Special ed hearings: protracted, expensive, and not fun (Summer 2004)
So, my world-famous pooch, Mary Margaret, is p.o.’d (Put out. Not what you’re thinking!). She accuses me of inadequate planning, not looking ahead. Seems that, since she’s been mentioned in several of these columns (she always gives excellent advice, some of which I take), Kristen’s canine companion, Jackson the Enormous (black Lab. Really BIG black Lab), has taken umbrage at not getting some ink, as well. As a result, he has been calling Mary Margaret, giving her a hard time about the human she owns (me) not saying anything about him. Mary Margaret is p.o.’d about the harassing phone calls and blames me for not having the foresight to mention Jackson so as to allow her beauty sleep (approx. 20 hours per day) to continue uninterrupted. Seems I should’ve known about Jackson’s ego. (“What were you thinking? Oops! You weren’t thinking, were you? You know how black Labs are! Everyone knows how they are!”)

Although I disagree with Mary Margaret that I was inadequately prescient with regard to Mr. Jackson Gould’s recent demands, it does lead us to today’s discussion of special education due process hearings: They are not good things to have to go through, and a stitch in time will save nine. See? Let’s plan.

Special ed due process hearings are what sometimes happen when the parents of a special ed student and the school folks can’t agree about the student’s education. More often, however, hearings happen when the school people didn’t look ahead to try to ward off the problem.

First, the hearing, itself: It’s much like a trial, but different. There is no judge, as such. Instead, the Arkansas Department of Education assigns what they call an “Impartial Hearing Officer” to hear the case. There are very short deadlines for the Officer to meet in hearing and deciding the case, so everyone is under the gun to get the hearing done. Although the parent usually requests the hearing (a school district may request, however), the school always has the burden of proof. That means that, even if we’re not real sure what the parents are angry about, the school has to go first at the hearing, showing that it has, indeed, given the student a FAPE, i.e., a free, appropriate public education. Usually, the request for a hearing is so vague that your special ed people and others (and your lawyer) will spend some time with the hearing officer, telling him just about everything that has been done for the student, and why.

Why is looking ahead so important? Well, if your special ed people and others (regular classroom teachers, administrators) keep an eye on things, both with special ed kids and regular ed kids, you might head off problems at the pass. Example: We have a student who has not been identified for special education services, who is struggling in school and is having serious, regular behavior problems. Those problems consistently get the student sent home, suspended, for some period for that behavior. The problems with his studies and his behavior could be related to some disability, and it might be a good idea to talk to mom and dad about referring the student for evaluation and testing.

Another example: We have a special ed student who has an IEP (Individual Education Program), as all special students must; but he is not performing well, not meeting the goals and objectives in his IEP. Usually, that means that the IEP should be reviewed to determine whether it’s appropriate. Mind you, all IEPs must be reviewed annually. But if the IEP isn’t working, a change might need to be made, and it might be a really bad idea to wait until the annual review. If the student isn’t meeting expectations, mom and dad can get very upset, and, bingo! You’re in a hearing. That means: dealing with parents who are hostile (even though they might have been very pleasant to this point); even more nasty lawyers representing the parents, demanding that this or that be done, all of which costs lots of time and lots of money; getting together mass quantities of documents, and trying to figure out (and explain to the hearing officer) what this all means; dealing with your own lawyer, both to prepare for the hearing and during the hearing (and your own lawyer will be very expensive. All of us do our best to be expensive, and we usually succeed); and, if the hearing officer finds in the parents’ favor, even in some relatively small way, you have the pleasure and honor of paying the parents’ lawyer, who usually is even more expensive than your own lawyer.

Much of this can be avoided if your administrators, teachers and special ed supervisor keep an eye on things. They must ensure that IEPs are being followed; that, if the IEPs are being followed, and the student is not performing or still is having behavior problems, there is a review of the IEP more often than just every year. If a special ed student has behavior problems, and he doesn’t have a behavior improvement plan, get one (there are specialists out there who deal with this very thing, and your co-op probably has one).

There’s a lot to deal with in special ed, and it can be very timeconsuming and expensive to do it right; but it’s a LOT more timeconsuming and expensive to go through a due process hearing, not to mention more stressful. Magnitudes more stressful. Now, if you’re a stress junkie, just sit there and do nothing. The stress, the lawyers and the attendant expense will find you. Boy, will they ever. So, plan.

Of course, as I write this, Mary Margaret is mumbling, under her doggie breath, that I should have done something so she wouldn’t have to deal with the calls from Jackson. Well, now that he’s made it into print, maybe the calls will slow down or stop. If not, I’ve reminded Mary Margaret that that’s why God gave us caller ID.

Okay. Just kidding about the doggie breath. Really. Good girl! Is that the phone?

Previous Article (Spring 2004)- Do we have dual standards special students
Next Article (Fall 2004)- Once Again to the Subject of Grievances

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