IEP disputes
When the IEP team won’t agree with you
Sometimes the meeting ends and nothing changes: the services were cut, the placement doesn’t fit, or the school says your child is doing fine when you can see that they aren’t. You don’t have to sign a plan you disagree with, and you have ways to push back.
We start with the quietest option that can work. That’s often a letter or an independent evaluation. When it isn’t, we take the dispute to mediation, a state complaint or a due process hearing.
The ways a dispute can go
Each one has its own timeline and its own cost. We’ll tell you which we’d try first, and why.
A written disagreement
Your objections, in writing, in the record, so the school has to answer them.
An independent evaluation
Testing by someone outside the school, which you can ask the school to pay for.
Mediation
A neutral person helps you and the school reach a written agreement both sides sign.
A state complaint
A written complaint to the state when the school isn’t following the law or the IEP.
Due process
A hearing before an officer, with witnesses and evidence. The step we prepare for and try to avoid.
Stay put
While a dispute is pending, your child usually keeps the current placement and services.
What parents ask about IEP disputes
Do I have to sign the IEP at the meeting?
No. You can take it home, read it, and sign only the parts you agree with, or none of it. Tell the school in writing what you disagree with.
Will a dispute make the school treat my child worse?
Parents worry about this a lot. Retaliation is against the law, and in our experience a clear, polite paper trail makes teams more careful, not less.
Who pays for a due process hearing?
You pay your own lawyer, and a hearing is the most expensive step. In some cases the law lets a parent who wins ask the school to pay their fees. We’ll talk through costs before anything is filed.
Is there a deadline to file?
Yes, and it’s shorter than most parents expect. It varies by state, so call us soon after the meeting that went wrong.
Bring us the IEP you didn’t sign
We’ll read it alongside the evaluations and tell you which way we’d go first.
A first call doesn’t make us your lawyers; a signed engagement letter does.