Do you have a dispute with your child’s school over an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that you don’t know how to resolve? You may not be aware that there are many options available to resolve this issue.

Whatever the dispute may be, whether it is the type of IEP or your child’s placement that you are not satisfied with, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides you with many options to resolve these issues. Continue reading to learn more.

1. Negotiation

Perhaps your child’s IEP requires them to have physical and occupational therapy once every week. However, you notice that the school has not provided this therapy in several weeks. 

In this case, you can call an IEP meeting to discuss how to fix this matter. The meeting would include you, your child’s teacher, a school representative, and the school’s special education teachers. 

2. Mediation

If you are not satisfied with the IEP process, you can ask for mediation. Mediation is free of charge and confidential. The process makes you sit with a school representative and the mediator (a neutral third party) and work together to find a solution.

The mediator does not make the decision. Instead, they help the school, and you come to a mutual decision. Whatever you decide through mediation is legally binding.

3. Due Process Hearing

You can start a due process hearing by filing a complaint. However, you can only file a complaint if the school has violated IDEA. After you have filed the complaint, a legal hearing will start.

As due process hearing involves legal processes, we advise you to speak with a special education advocate before filing the complaint.

4. Lawsuit

If the due process hearing does not end up in your favor, you can file a lawsuit in state or federal court within 90 days. You will need a lawyer for this.

5. State Complaint

One option is to file a state complaint if you have seen your child’s school violating IDEA. You can gather other parents and file this complaint if it is something that they have also witnessed and their children are also suffering. After the complaint is filed, the school will investigate and reach a conclusion.

Concluding Thoughts

Your child has as much a right to quality education as any other child does, so if you face an IEP dispute with the school, you must try to resolve it. The ideal scenarios are to sit with the school and resolve the IEP dispute through negotiation or mediation.

However, if you have no other options left other than legal processes and lawsuits, you must do that, as these options are available for you to make effective use out of them.