LAUSD Failed to Provide Home Teacher for Medically Fragile Student with Cerebral Palsy

A 14-year-old student with cerebral palsy, visual impairment, and seizures received no home instruction for 15 school days at the start of the 2014-2015 school year because LAUSD failed to assign an appropriate teacher. The ALJ found this was a denial of FAPE and ordered 25 hours of compensatory home instruction plus designation of a case representative. The parent's request for administrative placement at the neighborhood high school was denied.

What Happened

Student is a 14-year-old girl with multiple disabilities, including cerebral palsy spastic quadriplegia, optic atrophy, cortical vision impairment/blindness, seizures, and global developmental delays. Because of her medically fragile condition, her physician ordered home instruction, and her IEP team agreed that home instruction was the least restrictive environment for her. Her IEP provided for 300 minutes per week of home instruction. The IEP team had already noted that Student had failed to meet three of her four goals due to inadequate instruction time in the prior year.

When the 2014-2015 school year began on August 12, 2014 through the Carlson Home Hospital School (a District-sponsored home instruction program), no teacher was assigned to Student — due to District's own oversight. When the District finally located a teacher nearly two weeks later, that teacher was only available from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Parent explained that Student was not alert or awake in the afternoon due to her medical condition and medications, and therefore could not benefit from instruction at that hour. Parent asked for a morning teacher; the District said none were available. A morning teacher was not provided until around September 15, 2014. Parent filed a due process complaint on September 2, 2014, asking for compensatory education hours and an administrative placement at Eagle Rock High School, the neighborhood school.

What the District Did Wrong

Failing to provide any home instruction for 15 school days. The ALJ found that District's failure to provide Student with any of her 300 weekly minutes of home instruction for 15 school days was not a "minor discrepancy" — it was a complete absence of services. Under federal law, only minor gaps in IEP implementation are excused; a total failure to deliver services is a material violation. The ALJ also noted that Student's prior IEP had already flagged inadequate instruction time as the reason she missed her goals, making additional missed time even more harmful.

Offering an afternoon-only teacher without IEP authorization. The District argued that Parent was simply being unreasonable by refusing the afternoon teacher. The ALJ rejected this. Because the IEP did not specify that instruction would occur outside regular school hours (8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.), offering afternoon-only instruction would have required an IEP amendment and parental consent. Parent's refusal was not mere preference — it was rooted in Student's documented medical needs, including her reduced alertness in the afternoon due to medications.

What Was Ordered

District must provide Student with 25 hours of compensatory home instruction delivered by a credentialed District teacher. These hours must be made available within 30 days of the decision.
District must designate a case representative who is familiar (or will become familiar) with Student's needs and IEP, and communicate that person's name to Parents within 30 days.
Compensatory hours must be used by August 30, 2015, or they will be forfeited. The obligation ends if Student is no longer a District resident.
All other requests for relief — including the 55-hour compensatory request, the 30 hours from a non-public agency, and the administrative placement at Eagle Rock High School — were denied.

Why This Matters for Parents

A complete failure to provide services is never a "minor" violation. Districts sometimes argue that gaps in services are trivial and don't require compensation. This case confirms that when a district provides zero instruction — not reduced instruction, but none at all — that is a significant violation of the IEP, especially when the student already has a documented history of falling behind due to missed instruction time.
Your child's medical needs can justify refusing an inappropriate service offer. If the District offers services at a time when your child cannot meaningfully access them due to their disability or medications, you are not simply being difficult by declining. Make sure to document in writing why the offered time or format does not work for your child medically.
IEPs should specify when and how services will be delivered. This case shows that vague IEP language — like "300 minutes per week" without specifying the time of day — can create problems. Push to include details about scheduling in the IEP so there is no ambiguity about what the District is committing to provide.
Compensatory education is calibrated to what the student actually needs, not just hour-for-hour replacement. The ALJ awarded more than the 15 hours lost (25 hours total) because Student's prior IEPs showed she needed more instruction time to meet her goals. However, the request for 55 hours was denied as excessive. Ground your requests for compensatory time in documented educational need, not just the raw number of hours missed.

What Happened

What the District Did Wrong

What Was Ordered

District must provide Student with 25 hours of compensatory home instruction delivered by a credentialed District teacher. These hours must be made available within 30 days of the decision.
District must designate a case representative who is familiar (or will become familiar) with Student's needs and IEP, and communicate that person's name to Parents within 30 days.
Compensatory hours must be used by August 30, 2015, or they will be forfeited. The obligation ends if Student is no longer a District resident.
All other requests for relief — including the 55-hour compensatory request, the 30 hours from a non-public agency, and the administrative placement at Eagle Rock High School — were denied.

Why This Matters for Parents

A complete failure to provide services is never a "minor" violation. Districts sometimes argue that gaps in services are trivial and don't require compensation. This case confirms that when a district provides zero instruction — not reduced instruction, but none at all — that is a significant violation of the IEP, especially when the student already has a documented history of falling behind due to missed instruction time.
Your child's medical needs can justify refusing an inappropriate service offer. If the District offers services at a time when your child cannot meaningfully access them due to their disability or medications, you are not simply being difficult by declining. Make sure to document in writing why the offered time or format does not work for your child medically.
IEPs should specify when and how services will be delivered. This case shows that vague IEP language — like "300 minutes per week" without specifying the time of day — can create problems. Push to include details about scheduling in the IEP so there is no ambiguity about what the District is committing to provide.
Compensatory education is calibrated to what the student actually needs, not just hour-for-hour replacement. The ALJ awarded more than the 15 hours lost (25 hours total) because Student's prior IEPs showed she needed more instruction time to meet her goals. However, the request for 55 hours was denied as excessive. Ground your requests for compensatory time in documented educational need, not just the raw number of hours missed.