Hamden 26-0501

Complaint Summary

Date Findings Report Sent

May 13, 2026

Case Number:

26-0501

Grade Level:

Elementary School

Person filing complaint:

Parent

School District:

Hamden Public Schools (single student)

Allegation(s):

Issue 1: The Parent alleged that the Student’s special transportation for the 2025-2026 school year had not been provided consistently and that the transportation had not arrived to pick up the Student on time resulting in the Student being late for school, had returned the Student home from school late and exceeded one hour or has not picked the Student up at all. (34 CFR §§ 300.323(c)(2) and 300.17(d) and RCSA § 10-76d-1(a)(1) and RCSA § 10-76d-19(a))

Issue 2: Issue 2 was not investigated as it was outside of the scope of the state complaint process.

Conclusion(s):

Issue 1: With regards to implementing the Student’s IEP and transportation issues impacting the Student’s presence at school for his 3-hour program, a review of the screenshots from the transportation company’s app confirmed that the Student’s bus arrived at school after the start of his school day twenty-three times.  A review of arrival times and comparison with the Student’s attendance confirmed that the Student was on the transportation for twenty of those school days.  The Student arrived on average just over 4 minutes late to school on those twenty days.  The individual minutes ranged from one minute to ten minutes, with six of the instances resulting in the Student being 1-2 minutes late for school.  Given the schedule and start of a preschool day, it is determined that the tardies due to the Student’s transportation arriving late on occasion throughout the investigation timeline did not support a material implementation failure.  Therefore, the District was not in violation of 34 CFR §§ 300.323(c)(2) and 300.17(d) and RCSA § 10-76d-1(a)(1) which require each board of education to provide in a timely way special education and related services in accordance with the student’s IEP.  No corrective action is required.  See the recommendation below.

With regards to the length of the Student’s special transportation home from school each day, the limited GPS data provided by the District/transportation company supported the Parent’s allegation that the Student’s transportation regularly exceeded one hour on his way home from school.  The Student’s school day ended at 3:30pm and the Student resides 3.6 miles from the school.  Of the seventeen days of GPS data provided, the Student’s transportation home from school exceeded one hour ten times or 58.82% of the days in which data was provided.  The screenshots provided by the Parent from the transportation company’s app indicated fifty-nine days in which the Student was dropped off at home after 4:30pm, with occasions as late at 4:51pm.  Therefore, the District was in violation of RCSA § 10-76d-19(a) regarding the Student’s total travel time from school to home during the investigation timeline.  Corrective action is required.

Issue 2: Issue 2 was not investigated as it was outside of the scope of the state complaint process. 

Corrective Action(s):

1. The District must meet with the contracted transportation company to develop a plan to ensure that the Student’s commute does not exceed one hour from the Student’s school to his home in accordance with RCSA § 10-76d-19(a).If the length of the afternoon transportation cannot be shortened then the Student’s special transportation needs to be changed to ensure an appropriate length of commute.The outcome of the meeting and signatures of those in attendance must be provided to this investigator no later than June 1, 2026.
2. The District must provide this investigator with detailed daily documentation on the Student’s transportation to and from school through the remainder of the 2025-2026 school year to ensure that the travel time is not exceeding one hour each way.Documentation must be sent on June 1, 2026, for the month of May and no later than June 30, 2026, for the month of June.If transportation is exceeding one hour, the District must convene a PPT meeting to review and work with the transportation company to make any necessary adjustments to the Student’s transportation in accordance with corrective action item 1 above.

Recommendations: