Advocates for Angels and Valerie Aprahamian write compliance complaints as a form of advocacy when school districts are unwilling to work with parents. Often, parents find themselves experiencing IEP meetings in which IEP team members conduct themselves in an adversarial manner. IDEA requires school districts to collaborate with parents and adhere to special education law. A Compliance complaint is an advocacy tool in which parents can hold districts accountable to meeting the needs of children on IEP’s and respecting parent rights.
The California Department of Education must resolve the complaint within 60 days. It will review all relevant information and make an independent determination about the alleged education code violations. An on-site investigation may be conducted if necessary and a written decision will be provided to the complainant addressing each allegation.
Thirty days after the timeline for corrective action, the CDE’s Focused Monitoring Technical Assistance Unit contacts the complainant to confirm that the complaint has been resolved. Additional information regarding the filing of a state complaint may be accessed by calling the Procedural Safeguards Referral Service at (800) 926-0648.
The complaint should contain the name and address of the child, the name of the current school and school district, a description of the problem, (e.g. The District is failing to implement the last agreed upon IEP – The district agreed to provide speech and language services three times a week. The District is only providing services once a week), and proposed resolution (e.g. That the District be ordered to provide speech and language services three times a week and any compensatory speech and language services to make up for missed sessions).
Valerie Aprahamian has written numerous compliance complaints that have found districts to be out of compliance with the California Education Code. Contact Advocates for Angels if you believe your district has violated your rights or the rights of your child. When you hold your local school district accountable, you will begin to see significant progress in your child’s education and your IEP team will be willing to meet the needs of your child and take care in implementing your parental rights.