Anyone know how to write an offical complaint letter to the Board of Education?

Question

My daughter had an IEP (Individualized Education Program) due to ADHD, Behavioral Disorder, Depression, Learning problems, etc...... Her HS was supposed to follow her IEP to a "T", but hasn't and she failed all but one of her classes her freshman year of HS.

Now, my husband and I are seeking to put her in a private school due to this reason. We understand that we can seek to have the local County School Board pay for her tuition since they failed to do their job appropriatly. Any suggestions on how to write this letter and not sound too condescending?

Just an FYI: We have attended every parent/teacher meeting, gave our express written permission to implement the IEP, and have even requested that the instructors are to call us ANYTIME that our daughter is refusing to work. They failed to do that the 1st two semesters. They started calling us when I found out that she was failing in all her classes the 2nd semester and I raised some cain then. So please don't think we have been just sitting on our butts letting the world go by and letting our daughter fail.

Answer 1

None of the previous answers really answer your question. You can go to your state board of education's web site. Go to the section for special education. You will be able to locate the information that must be provided in your written complaint to the state.

Answer 2

Hello,
Please before you do anything do some research.
You are right the law that governs children with special education IDEA states that if LEA (Local Education Agency) fails to provide FAPE (free and appropriate public education) for a student that a parent has certain rights and resources to address the problem.

You can write a state complaint. Go to you state department of education website and look for name of the special education director and call them for advise. The forms needed to file a complaint and examples are sometimes available on DOE websites.
You go Due Process which is an administrative hearing.
What you described in your question is called an "Unilateral Parental Placement."
But there are some very specific things you must do first if you want to be reimbursement from the school.
I highly recommend that you do some reseach on the internet,contact a lawyer or find an advocate.
GOOD LUCK

Answer 3

In your letter, state the facts as you know them. However, speaking as a parent of a HS senior, I can understand how it could have happened. Part of HS, is learning to do things on your own and a student taking on more responsibility. Given that the teachers may have wanted to give your daughter the opportunity to do it. Are you sure that EVERY teacher had a copy of the IEP? Did you speak to them at the beginning of the year? If not, all I can say is, GOOD LUCK.

Answer 4

You will need more than a letter to get her into a school for the learning disabled you will have to prove that the school district can't teach her, yes she didn't do well at one school but they have the right to suggest another school with in the public school system. Not only do you need a letter from you and your husband but you need one from all of the professionals dealing with her OUT side of the board of ed.
When I applied for funds to get my daughter out of the public school system I got letters from her pediatrician, her psychologist, psychiatrist,neurologist, Her occupational therapist and had all of them say that she needed a smaller class in a more restrictive setting with a ratio of 12:1:1 and she had to be in a school with other children on her intellectual level. Just a letter from you and your husband won't be enough because you and he aren't professionals. The more professional that you can get the more likely they are to take you seriously. Because they know that a doctor medical or psychiatric aren't going to but their livelihood on the line if it isn't so. As for the letter from you and your husband just write that you don't think that your daughter did well this year becasue her IEP wasn't followed as mandated. YOu should know that they may want to just change her school or give the school another chance with someone from the board making sure that the IEP is meet next year. This is why you have to make sure that you have all your pices in place to counter what they are going to say and to prove that they aren't able to teach her the way that she needs to learn. If you have any questions email me. That's what I do I help parents get services for thier children with Learning disabilites.

Answer 5

I understand that it can be difficult to learn for individuals with ADHD, but I think you also have to remember how many students a public school has. Teachers are forced to have as many as 35 students in one classroom. This is not the teacher, nor the administrators fault, but rather the government, both local and federal, who fail to dedicate enough money to education. If you choose to remove your child from public school, that is your decision, taking money away from other students who chose to remain in the public school system is not fair.
It's also hard for me to imagine that a private school is going to change your child's life so dramatically that she will no longer fail classes. Maybe a private tutor would be more helpful. Private schools, in my experience ( I attended private schools for 12 years) are even less equiped to handle ADHD students.
I think your best plan is to sit down with your daughter's guidance counselor and address why the IEP was not properly followed. Was it the school's fault or possibly your's or your daughters. It is hard to take responsibility for this, but it is in the best interest of your daughter and her future to take an HONEST look at what really went wrong.

Answer 6

If you wan't anything but BS in return for your efforts, get a lawyer and have him/her write thhe letter. Otherwise, you are wasting your time.

But--I'd think things through carefully. You will have to prove--possibly in court--that the school knowingly violated the specific terms of the IEP. And if it is written the way most of them are, that isn't going to be easy.

BTW--on a different subject--if I were you I would have your daughter re-evaluated by a professional unconnected to the school system. I don't know your specific circumstances, of course. But it's been my experience that when there's the kind of "laundry list" of impairments you listed, it is usually the result of the school system adding another label as a way of covering up every time they screw up. I don't question that your child has a disability--but THINK! Its possible, of course--but highly unlikely your daughter has ALL these different disabilities. Get it checked--so she can get the right kind of support.

Answer 7

if you go to wrightslaw.com they have some sample letters as do most state board of education booklets. By booklets I mean the full disabilities rights book, not the 4 pages they are required to give ya by law about procedural safeguards etc.
You may be fighting an uphill battle for getting the coming school year paid by the district. I would suggest trying another public school in your district.

Answer 8

Where were you during the meetings with the teachers, and the therapists? Do you have such meetings? If you do then don't put all the blame on the teachers. I never heard of a school paying for the tuition, if that is true where you live then you are lucky! Private schooling isn't the answer though

Answer 9

I would just be factual. Explain the details of the plan. Attach copies of whatever supportive paperwork you have. Explain what actually occurred. Attach any supportive paperwork. Then summarize that for these reasons you believe that they need to pay for her tuition. By keeping it detached, you minimize the possibility of them taking it as a personal slam. Good Luck.

Answer 10

be factual not emotional. carmly start at the begining of the IEP. XXXXXXXX has many issues and the IEP was written on and signed on Date. over the next XXXX it was not observed eg. XXXXX class has her sitting XXXXXX when the IEP states she is to not sit next to boys. eg eg