Special Education Issues
Common Issues Resolved with Due Process Complaints:

Eligibility and Identification

There are specific requirements and timelines that come into play under IDEA once a parent has requested that a child be considered for eligibility under IDEA which the DOE must comply with. The same applies to anytime the DOE wants to re-classify the disability or find a student no longer eligible for an IEP. If your school is not in compliance with IDEA, including treating the parents as equal participants and team members in decision making, they are in violation of the law.

Private School Placement

The Department of Education must place each special education student in the least restrictive environment possible. That means that they must provide any necessary accommodations, services or modifications to the curriculum which are needed for your child to receive educational benefit, preferably in the general education setting. If the DOE is not capable of providing such an environment, they are required by law to place your child in an educational placement that meets their unique needs. Parents who place their children unilaterally (without the agreement of the DOE) in private school have only 180 days from their enrollment to notify the DOE that they intend to seek reimbursement.

Psychological/Therapeutic Services

If your child requires more intensive psychological services or therapeutic recreation not provided by the DOE, and this psychological service is necessary to your child in order to receive educational benefit, they must go outside the DOE resources to provide it at no cost to the parent. These are services that can usually be arranged through the DOE with the Department of Health or a contracted private agency and included as part of your child’s IEP. These services also include placement in and/or reimbursement for long and short term therapeutic residential placements within and without the state of Hawaii.

IEP Development

A child’s IEP must contain goals that are measurable and definable. They should be designed to be able to be achieved within one year of their development. If your child’s goals and objectives are being continued over year after year due to “progress but no mastery” they are not viable goals and objectives. Whenever possible standardized score grade equivalencies should be used, i.e. “To score at grade level in comprehension section of the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test by end of school year.”

Extended School Year Services (ESY)

Often parents are told that unless their child has severe regression or recoupment problems, extended school year services are not available. This is not the case. The Hawaii Revised Statutes require the IEP team to consider many other factors in deciding if a child is eligible for ESY. These factors include the nature and severity of the disability and the areas of learning crucial to attaining the goal of self-sufficiency. The DOE may not limit extended school year services to particular categories of disability or apply a general policy to limit the type, amount or duration of these services. Extended school year services are not general education “summer school” classes unless that is what is required by the child’s unique needs. Extended year services do not automatically require a break in services. Services which begin the first day of an intercession/break and continue until school resumes must be provided if necessary to the child’s education.

Assistive Technology

A parent can request an assessment for assistive technology and it must be provided. Assistive technology includes any devise which the child’s disability makes necessary in order to learn and can include such things as laptop computers and computer programs as well as physical, visual and auditory supports.

Tutoring/Compensatory Education

Your child may be eligible for compensatory education if the DOE can be proven to have not met your child’s education needs for an extended period of time. This can take the form of private tutoring, learning center classes, remedial reading clinics, or even private school or college tuition for a set period of time. It is also possible to be reimbursed to outside tutoring (including mileage) if that is what your child needs to receive educational benefit and meet their potential.

Medical Concerns

If your child is medically fragile or requires the services of a nurse during all or part of the school day, the DOE is obligated under most circumstances to provide those services in the least restrictive environment.

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