Montebello USD Failed Transition Planning for Student with Disabilities

A parent filed a due process complaint against Montebello Unified School District alleging the district failed to properly assess and plan for their son's transition from high school to adult life during 11th and 12th grade. The ALJ found the district violated the law by using an inappropriate vocational goal, failing to conduct a timely vocational assessment, providing insufficient speech and language therapy, and failing to offer vocational field trips and counseling in 12th grade. The district was ordered to provide 160 hours of compensatory vocational services and 40 hours of compensatory speech and language therapy through independent providers.

What Happened

Student was an 18-year-old young man attending Montebello High School with multiple disabilities, including a severe speech and language impairment, a specific learning disability, borderline to mild intellectual disability, ADHD, and significant behavioral challenges. He performed at a kindergarten to first-grade level academically, had serious articulation deficits that made him difficult to understand, and required a one-to-one aide throughout the school day. Because of his age and disability profile, planning for life after high school — known as "transition planning" — was critically important.

Parent filed a due process complaint in September 2008 arguing that the district had failed to properly assess Student's transition needs, set appropriate transition goals, provide adequate transition services (including vocational training, remedial instruction, speech therapy, and job counseling), and meet basic procedural requirements for transition planning during 11th and 12th grade. Parent requested hundreds of hours of compensatory services to make up for the lost opportunity. The ALJ conducted a six-day hearing and issued a mixed decision: finding the district violated the law in several significant areas — particularly during the second half of 12th grade — but denying relief on others where the district's offers were found to be adequate or where Parent had declined services.

What the District Did Wrong

Inappropriate vocational goal. For both 11th and 12th grade, the district's long-range postsecondary goal was "competitive employment in the community." Given that Student functioned cognitively in the mildly intellectually disabled range, could not focus for more than five minutes, required constant prompting, and had serious communication and behavioral challenges, this goal was not grounded in reality or based on a proper prevocational assessment. The district violated the law by failing to change this goal even after completing a functional vocational assessment in March 2007 that should have prompted a revision.

Failure to complete a timely vocational assessment in 12th grade. After Parent consented to a vocational assessment in November 2007, the district took over 100 days to complete it — well beyond the 60-day legal deadline — and never held an IEP meeting to review the results before the school year ended. This denied Parent a meaningful opportunity to participate in planning and denied Student updated transition services when he needed them most.

Insufficient speech and language therapy. For both 11th and 12th grade, the district failed to provide enough direct speech and language services to meet Student's functional communication needs. The ALJ found he should have received an additional 30 minutes of direct therapy per week, and that without it, his services were not reasonably calculated to provide educational benefit.

Failure to provide vocational field trips and counseling in 12th grade. After Student was removed from the ROP vocational program partway through 12th grade, the district held no IEP meeting to adjust his program, provided no vocational field trips to expose him to community work environments, and offered no job coach or vocational counselor to support his transition. This left Student without meaningful vocational supports during the final and most critical semester of his high school career.

What Was Ordered

The district must provide 160 hours of compensatory vocational counseling, job coaching, training, and guidance through a qualified, independent nonpublic agency (NPA) provider, to be completed by December 31, 2010. Services must include direct individual and small group support at school, at job or training sites, and in the community. No more than 20% of hours may be used for indirect services like consultation.
The district must provide 40 hours of compensatory speech and language therapy through an independent NPA (not the district's own therapist, due to Student's resistance to prior services), to be completed by December 31, 2010. No more than 20% of hours may be used for indirect services.
Both parties may nominate NPA providers within 30 days. The district must select and contract with providers within 45 days of the decision.
All other requests for relief were denied.

Why This Matters for Parents

Transition planning must be based on your child's actual abilities, not an aspirational label. The district's use of "competitive employment" as a goal for a student who was prevocational and needed constant support was found to be a procedural violation. If your child has significant cognitive or communication challenges, the transition goal must reflect where they actually are — not where a school might wish them to be.
If you consent to an assessment, the district has 60 days to complete it and hold an IEP meeting — track that deadline. The district's failure to meet this deadline in 12th grade was a key finding supporting compensatory education. Write down the date you sign any assessment consent form and follow up if 60 days pass without an IEP meeting.
When your child loses access to a vocational program or service mid-year, demand an IEP meeting immediately. When Student was removed from the ROP program, the district did nothing — no meeting, no new goals, no alternative services. Parents have the right to request an IEP meeting at any time, and a program disruption like this is exactly when that right matters most.
Declining services offered by the district can affect how much compensatory education a court or ALJ will award. The ALJ specifically noted that Parent and Student declined several vocational services and field trips offered in 11th grade, which reduced the compensatory award. Even if you disagree with a particular service, document your concerns in writing rather than simply declining, so the record reflects your reasoning.
Speech and language therapy is a transition service, not just an academic one. The ALJ found that Student's communication deficits were directly tied to his ability to succeed in work environments, and that insufficient therapy denied him a FAPE. If your child has communication challenges and is approaching transition age, make sure the IEP addresses how speech services connect to employment and adult life goals.

What Happened

What the District Did Wrong

What Was Ordered

The district must provide 160 hours of compensatory vocational counseling, job coaching, training, and guidance through a qualified, independent nonpublic agency (NPA) provider, to be completed by December 31, 2010. Services must include direct individual and small group support at school, at job or training sites, and in the community. No more than 20% of hours may be used for indirect services like consultation.
The district must provide 40 hours of compensatory speech and language therapy through an independent NPA (not the district's own therapist, due to Student's resistance to prior services), to be completed by December 31, 2010. No more than 20% of hours may be used for indirect services.
Both parties may nominate NPA providers within 30 days. The district must select and contract with providers within 45 days of the decision.
All other requests for relief were denied.

Why This Matters for Parents

Transition planning must be based on your child's actual abilities, not an aspirational label. The district's use of "competitive employment" as a goal for a student who was prevocational and needed constant support was found to be a procedural violation. If your child has significant cognitive or communication challenges, the transition goal must reflect where they actually are — not where a school might wish them to be.
If you consent to an assessment, the district has 60 days to complete it and hold an IEP meeting — track that deadline. The district's failure to meet this deadline in 12th grade was a key finding supporting compensatory education. Write down the date you sign any assessment consent form and follow up if 60 days pass without an IEP meeting.
When your child loses access to a vocational program or service mid-year, demand an IEP meeting immediately. When Student was removed from the ROP program, the district did nothing — no meeting, no new goals, no alternative services. Parents have the right to request an IEP meeting at any time, and a program disruption like this is exactly when that right matters most.
Declining services offered by the district can affect how much compensatory education a court or ALJ will award. The ALJ specifically noted that Parent and Student declined several vocational services and field trips offered in 11th grade, which reduced the compensatory award. Even if you disagree with a particular service, document your concerns in writing rather than simply declining, so the record reflects your reasoning.
Speech and language therapy is a transition service, not just an academic one. The ALJ found that Student's communication deficits were directly tied to his ability to succeed in work environments, and that insufficient therapy denied him a FAPE. If your child has communication challenges and is approaching transition age, make sure the IEP addresses how speech services connect to employment and adult life goals.