Due process hearing with school district
I am a parent and I am going to a due process hearing for my child with the school district because they have not provided FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education.) I wanted to know what type of questions do lawyers ask parents? How should I prepare for this? What is the judge looking for? Anything else I need to know? Thank you
Oct 8, 2018
Parent Replies
You might want to contact DREDF (Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund) for help https://dredf.org/ You can call them at (510) 644-2555 and leave a message and an advocate with specific expertise will call you back. DREDF also has trainings for parents to learn about their rights and the special education process (see specifically https://dredf.org/special-education/special-education-trainings/
Good luck!
The Education Advocacy Clinic at the East Bay Community Law Center may be able to help!
Wrights Law has a dvd entitled "Surviving Due Process" or something like that. You might go to their website and check out their resources.
You don't say if you have an attorney who will be representing your child/you. Whether or not you do, DO NOT sign anything at the administrative hearing unless you are certain it completely represents the terms to which you have agreed. My experience with the process was about 8 years ago. I found an attorney who would represent us pro bono, which I came to see was a serious mistake. Since the firm wasn't going to make any money, they were motivated to wrap things up at the administrative hearing. My daughter's school district played hardball and the agreement didn't provide any penalties for its noncompliance. I did not read the agreement as closely as I should have, because I was pressured by my lawyer to sign it and that it was the best I could hope for. I don't think BPN rules permit me to identify the law firm that was so unhelpful to me. Maybe if you contact me directly.
hi there,
Not sure how much research you've already done, if you've already gotten your child's complete school file, or if you already have a lawyer, but you want to be very. prepared. Contact dredf.org (their parent training nights are great, their advocates talented but in demand), FRN.org, CASE in SF, and research DP on wrightslaw.com and understood.org.
Good luck!