Complaint Summary

Date Findings Report Sent:

August 08, 2025

Case Number:

25-0688

Grade Level:

Elementary

Person filing complaint:

Parent

School District:

Waterbury Public Schools and Brass City Charter School (single student)

Allegation(s):

• The Parent claimed that the Behavior Intervention Plan in the Student’s IEP was not implemented during an incident that resulted in an out of school suspension. The Parent further claimed that data was not collected in accordance with the Student’s BIP in History class from April 28, 2025, through June 9, 2025. (34 CFR §§ 300.323(c)(2) and 300.17, RCSA § 10-76d-1(a)(1), and CGS § 10-66ee)

Conclusion(s):

• A review of the incident that resulted in the Student’s three day out of school suspension indicated that the classroom teacher implemented the following strategies from the BIP: reminders of the expectations, restated the expectations, removed the audience, and called for support staff to intervene and attempt to de-escalate the situation. The BIP included the following additional strategies that were not implemented: positive praise, offering a break, neutral questions, and opportunity to use a coping tool. The classroom teacher may or may not have been able, during the incident, to reasonably apply these strategies, and we cannot know for certain that the use of these additional strategies would have changed the course of the incident. However, given the fact that all of the components of the BIP were not implemented and the incident was not officially documented outside of an email, it is determined that the BIP was not implemented in its entirety or with fidelity during the incident on March 26, 2025, and therefore the Charter violated 34 CFR §§ 300.323(c)(2) and 300.17(d), RCSA § 10-76d-1(a)(1). Corrective action is required. The Student should not have been excluded from their classroom when adult support was not present. Whether the support staff member was in the classroom with the Student or not, the general education classroom teacher is responsible for the delivery of instruction and support to students, including the implementation of and data collection for a BIP that is a part of a student’s IEP. Furthermore, in this case, it is important to note that the support staff member’s support/presence was not documented in the Student’s IEP under supplemental aids and services or as a service provider. There is only one data point for History class from April 29, 2025, through June 6, 2025. Despite the Charter identifying specific days that the Student did not attend History class during this time period, it would be expected that there would be more than one day of data collection during this 6-week time period. It is determined that the Charter violated 34 CFR §§ 300.323(c)(2) and 300.17(d), RCSA § 10-76d-1(a)(1) as required data collection was clearly outlined in the Student’s BIP. Corrective action is required. Throughout the emails sent between the school social worker and Charter staff, there are multiple mentions of a “toxic relationship” and ongoing conflict between the Student and the classroom teacher. While it is outside of the scope of the state complaint process, it is extremely concerning that a classroom teacher would be described as having a toxic relationship or ongoing conflict with an elementary school student. The CSDE strongly recommends that the administration at the Charter School address the concerns raised by staff. Through the course of this investigation, it was reported by the Charter School that there was no official documentation, or discipline report, of the Student’s three day out of school suspension on March 26, 2025. This matter is referred to the CSDE Consultant for school discipline for review and follow up, if needed.

Corrective Action(s):

1. The Charter must review with the History teacher the requirements of implementing a BIP with fidelity, de-escalation strategies, and data collection practices. An outline of the review as well as staff signature and date must be provided to this investigator on or before September 30, 2025.
2. The Charter must review with the entire staff the requirements of implementing special education and related services in accordance with a student’s individualized education program with a particular focus on a BIP as a required part of the IEP and required data collection in accordance with 34 CFR §§ 300.323(c)(2) and 300.17, RCSA § 10-76d-1(a)(1). An outline of the review as well as staff signature and date must be provided to this investigator on or before September 30, 2025.