District Failed to Identify First-Grader's Severe Language Disorder, Ordered to Pay Private School Costs

A Ravenswood City School District student with a moderate-to-severe mixed receptive and expressive language disorder went unidentified for special education through kindergarten and first grade. The district failed to refer the student for assessment by January 2008, delayed delivering assessment plans after parents requested one, and never provided parents with notice of their special education rights. The ALJ found a FAPE denial beginning in first grade and ordered the district to reimburse $2,500 in private school tuition costs, provide compensatory speech-language therapy, and train its special education staff.

What Happened

Student is a young girl who enrolled in kindergarten in the Ravenswood City School District in 2005. She was born with a physical injury to her right arm and came from a bilingual Tongan-English speaking home. She had no preschool experience. During her first year of kindergarten, she struggled academically and was referred to the district's Student Success Team (SST). The SST attributed her delays to being young for her grade, new to school, and still developing English as a second language. Parents agreed to have her repeat kindergarten — which she completed successfully, meeting grade-level standards. When Student moved to first grade in 2007–2008, however, her performance declined significantly. She was frequently absent, showed signs of stress, and her classroom teacher failed to refer her back to the SST process. An outside tutoring organization working with Student grew suspicious of a disability and informed the family by January 2008. Parents requested an assessment that spring, but the district repeatedly failed to deliver the required assessment plan on time and never provided parents with a written notice of their special education rights until months later. Parents ultimately placed Student at Arbor Bay School, a private school specializing in language disorders, in August 2008. A private assessment conducted in July 2008 revealed Student had a moderate-to-severe mixed receptive and expressive language disorder.

Parents filed a due process complaint in November 2008, arguing that the district had failed in its legal duty to find and identify Student as a child with a disability, had failed to make her eligible for special education, and had violated their rights as parents to participate in educational decisions. The district argued that it had acted appropriately and that the two-year statute of limitations barred most of the family's claims.

What the District Did Wrong

The ALJ found that the district did not violate its child find obligations during kindergarten — Student's delays were reasonably attributed to other factors at that time, and she made real progress in her second kindergarten year. However, by the end of the first semester of first grade in January 2008, the warning signs were clear: Student's grades had declined across the board, she was missing school at an alarming rate due to anxiety, and her classroom teacher was dismissing concerns instead of referring her to the SST. The district should have identified Student as a suspected child with a disability by January 2008 and initiated a special education assessment. It did not.

The district also committed serious procedural violations. After parents formally requested an assessment in May 2008, the district failed to deliver an assessment plan within the required 15-day window — not once, but twice (in June and again in October 2008). The district also failed to give parents any written notice of their special education rights and procedural safeguards until October 2008, five months after the first request. This left parents in the dark about their legal options during a critical window. These violations significantly impeded parents' ability to participate in decisions about their child's education. The ALJ further found that Student is eligible for special education under the speech and language impairment category, and that the district's failure to make that determination denied Student a FAPE during first grade. Student did not, however, qualify under the specific learning disability category — the assessment evidence did not show the required severe discrepancy between ability and achievement.

What Was Ordered

The district must formally recognize Student as eligible for special education under the speech and language impairment category and convene an IEP meeting.
The district must reimburse parents $2,500 for their out-of-pocket co-payment costs to enroll Student at Arbor Bay School during the 2008–2009 school year. Payment is due within 45 days of the decision. (Note: Because parents received a scholarship covering most of the tuition, reimbursement was limited to what they actually paid, not the full tuition cost.)
The district must provide Student with 30 minutes per week of individual one-to-one speech and language therapy during the 2009–2010 school year as compensatory education, in addition to any speech services already owed under a FAPE.
The district must provide at least two hours of training to all special education staff on assessment timelines and the requirement to give parents due process notices when a child is referred for assessment. This training must be completed by November 15, 2009.

Why This Matters for Parents

Child find obligations kick in when warning signs appear — not just when a diagnosis is confirmed. The law requires a district to refer a child for special education assessment when there is a reason to suspect a disability. Parents don't need to wait for a formal diagnosis. In this case, the district's duty was triggered by first-semester first grade performance, even without a diagnosis in hand.
After you request an assessment in writing, the district has only 15 calendar days to give you a proposed assessment plan. If the district misses that deadline, it is a procedural violation. Keep a written record of every assessment request you make, including the date, so you can track the timeline.
You have the right to receive a written notice of your special education rights every time your child is referred for assessment. This notice — called a procedural safeguards notice — must accompany any assessment plan. If you never received this document, that is itself a violation. Ask for it in writing if you haven't gotten one.
The statute of limitations clock starts when you knew or should have known about the problem — not when the district acknowledged it. In this case, parents were allowed to raise claims going back years because the ALJ found they did not have enough information to know their child might have a disability until January 2008. Document when you first learned of concerns, and act quickly once you do.
If the district fails to provide a FAPE and you privately place your child, you may be reimbursed — but typically only for costs you actually paid out of pocket. Because parents in this case received a school scholarship, their reimbursement was limited to their actual co-payments. If you are considering a private placement, consult an advocate or attorney about how to protect your reimbursement rights.

What Happened

What the District Did Wrong

What Was Ordered

The district must formally recognize Student as eligible for special education under the speech and language impairment category and convene an IEP meeting.
The district must reimburse parents $2,500 for their out-of-pocket co-payment costs to enroll Student at Arbor Bay School during the 2008–2009 school year. Payment is due within 45 days of the decision. (Note: Because parents received a scholarship covering most of the tuition, reimbursement was limited to what they actually paid, not the full tuition cost.)
The district must provide Student with 30 minutes per week of individual one-to-one speech and language therapy during the 2009–2010 school year as compensatory education, in addition to any speech services already owed under a FAPE.
The district must provide at least two hours of training to all special education staff on assessment timelines and the requirement to give parents due process notices when a child is referred for assessment. This training must be completed by November 15, 2009.

Why This Matters for Parents

Child find obligations kick in when warning signs appear — not just when a diagnosis is confirmed. The law requires a district to refer a child for special education assessment when there is a reason to suspect a disability. Parents don't need to wait for a formal diagnosis. In this case, the district's duty was triggered by first-semester first grade performance, even without a diagnosis in hand.
After you request an assessment in writing, the district has only 15 calendar days to give you a proposed assessment plan. If the district misses that deadline, it is a procedural violation. Keep a written record of every assessment request you make, including the date, so you can track the timeline.
You have the right to receive a written notice of your special education rights every time your child is referred for assessment. This notice — called a procedural safeguards notice — must accompany any assessment plan. If you never received this document, that is itself a violation. Ask for it in writing if you haven't gotten one.
The statute of limitations clock starts when you knew or should have known about the problem — not when the district acknowledged it. In this case, parents were allowed to raise claims going back years because the ALJ found they did not have enough information to know their child might have a disability until January 2008. Document when you first learned of concerns, and act quickly once you do.
If the district fails to provide a FAPE and you privately place your child, you may be reimbursed — but typically only for costs you actually paid out of pocket. Because parents in this case received a school scholarship, their reimbursement was limited to their actual co-payments. If you are considering a private placement, consult an advocate or attorney about how to protect your reimbursement rights.