PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS
Date:
Dear :
As part of the protections available to you if we cannot agree as to what related aids, services, or accommodations should or should no longer be provided to your child, the procedural safeguard system may be used to resolve the dispute. Following are some details of the avenues available to use.
Parents
may file a written request for assistance with the Department of education if
the school district is not providing the related aids, services, and
accommodations specified in the service agreement and/or the school district
has failed to comply with the regulations in Chapter 15 of the State Board.
The
Department of Education will investigate and respond to requests for assistance
and, unless exceptional circumstances exist, will, within sixty (60) calendar
days of receipt of the request, send to the parents and school district written response to the request.
Written
requests should be addressed to:
Pennsylvania
Department of Education
Bureau
of Special Education
333 Market Street
Harrisburg,
PA 17126
717/783-6913
Parent
may file a written request with the school district for an informal conference
with respect to the identification or evaluation of a student, or the student’s
need for related aid, service, or accommodation. Within ten (10) school days of receipt of the request, the school
district shall convene an informal conference.
At the conference, every effort shall be made to reach an amicable
agreement.
Parents
may file a written request with the school district for an impartial due
process hearing. The hearing shall be held
before an impartial hearing officer.
Following
are some details about the due process hearing:
The
hearing shall be held in the local school district at a place reasonably
convenient to the parents. At the
request of the parents, the hearing may be held in the evening.
The
hearing shall be an oral, personal hearing and shall be open to the public
unless the parents request a closed hearing.
If
the hearing is open, the decision issued in the case, and only the decision,
shall be available to the public.
If
the hearing is closed, the decision shall be treated as a record of the student
and may not be available to the public.
The
decision of the hearing officer shall include findings of fact, a discussion
and conclusions of law. The decision
shall be based solely upon the substantial evidence presented at the
hearing. The hearing officer shall have
the authority to order that additional evidence be presented.
A
written transcript of the hearing shall, upon request, be made and provided to
parents at no cost.
Parents
may be represented by any person, including legal counsel.
A
parent or a parent’s representative shall be given reasonable access to all
educational records, including any tests or report upon which the proposed
action is based.
Any
party may prohibit the introduction of any evidence at the hearing that has not
be disclosed to that party at least five (5) days before the hearing.
A
parent or a parent’s representative has the right to compel the attendance of
and question witnesses of the school entity or agency who may have evidence
upon which the proposed action might be based.
Any
party ahs the right to present evidence and testimony including expert medical
psychological or educational testimony.
The
Secretary of Education will contract with the Right to Education Office for the
services of impartial hearing officers, who preside over initial hearings on
behalf of local districts on behalf of the PA Department of Education and may
compensate hearing officers for their services. The compensations shall not cause hearing officers to become
employees of the Department. The
hearing officer may not be an employee or agent of a school entity in which the
parents or student resides, or of any agency which is responsible for the
education or care of the student.
The
following timeline applies to due process hearings:
1. A hearing
shall be held within 30 calendar days after a parent’s initial request for a
hearing.
2. The hearing
officer’s decision shall be issued within forty-five (45) calendar days after
the parent’s request for a hearing.
If
THE HEARING PERTAINS TO Chapter 14 and 15 rights, the decision of the impartial
hearing officer may be appealed to a panel of three (3) appellate hearing
officers. The panel’s decision may be
appealed further to a court of competent jurisdiction. If the hearing pertains to Chapter 15
rights, the decision of the impartial hearing officer may be appealed to a
court of competent jurisdiction. Under
some circumstances, you may raise these claims directly under section 504
without going through the due process hearing.
If,
within sixty (60) calendar days of the completion of the administrative due
process proceedings under this chapter, an appeal or original jurisdiction
action is filed in State or Federal Court, the administrative order shall be
stayed pending the completion of the judicial proceedings, unless the parents
and school district agree otherwise.