Location: MT

I’m an advocate for children with special needs. I have a client whose civil rights were violated by denial of FAPE, and I have evidence that the SPED teacher lied on the IEP, and lied on the meeting notes for the most recent IEP meeting. Both the school & parent recorded the meeting, but the school’s recording stopped halfway through. The SPED teacher did not include that the parent requested an amendment to the previous IEP, due to falsehoods. The meeting ended with the administrators agreeing to amend the IEP, also not included. Our recording has the entire meeting. The school contracted behavior specialist called mom after the meeting and didn’t think it was safe for him to return.

But this is just the most recent issue. The child was not re-evaluated in 5 years, no goals were met, all education in the general ed class by a para, curriculum printed off Teachers Pay Teachers, etc. I could go on and on.

I’ve been advocate for 25 years, and I have never seen such a slam dunk case. So here is the issue, in December, I contacted my state’s only Disability Rights organization. They are not taking any new cases, as they are basically booked for the next 3 years. I checked in again this week, and talked to the head lawyer, and he agreed that he would definitely take the case, but has no room. There are no lawyers in my state that specialize in SPED law that work for parents, they all are retained by school districts. The one lawyer that does work with parents lives across the country, and parents have to pay travel expenses. I’ve contacted several personal injury attorneys, but they don’t have experience with IDEA and SPED law. Please help me find representation for my client!!

Link to original post in comments.

We had the emergency IEP meeting today. It was alarming, and the rest of the week I will be working on finding the mom an attorney. I just want to explain the geographical problems and my role in this situation. I had to stop teaching due to MS, and I moved from a large urban area in a progressive state to a rural area in a not so progressive state where I grew up. I volunteer as an advocate, but usually only family at a time. The population here is around 2,000, for the entire county. We still have 2 one room school houses in our county. There is only 1 lawyer in the state that specializes in SPED law, and he lives across the country so you have to pay his travel. There is no state advocacy network, it dissolved 7 years ago. The state disability rights group that is free is not taking any new cases, even though I’ve already spoken to the head attorney and he agrees that if he had room, he would take the case.

Ok- main takeaways from the 2 hour meeting.

SPED teacher says he’s making progress, despite a weekly meltdown involving violence towards teachers or other students. When asked for data on said progress, I got a folder full of hand written incidence reports, no data analysis, just a bunch of papers. When asked for the BIP plan (FBA was 2 months ago) none has been created yet. The school psych was confused on why they were using a kindergarten behavior program when the recommendation was for an autism behavior program. When I asked why he was receiving his academic instruction from his para in the back of the classroom with his same age peers, who were receiving completely different instruction from the gen ed teacher, instead of the resource room, I got LRE.
Then, both the ed psych and behavioral consultant also expressed their confusion, since he is a full 2 grade levels behind, and isn’t able to access any peer level academics, the SPED teacher said the SPED service minutes can be in the regular Ed classroom. When asked how he was receiving a free, APPROPRIATE public education, she glared at me.

So, that explained a lot when the Student Resource Officer (SRO) said that yes, said student can be held accountable (or his mother) for assault when it is a manifestation of his disability and the SPED teacher started backing the SRO up 100%. Now I get it.

I asked the SRO if he had kids (yes of course) and then asked if they went through the terrible 2s. Yes of course. I asked would he think law enforcement would be appropriate to handle the 2 year olds behavior. He said, as a parent I would take responsibility for her behavior.🤦‍♀️

Then we got to go through the student being diagnosed at 3, receiving excellent ABA preschool (that mom had to drive an hour to get to) and being above average academically, until he started K at the school. She described how many therapies and doctor’s appointments she goes to, outside of school. She explains that this behavior only happens at school and not at home.

So, to close, the superintendent, the SLP, the principal, the BSBA, and the school psych all agreed with us, and the SPED teacher and para (no college degree) disagreed. The Super said they will not support law enforcement involvement, but the officer said that it wasn’t up to them.

So, yes, the full complaint to the state education department about denial of FAPE by law enforcement happens tomorrow, and then the hunt for representation starts. If I have the energy and am feisty enough, I’ll visit with the county attorney about harassment by law enforcement, and ADA training and disability awareness training for the sheriff’s department before they start looking into a civil rights lawsuit. Any helpful advice?

Oh, sorry one more thing- the BSBA asked what would be the outcome of the assault report- he said it would go to the county child study team and then possibly mandating parole or services. The BSBA said, that’s me. The team refers him to me. Why are you wasting resources when I’m already here. He said well maybe the judge would decide differently, and she said, in the 10 years I’ve been doing this, I have NEVER had a 10 year old, with this serious of a disability, be held accountable for his actions. I just feel like the SPED teacher has been trying to set the student up for failure, on purpose, to get him removed from mom.

In my 20+ years in special education, this one is a first for me. I am advocating for a student with Level 2 autism. He is 10 years old, and small for his age. He has echolalia and communication issues, elopes, and can be violent with staff and students, and hasn't been on a Behavior Plan until I demanded a Functional Behavior Assessment at the beginning of the year (this is a whole other story). At the beginning of the year, he grabbed his para, and she was in the middle of following her Mandt training, when the SRO (School Resource Officer) was walking by the class, he saw and went in and forcibly removed the child. Then, the SRO called the parent saying that she could be held accountable for assault if the child hurt the para again. The school superintendent, the principal, the SPED teachers, and the para all assured the parent that in NO WAY can the child be held accountable for his actions due to his disability. Only with the school's guarantee did the mom feel it was safe bringing him back to school.

After the first incident, the parent & I went in to have a meeting with our local sheriff, and the sheriff backed up his officer, and said that the student needed to learn to control himself. After explaining numerous times that the child doesn't understand, what autism is and how it effects him, and that the school agreed with us, I finally gave up.

And, yesterday, the SRO was "walking past the room" and saw the student pretty worked up, but the episode was over and no one was hurt. The SRO did not see any physical interaction, but still went to the Superintendent and said he was sure that the student committed assault. The Super told him that it wasn't assault, and then informed the parent of the interaction. So mom didn't bring her son to school today, because she is worried about the police. We had clearly established at the last IEP meeting that the SRO was not to be in any contact with the student.

We have an emergency IEP meeting on Monday and we have asked the SRO to attend the beginning of the meeting. I'd like to clearly establish that the student's behavior is part of his disability, that legally, the school handles children with disabilities, not law enforcement. Why on earth does an elementary school need an SRO in a town of 2,000 people? Oh, and now, the child that elopes is afraid of police officers. Does anyone have any ideas?