Hamden 26-0502

Complaint Summary

Date Findings Report Sent

May 13, 2026

Case Number:

26-0502

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 the Student up on time resulting in the Student being late for school, had not picked the Student up for school at all on some days, and had refused to transport the Student home from school. (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: Data provided by the District and/or Parent confirmed that on at least 55 school days, the Student arrived at school on average about 30 minutes after her three-hour program had begun.  There were also eight occasions in which the Student was not provided transportation to school.  Therefore, the District was in violation of 34 CFR §§ 300.323(c)(2) and 300.17(d) and RCSA § 10-76d-1(a)(1).  Corrective action is required.

As it relates to the Parent’s claim that the Student was denied transportation home from school on December 2, 2025, after the Student had a seizure at school, the District did not allow the Student to take her van home despite the Parent contacting the Student’s pediatrician who provided a doctor’s note “clearing” the Student to ride the van home that day.  Although the District refused to transport the Student home, after the Parent informed them that she did not have transportation to pick up the Student, the District provided an Uber to bring the Parent to the school to pick up the Student and then return to their home.  Given the medical concern, the District was not in violation of 34 CFR §§ 300.323(c)(2) and 300.17(d) and RCSA § 10-76d-1(a)(1) when it refused to transport the Student and instead provided the Parent with transportation to get the Student home from school.  No corrective action is required. 

A review of the screenshots from the transportation company’s app indicated that the Student’s transportation home from school exceeded one hour eighteen times between the start of the school year and the filing of this state complaint on March 18, 2026.  The Student resides 3.6 miles from her school.  Therefore, the District was in violation of RCSA § 10-76d-19(a) due to the Student’s transportation exceeding one hour.  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 arrives at school on time and that her commute home does not exceed one hour from school to her home in accordance with RCSA § 10-76d-19(a).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 including GPS data on the Student’s transportation to and from school including arrival and dismissal times through the remainder of the 2025-2026 school year to ensure that the Student is arriving on time and that 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 the Student is arriving late to school or the transportation is exceeding one hour each way, 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.
  3. The District must create and provide a compensatory education plan for the Student based on her late arrival to school and days in which she was not provided with transportation to school throughout the 2025-2026 school year.The Student is to receive a total of 50 hours of compensatory services.A copy of this plan must be provided to this investigator, no later than June 1, 2026.The District must provide this office with monthly updates on the delivery of services until the compensatory education hours are delivered in full.All services under the compensatory education plan must be delivered on or before May 1, 2027.

    If the Parent feels that such compensatory services would be overly burdensome or stressful to the student, the Parent, in collaboration with the District, through the PPT process, may determine an alternate number of compensatory service hours or identify alternative compensatory service strategies, methods or programs to compensate the Student which must be reported to the CSDE.