"Suing the District" or "Filing a State Complaint"

Special Education is not for the faint of heart. It is about big money as much or more as it is about specialized instruction that is designed to meet the needs of a student with disabilities.


A comment from Personal Experience 6:28 about a parent having "sued the district time after time" gives rise to the question if the commenter understands the difference between due process, which is a highly formalized legal procedure (suing), and a state complaint:

§ 300.153 Filing a complaint.
(a) An organization or individual may
file a signed written complaint under
the procedures described in §§ 300.151
through 300.152.
(b) The complaint must include—
(1) A statement that a public agency
has violated a requirement of Part B of
the Act or of this part;
(2) The facts on which the statement
is based;
(3) The signature and contact
information for the complainant; and
(4) If alleging violations with respect
to a specific child—
(i) The name and address of the
residence of the child;
(ii) The name of the school the child
is attending;
(iii) In the case of a homeless child or
youth (within the meaning of section
725(2) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)),
available contact information for the
child, and the name of the school the
child is attending;
(iv) A description of the nature of the
problem of the child, including facts
relating to the problem; and
(v) A proposed resolution of the
problem to the extent known and
available to the party at the time the
complaint is filed.
(c) The complaint must allege a
violation that occurred not more than
one year prior to the date that the
complaint is received in accordance
with § 300.151.
(d) The party filing the complaint
must forward a copy of the complaint to
the LEA or public agency serving the
child at the same time the party files the
complaint with the SEA.
(Approved by the Office of Management and
Budget under control numbers 1820–0030
and 1820–0600)
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e–3)
(not suing)

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As we should all know, the District has an obligation to provide the parents the rules of the game. This may be difficult if the front line District people don't know the rules themselves.

"§ 300.504 Procedural safeguards notice.
(a) General.

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(2) Upon receipt of the first State
complaint under §§ 300.151 through
300.153 and upon receipt of the first
due process complaint under § 300.507
in a school year;

(c) Contents. The procedural
safeguards notice must include a full
explanation of all of the procedural
safeguards available under § 300.148,
§§ 300.151 through 300.153, § 300.300,
§§ 300.502 through 300.503, §§ 300.505
through 300.518, § 300.520, §§ 300.530
through 300.536 and §§ 300.610 through
300.625 relating to—

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(5) Opportunity to present and resolve
complaints through the due process
complaint and State complaint
procedures, including—
(i) The time period in which to file a
complaint;
(ii) The opportunity for the agency to
resolve the complaint; and
(iii) The difference between the due
process complaint and the State
complaint procedures, including the
jurisdiction of each procedure, what
issues may be raised, filing and
decisional timelines, and relevant
procedures;