The school is not following my child’s IEP
Your child’s IEP names services, minutes and accommodations, and some are not happening: a skipped pull-out group, an aide who is absent, a teacher who has never seen the accommodations page. No: once a service is written into the IEP, the district has to make it available as written, and each teacher and provider has to know their part of it (34 CFR 300.323(c)(2) and (d)). Start by pulling the IEP page or the letter the dispute turns on and writing down today’s date; every move below adds to that record.
What the rule says
“Each public agency must ensure that … as soon as possible following development of the IEP, special education and related services are made available to the child in accordance with the child’s IEP.”
34 CFR 300.323(c)(2)
Nobody at the school gets to treat a written service as optional; the page you signed is the standard the district is measured against.
What to do this week, in order
Make a one-page table: the IEP page, the service as written, each date it was missed or shortened, and how you know.
A dated table, one row per missed session
Ask the case manager, in writing, for the service logs and provider schedules that cover the same dates as your table.
Service logs and provider schedules34 CFR 300.613(a)
Send the paragraph below to the special education director, naming one service and one date range, and ask how the gap gets closed.
Your email, with the day it was received
If the logs confirm the gap, ask for an IEP meeting about what was missed; the team revises the IEP when progress falls short.
The meeting request and the team’s answer34 CFR 300.324(b)(1)(ii)(A)
What to put in writing
Replace what sits in brackets and send it by email, so the date is fixed.
- To
- The special education director, copying the case manager
Dear [Director’s name], [Child’s full name]’s IEP, dated [IEP date], provides [service, with minutes and frequency as written] on page [page]. Between [first date] and [last date] I have a record of [number] sessions that did not happen; my table is attached. Please send me the service logs and provider schedules for those dates, tell me in writing how the missed sessions will be made up, and confirm who is responsible for delivering this service from here. If the district decides that nothing is owed, please send that decision as prior written notice under 34 CFR 300.503. Thank you, [Your name] [Phone] · [Email]
If the answer is no, it arrives as prior written notice: what was refused, why, and the records the district relied on (34 CFR 300.503(b)).
When to escalate, and to whom
Escalate when the written answer is a no, or when the record you built this week draws no answer at all.
| The path | The count | How it runs |
|---|---|---|
| A state complaint | 60 days to a decision | A signed letter to your state education agency about a violation inside the past year; the state decides in writing within 60 days.34 CFR 300.152(a), 300.153(c) |
| Mediation | Voluntary, at no cost to you | You and the district sit with an impartial mediator the state pays for; it can start before any complaint and may not delay a hearing.34 CFR 300.506(b) |
| A due process complaint | 2 years to file | A hearing before an impartial officer; the district holds a resolution meeting within 15 days, and the decision is due 45 days after the 30-day resolution period.34 CFR 300.507(a)(2), 300.510(a)(1), 300.515(a) |
Those counts are IDEA’s; your state may set its own window for due process, and publishes its own complaint form.
This page explains the federal rule, and it does not replace your state’s procedures, or advice from someone qualified to read your file.
Have the pages this dispute is about read back to you, free.
The review reads every page you upload, names the service, goal or wording that is vague or missing, and gives you its page number.
Review my IEP — freeFree, no card. It reads your pages and contacts no one.
Where this comes from
- When services start, and who is told (34 CFR 300.323)The words quoted above.
- Reviewing and revising the IEP (34 CFR 300.324)What the team does about lost progress.
- Your right to see the records (34 CFR 300.613)The logs move two asks for.
- Prior written notice (34 CFR 300.503)What every no owes you.
When the paragraph needs to become a full letter, the letter templates carry one for each request.