Complaint Summary

Date:

July 29, 2025

Case Number:

26-0010

Grade Level:

High school

Person filing complaint:

Attorney

School District:

Bridgeport Public Schools

Allegation(s):

• The Parent's Counsel alleged that:
  1. As of the one-year look-back date associated with the filing of this complaint, an earlier PPT decision to return the Student to his District home school had not been implemented.
  2. The intellectual/cognitive functioning and academic evaluations agreed to at the Student’s PPT meeting and consented to by the Parent were not completed in a timely manner, as well as a Speech and Language (S&L) evaluation, a Physical Therapy (PT) evaluation, and an Occupational Therapy (PT) evaluation which were not completed by the District in any manner.
  3. The Parent's Counsel further alleged that in delaying the cognitive/academic evaluations and failing to complete the S&L, PT, and OT evaluations the school district failed offer the Student an IEP that was reasonably calculated to enable the Student to make progress that was appropriate in light of the Student’s circumstances. 34 CFR § 300.304 / 34 CFR § 300.101

Conclusion(s):

• After the Student’s planning and placement team identified that the Student’s placement could not meet his needs and recommended a change in placement for the Student, a period of fourteen months passed during which the District acknowledged a series of staff oversight and inaction took place prohibiting the Student from accessing the educational setting that the PPT had identified he needed as well as the evaluations that were required to gather critical data. In reviewing progress reports issued during those months, in the areas of reading, writing and math, the Student did not demonstrate progress that was appropriate in light of his circumstances. It was concluded that the District was in violation of 34 CFR § 300.304. In conducting the investigation, a clear issue of the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) also emerged. For reference: 34 CFR § 300.101 requires that a school district must provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to all children residing in their school district. In order to do so, a school district must offer an IEP that is reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress that is appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances. Based on the Student’s progress during this time and the program provided to the Student in the setting which was not the setting recommended by the PPT for 14 months, it was concluded that the District did not provide FAPE to the Student. The District was found in violation of 34 CFR § 300.101. A referral to the Bureau’s Differentiated Monitoring System for consideration of additional review was also made.

Corrective Action(s):

• The District shall complete the Student’s speech and language evaluation, physical therapy evaluation, and occupational therapy evaluation and convene a PPT meeting, with the Parents in attendance, to review the results of those evaluations along with the results of the cognitive/academic evaluation and determine the Student’s eligibility for those related services and/or need for increased services in the cognitive/academic area. As a result of that PPT, for any related services for which the Student is found eligible and for any cognitive/academic services for which it is determined that services shall be increased as a result of the evaluation results, the District, in collaboration with the Parents shall develop a compensatory services plan to provide the Student with services equal in amount to 5 months of missed services. Upon issuance of this Complaint Findings Report, such findings shall be provided to the Bureau of Special Education’s Differentiated Monitoring System team to determine if further review is warranted.