RELEASED SEP 14, 2022

State Complaints are just one dispute resolution options available to Parents of children with special education needs. Our favorite advocate, Stacey Tié, joins me to break down the State Complaint process, why we use them, and how they can help.

A little on Stacey:
What Stacey loves most about advocacy work is giving parents the opportunity to breathe. Often parents know something’s not right but don’t know how to advocate for what their child needs. She listens, helps them organize their thoughts, documents their needs, and makes a plan. Stacey ensures that parents are viewed by all parties as valued members of their child’s special education team. And, during the key meetings, Stacey’s clients don’t have to worry about the process, preserving the record, or reading the room. She’s got that covered.

You can find Stacey at [email protected]

You can find me at [email protected]

FLASHBACK: In the episode “How independent are you?” I speak with Dr. Erik Mayville, clinical psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst, to discuss the components of psycho-educational evaluation and what role independent evaluators play in the special education realm. You can find that episode here https://ntkwdj.libsyn.com/how-independent-are-you

TRANSCRIPT (not proofread)

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

complaint, parents, state, district, school district, Connecticut, violations, procedural, decision, evaluator, independent educational evaluation, process, file, investigator, due process, specific, student, regs, special ed, remedy

SPEAKERS

Stacey Tié, Dana Jonson

 

Dana Jonson 
00:07

Welcome
back. And thank you so much for listening. Thanks for coming back to Special Ed
on special ed, and tuning in. I am here today with my trusted advocate, Stacey
TA. And we’re excited to get back to talking to you guys. It is the very
beginning of the 20 to 23 school year. Perfect time to get back on track with the
podcast and start talking about more school issues. Hi, Stacy, how are you?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  00:33

I’m fine. Happy to be back.

 

Dana Jonson 
00:36

Awesome.
Before we get started, let me play my disclaimer for you all, because that’s
very important. So here you go. The information in this podcast is provided for
general informational and entertainment purposes only, and may not reflect the
current law in your jurisdiction at the time you’re listening. Nothing in this
episode, create an attorney client relationship. Nor is it legal advice. Do not
act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included and
accessible through this episode without seeking appropriate legal or other
professional advice on particular facts and circumstances at issue from a
lawyer or service provider licensed in your state country or other appropriate
licensing jurisdiction. All right, thanks. Let’s jump right into it. Stacy, I
want to talk about state complaints. And the reason that I asked you to talk to
me about state complaints is not just because you’re in my office, and I love
having you on my podcast. But because you’ve had several successful state
complaints lately. And that has really started the conversation in our office about
state complaints and what their utility is. And it’s sort of an underused
process, I think, what’s a state complaint? Let’s start there. Because parents
may not know what one is they’ve all heard about due process. They’ve all heard
about mediation, they’ve probably heard about resolution sessions, which by the
way, we’ll be talking a little bit about later. And so stay tuned. But what is
the state complaint,

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  01:50

the
complaint is another dispute resolution option for parents actually, not just
for parents, that’s one of the key differences between a due process and state
complaints is that anyone or any organization can file a state complaint, you
don’t even have to live in the town, we don’t have to live in the town, you
don’t have to do that. And it could be for a specific child, or it could be a
systemic issue in the school district that they are systemically violating a
part of Ida, the

 

Dana Jonson 
02:23

good
example like what would be an example of why you would write a state complaint.

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  02:29

So a
state complaint has a different timeline than due process or mediation, a state
complaint it you you file it and with the state and you copy the district that
you’re filing it against or saying that they violated a certain part of ID A,
and then from the day that you file it, the states has 60 business days or
school days to do an investigation and give a determination. So while 60 days
might seem like a lot, it is less than if you are preparing to go to a trial.
It’s another option to use.

 

Dana Jonson 
03:10

And the
statute of limitations is a little shorter, too, isn’t it? Like a DOE has?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  03:15

Yeah, a
year state complaint you have a year. So in a due process, you have two years
that so you have to really stay on top of your child’s case or what’s happening
in your district.

 

Dana Jonson 
03:27

So let’s
talk a little bit about why would you as a parent, cuz I’m really talking to
parents, and obviously, their teachers and service providers also listened to
this podcast. And I think it’s good for them to know that they can also file
state complaints against school districts that they are in, or that if they see
something that they don’t think is appropriate, but why why would parents use
it? And that’s what I think we need to talk about, because you were just had a
really good, interesting data point you were talking about how often parents
prevail in in state complaints. But I also find that that the complaints don’t
necessarily have the same teeth for remedies that due process does. So while a
lot of the issues may overlap, it might not necessarily be the right way to go.
So how do we assess that?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  04:17

I think
one one way like I said, is a timeline. And in other ways. It depends on what
you’re looking for. It depends on what outcome you’re you’re looking for if the
two complaints that I just had really favorable outcomes are happened to be
procedural violations of ID a in regards to parents asking for an independent
educational evaluation. So for that, one of the things I do as an advocate when
I first review a case is I look for what if there are any violations I have a
way of keeping organized violations as as I go on where I see because everyone
makes mistakes. There are a number of violations but when it becomes a A
violation where it prohibits a kid from our student from getting what they’re
entitled to and helping them going forward. That’s when we have a real issue.

 

Dana Jonson 
05:11

One of
the things we should also talk about is your timeouts, you know, procedural
violations. And I think we should separate those out from substantive. And so,
you know, procedural violations is how your school district goes through the
process. Right. So you’re saying it’s an IE and independent educational
evaluation? So the question isn’t substantively, does the parent is the parent
entitled to one, but more did the school go through the proper process to make
the decision? So like, what kind of issues would you file a state complaint on
for parents, because service providers and school staff who may also want to
file state complaints do tend to have a little bit more of a grasp on the
rights of parents and the obligations of the school district suitable for a
parent to understand why they might like to use a state complaint? What do we
look for?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  06:09

So my
first advice to parents is if you know, once a year, you get this packet called
your procedural rights, and I am safeguards, and I highly, highly, highly
recommend that you read them very thoroughly. And very carefully, just

 

Dana Jonson 
06:24

get out
your magnifying glass, because it’s going to be in about 7.5 font columns and
single spaced,

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  06:33

read
those because many times there are what we call procedural violations. And in
the cases that I just filed the complaints in ye filed on procedural violations
when a parent asked for an independent educational evaluation. And because the
district was not following the right procedures, this parents the student was
being denied their right to an independent educational evaluation and therefore
was being denied an appropriate program. Yeah, because we think that’s an
important distinction.

 

Dana Jonson 
07:10

I’m glad
you brought that up, because procedural and substantive are different types of
violations. And I find that in due process demands, we always include all of
the procedural pieces, but the substantive violations are really the meat of
it. But I think you can also have a state complaint on substantive issues. But
I think in this case, it made more sense because it was procedural, meaning
that the way in which the school district went about making their decision on
the I II was incorrect, not whether their decision itself was incorrect.

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  07:47

Right,
which had we not filed a state complaint and got a favorable decision would
have led to a substantive violation, because the student would have not been
being be proud being provided a fake a free and appropriate. Exactly. So yes,
you can also have multiple procedural violations that then become a substantive
violation.

 

Dana Jonson 
08:10

So yeah,
and that’s, that is true, like enough procedural violations could then deny a
child of faith because if they did not go through the proper process, you know,
those processes are there for to protect the rights of students. So you know,
it’s sort of like if you’re not reading your Miranda rights, right, right. If
you’re not read your Miranda rights, you know, then it doesn’t count. That’s
kind of the same thing. I don’t know if it’s the same thing. That’s kind of a
weird analogy, but that’s what I’ve got. That’s what I’ve got today. What are
we asking for in those in those state complaints? Because let’s use the one
that are one of the ones like the ideas of the ones that you just filed?
Because they were both independent educational evaluations. What are we asking
for? So for example, what’s the right? What’s the remedy that you can search
that you can seek through a state complaint?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  08:57

So
that’s actually a great question. I think first, we should talk about how do
you write a state complaint. So there are specific things that you have to have
in your state complaint, and each state, if you Google or look it up on your
state’s Special Ed website, they should have the way that they would like you
to file a state complaint, every state has it differently. We are in
Connecticut, and Connecticut, actually, last year in July, they set up a form
for parents to be able to fill out to make it easy for parents to fill out, you
can still submit it the old way, which was just drafting a long letter to the
state. But there are key components that have to be in there. Number one, if
it’s for a student, it has to have the student’s name, their date of birth,
what school they go to the address of the school, and stuff like that. And then
it also has to list the specific violation. The regs you have to actually know
the ID a regs and you have to say they violated this reg section 303 Ba Law.
And then you have to give example how they specifically did it. And then yes,
what’s your remedy? What’s your What are you requesting for your remedy? So in
this and these two particular state complaints, the district had not yet said
no, to the I II requests, they were doing everything they could to drag out
their decision. And so, you know, I think you’re gonna have our good friend
Diane Wilcox on and then a couple of weeks to talk about ies, but Brooke, a
quick and a quick on that is i e, is procedurally you asked for an IE, and the
district has two responses, yes, or no? And if the district says no, they have
to file due process against you. So in this these two cases, what happened was
we asked for an IEE. And the district responded with, well, how about a
voluntary resolution session? And that’s not written into the process. The
process is, you look like you want to ask me a question. Yeah.

 

Dana Jonson 
11:10

I love
that. Yeah. Nobody can see my face. But it’s pretty telling I don’t have a
great poker face. In case you’re curious. No, well, I would I was thinking was,
in this matter. What was important to remember is that there is a timeline like
districts cannot wait forever to give you an answer. And I started laughing
when you said voluntary resolution session, because I was about to say, so what
would be the process? If the school district said no to you, just so that
parents could understand and then voluntary Resolution Session came up? So the
reason I was laughing and making a face was my understanding is that resolution
sessions happen after due process is filed. But I think that’s what you were
about to get to?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  11:56

Yes,
we’re gonna get to that.

 

Dana Jonson 
11:58

So okay.

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  11:59

The
timeline, you’re correct. So Ida itself states that a district has to respond
without delay, but it doesn’t define delay. However, we live in Connecticut,
and we are fortunate that Connecticut does define delay, and they say, 10
school days. So in Connecticut, the district has 10 school days to say yes or
no. And if they say no, they have to file for due process. So what some of the
districts or this district in particular, tried to do was ask for rather than
say yes or no, they asked the parents to go to a voluntary resolution session.
And that is not written into ID A, that’s not one of the options we just talked
about. It is another way to stall having to get an answer. And there’s we can
speculate several other reasons why districts might use that strategy, but it’s
incorrect. The other

 

Dana Jonson 
12:56

list of
possibilities that you got.

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  12:58

Other,
and if you in for Connecticut, they’re so kind, they have developed a flowchart
that is all over the state website in regards to anytime an IDE is requested.
The flowchart is very specific. It it it clearly states, if a district says no,
underneath it, it’ll say voluntary resolution session and then due process. So
first, the district has to give an answer. So the other thing this district did
to violate the procedural rights of the parents requesting an IEE was they made
the criteria for an evaluator to difficult. And so that’s another thing part of
Ida. So I think, again, back to you have to read your procedural safeguards,
you have to understand what the process is. And then once your spidey senses go
up, that something’s off, you should be doing a little more reset research. And
unfortunately, yes, you do need to know Id a and your regs to file a state
complaint.

 

Dana Jonson 
14:04

Yeah,
and you have to know your state regs, too. Because they, as you just said,
Connecticut has a specific date that they I mean, they say 10 days, so we try
to stay within that. And if you’re in a different state, it could be something
completely different. So figuring that out. I also want to touch on because
they’re talking about state complaints. But since we’re using the I II process,
as our example, and you are seeing how the restrictions from the school
district are the criteria for an evaluator were too restrictive from the school
district. And I think that’s really important for parents to know, in general.
A lot of times school districts will give you criteria for the distance from
the school district that the evaluator can be the criteria for their qualifications,
their certifications, all of those pieces, and that is reasonable there and
even the price like how much does the Val cost so the district isn’t allowed to
make all of those restrictions, as long as they are not too restrictive. So if
they said, you know, you can only find an evaluator in our town, that’s too
restrictive, you know, we will only pay $100 for an evaluation, too
restrictive. Yeah, things like that. So I just wanted to point that out there
that there are qualifications that school districts can make. But that doesn’t
mean that they are automatically eligible.

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  15:28

And they
have to also provide a process for parents to request an extension or an
exception, excuse me, so that parents can make their case for this is a complex
case, this is a complex, this child has complex needs and requires a different
type of evaluator. And then for remedies. So for these cases, the remedies I
asked for actually was for the IEP to be approved for any of the evaluators
that we had sent to the district to be approved. And for the state to clarify
the IEP process when it comes to resolution sessions. And what else do they ask
for? I feel like I asked for a lot more.

 

Dana Jonson 
16:13

Well,
and I think it’s important to remember those remedies can be child specific, or
related to system wide issues. Right.

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  16:22

The
other thing I asked for was that the because the district was being too, too
restrictive on criteria for an evaluator, I asked them to ask to, to have the
district correct their ie criteria, which, on both cases, I we got everything
we requested. And so yes, voluntary resolution session has been clarified that
it’s after the district says no, the district has to give you an answer.

 

Dana Jonson 
16:50

Right.
Right. And again, we’re not really talking about ies but because you said that
I feel like I have to jump in and say, you know, my concern with that, while I
appreciate the school district wanting to voluntarily resolve the issues, they
never gave the parents a yes or no. And what I’m afraid will happen is they are
getting parents to come in and have this discussion and say, Why don’t you want
it. And let me explain to you why you shouldn’t need it, or why you should use
our evaluators. And I understand why a school district would want to do that,
because I personally feel like mutually agreed upon, evaluators are always
helpful. But it is taking away that right of the parent to get a fully
independent evaluation. And that’s where I have the problem with it. So I’m
glad we had that. That established, at least for us. Now, unfortunately,
though, those decisions aren’t posted anywhere, or they

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  17:45

No
there’s only a few states in the United States that actually post their state
complaint decisions for obviously, redact of private student information.
Connecticut, unfortunately, is not one of them. But they are still considered a
public documents. So they are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. So
anyone can send a Freedom of Information Act request, either to the state or to
the district to see state complaints issued and decisions, obviously, the
student information will be redacted.

 

Dana Jonson 
18:20

Yeah.
And our state did not publish them, unfortunately. So some people do, though I
know some attorneys do on their websites if they get favorable decisions, but I
don’t think they’re in one organized place. So I think we’ve we’ve been,
there’s an organization in our state called SEEK, special education equity for
kids in Connecticut, and I think we’re trying to get them to do it. But so this
is my public cry, that they get on that. So, but yeah, so with a complaint, so
let’s get back to them. You know, I want to talk about some of the benefits of
doing a state complaint. I know, for me, one of the first things that I like
about them is that you’re supposed to have a decision within 60 calendar days.
And I don’t think there’s ever been a due process hearing that was filed, and
then a decision set within 60 days. And if somebody has experienced that,
please let me know. Because I would love to hear about it. But my experience is
that they get dragged on really long, and they take a long time. And there are
a lot of people involved. But with the state complaint, how many people are
involved and scheduling and organizing? And you know, you’re not putting on
evidence, right?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  19:33

Yeah,
no. So, um, well, any documentation that you can provide is very helpful. Um,
so when in your state complaint, anything you can do to show copies of emails,
conversations, and anything you can provide is helpful. Once you file the state
complaint. What happens is you get assigned an investigator by the state they
will reach out to you and they will schedule it Time to talk to you and ask
you, you know, ask you about your complaint, any clarification of information
that they need. And then they will send a letter to the district and ask for
specific information from them, you should ask the investigator to send you a
copy of whatever the district sends to the investigator in their response to
the state complaint so that you have a copy of that as well. Also, in your
state complaint, you should also include asking them if there’s any information
that you missed in your state complaint that you need to send them. Because
sometimes they complaints get thrown out, just because you know, you didn’t
include the child’s date of birth. Most investigators understand that parents
are not familiar with this process. And they’re usually pretty good at hand
holding parents through the process and will help you but the more you can
offer and say What else do you need? Did I miss anything, they will help you,
you can also, if you come along with other things, you can’t change your
complaint. But if you have other supporting documentation that you want to
provide, you can send that along to the investigator. And typically, you have a
couple of phone calls with the investigator and the investigator gets a
response from the district and then you read it you decide whether you need to
send a response to their response or not, in my two cases recently, I didn’t
have to, and you eventually get a determination from

 

Dana Jonson  21:31

and this
is all bound. This is all bound by that 60 day 60 calendar day timeline, right.
In a due process demand if I were to file for a due process demand, yes,
there’s a timeline. And yes, there’s a certain time from when I filed to when
the decision is supposed to be made. But I can request extensions, which we do
repeatedly, all the time extensions to negotiate extensions to mediate
extensions, you know, and then snow days, and then you know, there are
different pieces that prolong that process in a lot of situations, so I find
that while the state complaint process is very accessible to parents, and can
be easier than a due process hearing, it doesn’t necessarily have the same
teeth that a due process hearing may have. And I worry that if parents want to
bifurcate an issue, which means separate out the issue from everything else to
say, oh, I want to go to due process on these things. But I can just do a state
complaint on this one thing. That’s the kind of strategy that I would caution
parents to decide on their own, and really recommend talking to an attorney or
an advocate or somebody who does state complaints a lot, because there are
nuances to both processes that if you don’t understand them, or you don’t know
them, you may be missing a really big opportunity. So to make sure that you’re
at least conferring with somebody, you know, I appreciate the parents can
access it. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should, because also those
decisions, while they may not necessarily be public in your state, or, you
know, precedent in the way that a hearing decision may be, that definitely does
sway the investigators, you know, and if I had an investigation, if I had a
decision, I would submit that with a future decision. And, you know, this is what
was cited before. So those decisions still, and they will impact other families
and other children. So you do want to make sure that when you are filing these
things, it is not just I can access it, and I’m mad at my district that that
you’re actually filing for the right reasons and with the right evidence. Yep,
that’s my lawyer feel. So I will, I will get off that. So what I was going to
ask, you know, what does this cost? Right? Because due process costs a lot just
again, are they’re both free, right, technically, are they both free?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  24:00

Yes.
Technically, they’re both free.

 

Dana Jonson 
24:04

They’re
both free. If you don’t have an attorney, you can access both of these
processes. But I also think that, you know, that’s another thing to consider is
how much is that going to cost for your representation or to have somebody to
help you? You know, I know that that’s always a factor for parents, and
sometimes the state complaint can be a more cost effective way. If you’re
looking for professional representation through it. Does that make sense? Mike,
just getting to lawyer Lee. We don’t do that. So that makes me so how would you
if a parent has an issue and they’re okay, I have a complaint and or I have an
issue with my school district don’t want to file for due process because I’m
okay with these other things. I feel like this is like state complaint stuff.
What do they do? How do they prepare? How do they start? A state complaint?
Yeah. What should they be doing to prepare to do it? Like, what should they be?
I guess, you know, these are questions that I would say for parents or
anything. Right. We talked about documentation and communication. But would you
have any specific tips specific to the state complaint?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  25:12

Yeah,
well, the first thing is the golden rule in anything legal is if it’s didn’t
happen in writing, it didn’t, it didn’t happen. So everything very good point.
So every statement, everything needs to be documented, and on the record, and,
and so you need to keep track of, you know, your communications with your
school district, you need to keep track of your kids, your students IEPs, you
need to keep and again, you need to know your procedural safeguards. And for
parents, what I do is when I first get a new case, or a new client, a new
family, I read over and I, and I have a, I have a document that I use for
myself that I sort of keep track of where I see possible violations. And again,
we’re not filing state complaints on every single thing. There’s a specific
time to use it, but I it helps me see, is there a pattern? Is there something
going on here. And if we can’t work things out through the PPT process, or if
we’re not working together for not being collaborative, if things are in, we’re
still not getting this, the students still not making progress, and I have this
list of violations that I keep track of as I go, then I might talk to my
parents and say, you know, we’re really not getting anywhere. I don’t think you
need to file for due process. I don’t know you might want to talk to a lawyer.
It’s hard. It’s hard, because you have to you have to know the work. You’re
doing? No,

 

Dana Jonson 
26:46

I know.
And you have to know the law. And I think it’s hard for us as professionals to
say, you know, here are the reasons why you should write a complaint or write a
due process hearing while parents have those rights. And they do and they will
write those, write those complaints themselves. And I think that that, that
doesn’t negate our good, which is, what do we give tips to parents all the
time, you know, as is, we think 10 steps ahead, that’s your job. That’s my job,
we have to think 10 steps ahead. So we tell parents, even if things are really
going great with your district, you know, log your communications, keep track
of your child’s progress, stuff like that. So what tips do you have that are
specific to the complaint process? Meaning, you know, what, what would help you
determine maybe that you need a state complaint?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  27:34

So the
very first thing I would tell parents is trust your parents gut. If something
doesn’t feel right, you’re probably right, something’s probably not right. And
any, you know, all the advocates and attorneys that I know on the parents side,
in Connecticut, and across the country, are more than happy to pick up the
phone and talk to you and hear what you have to say and help you sort of figure
it out. That’s where I would start is if something doesn’t, you know, if it
walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s probably a duck, probably.

 

Dana Jonson 
28:07

I agree,
that’s always my recommendation to you. If your parent gut is telling you
something’s up, then there probably is something up. So that’s a good place to
start. But I think it’s really important to remember that we have this process
that every state, it’s a little bit different. Now you’ve got your decision.
Yes, you got your decision. What if you don’t like the decision? What if you
want a different decision? Can you appeal it?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  28:36

So
interestingly, yes, you can, however, in Connecticut, they tend to write in the
state complaint you have this is this decision is final and you cannot appeal.

 

Dana Jonson 
28:49

Yeah,
and and part of that is because there’s no obligation for the state to have an
appeal process. So that’s another really important piece for parents to know,
which is they they’re not obligated to have an appeal process. So your state
may not have won. So if you don’t have an appeal process, or if the state is
saying this is final, and we won’t talk about it again, then it’s probably
finally in the state won’t talk about it again. But with due process, we do
have recourse after a hearing decision that we are not in agreement with we can
appeal it to federal or state court. So we have options. And the process for
appealing a state complaint may not be as easy for you or as successful. So
that’s another reason I think, to be really cautious about what issues you take
to a state complaint. Because if I filed a state complaint, could I and I
didn’t like my answer. I can’t go file a due process hearing on it. Right. You
can’t develop double death. So you have to make sure you’re using the right process
to get the remedy that you are looking for.

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  29:58

Correct?
Yeah. think that’s important part of deciding between a state complaint versus
due process or mediation is, again, I think we said at the beginning is, is
what outcome are you looking for? What’s the remedy you’re looking for? Right.

 

Dana Jonson 
30:14

And I
also feel that another reason you might look at state complaint overdue process
is, at least from my perspective, and you you actually have filed state
complaints more recently. So I feel like the due process process is more
emphasis there. Right, you’re getting everybody involved, you’re getting the
specific teachers on the stand, it becomes much more adversarial. Did you find
that with your state complaint?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  30:46

Yeah,
the state complaint is definitely less less adversarial. Even throughout the
process of the investigation, the district was communicating with the parent
and copying me and the investigator. So the Yeah, it is much less adversarial.
Yeah, I think so too.

 

Dana Jonson 
31:07

But
again, there’s still other issues too. Hey, this, we have the episodes. And I’m
like, here’s all this information. And it’s really confusing. So go talk to a
professional. But hopefully, this has helped because I think that a lot of
people don’t know about state complaints. And you had some statistics that was
saying that parents prevail quite a bit. Yes, six, so nationally, 64% of state
complaints that are filed, and that the school district was in violation. Yeah,
so that, and I think, my perspective on that which is not based in reality at
all, it’s completely a made up factor in my head that I’m about to say. But I
think that because state complaints aren’t quite as known or understood by
parents, I think they’re usually filed by professionals. And they’re easier and
you get a quicker turnaround. And you’re usually on a specific issue, like this
is the one issue, whereas due process, complaints tend to have a ton of issues
that are at stake. And a lot of situations you have to muddle your way through.
So I think state complaints can be very successful, because you’re focusing in
on one thing, or you know, a couple of very specific items. And that’s when you’re
and that’s why we’re getting successful responses to those. So, and I think
it’s been great, like yours, you had successful responses to and I think they
helped move along the process, too. So I think it’s just another avenue for
parents to understand and utilize.

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  32:41

And the
reason we say that you should talk to a professional as you know, you have to
also know IDEA and you have to know the regs, because every state complaint, no
matter what state you’re in, you have to be able to cite your state regs and
the IDEA regs. And that’s that’s a lot in like, the new form that Connecticut
put together is really user friendly for parents and really easy for them. But
you still have to be able to cite the exact reg where the district made it
where you’re claiming the district made a violation.

 

Dana Jonson 
33:13

Got it?
Excellent. Well, thank you. This has been really, really helpful, at least I
think so. I hope other parents think so to any parting words any, any last
minute, oh, I know what we need. How do parents reach you? And they’re like,
Oh, my God, I think I have a state complaint. I have to talk to Stacy right
now. How can they reach you?

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  33:34

You can
find me at www dot Special Ed dot law

 

Dana Jonson 
33:42

or
Stacey sta CEE at special ED dot law, and she would be happy to get back to
you. So thank you, Stacey for coming on and sharing your experience and helping
to break down state complaints.

 

Stacey Tié, Special Education Advocate  33:57

Thank
you for having me.

 

Dana Jonson 
33:58

Thank
you so much for joining me today. Please don’t forget to follow this podcast so
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there’s anything you want to hear about or comment on. Please go to my Facebook
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special ed on special ed. Have a fabulous day. The views expressed in this
episode are those of the speaker’s at the time of the recording and do not
necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency,
organization, employer or company or even that individual today.