issuance of report cards) will be measured; and when periodic reports on the progress the child is making toward meeting the annual goals will be provided. The Student’s IEP indicated that the progress monitoring schedule was the marking period quarter. Due to the lack of progress reports on IEP goals and objectives at the end of the 2023-2024 school year and on or about November 2024, the District was in violation of 34 CFR § 300.320(a)(3). Corrective action is required.

Corrective Action(s):

  1. The District must provide a daily log through the remainder of the school year confirming the Student’s paraeducator support in accordance with the Student’s IEP. Logs must be sent to this investigator on June 1, 2025, and no later than June 30, 2025.
  2. The District must continue their efforts to hire additional paraeducators to implement IEPs as written. The District must provide this investigator with their plan for recruitment for the 2025-2026 school year no later than August 1, 2025. Please refer to the following document on information on staffing shortages. Staffing Shortages and the Potential Impact on the Provision of Services
  3. The special education team members at the Student’s current school must review Section 12 of the IEP Manual on progress reporting requirements as well as the CT-SEDS Progress Reporting Manual, Section 2, pages 66-68 (attached). The special education staff members must sign and date confirming the review of the information, and their signatures must be sent to this investigator no later than May 30, 2025. The District must then send to this investigator the names of 3 students attending the Student’s current school with completed Progress Reports on IEP Goals and Objectives in CT-SEDS in June 2025, November 2025, and January 2026 for review.