Garvey Failed to Address Behavior Needs and Ignored IEE Request for Nonverbal Student with Autism

A seven-year-old student with autism and intellectual disability attended Garvey School District, where staff repeatedly failed to understand or address his tantrum behaviors despite years of notice. The district also completely ignored the family's July 2018 request for independent educational evaluations in four areas, significantly cutting parents out of the decision-making process. The ALJ ruled in the student's favor on behavior assessment timing and the IEE request, ordering the district to fund an independent speech-language evaluation and provide mandatory behavior training to all special education staff.

What Happened

The student was a seven-year-old boy with autism and intellectual disability who lived within Garvey School District's boundaries. When he first entered the district's special education program in 2015, he functioned at the level of a very young infant in most developmental areas — he was nonverbal, had no academic skills, and communicated primarily by grabbing an adult's hand and leading them to what he wanted. From preschool through kindergarten, he attended a moderate-to-severe special day class and received speech and language services. Throughout this time, he regularly engaged in tantrum behaviors — crying, hitting himself, throwing himself on the floor — that his teachers and aides handled inconsistently because they did not actually understand why he was doing it. Some staff thought it was pain from his severe eczema; others thought it was frustration from not being able to communicate. No one conducted a functional behavior assessment until February 2018, despite the district's own IEP documents noting as far back as 2016 that behavior goals were needed.

In July 2018, the student's family formally requested independent educational evaluations (IEEs) in four areas: speech and language, functional behavior, occupational therapy, and assistive technology. Under federal and state law, a school district must respond to such a request by either agreeing to fund the evaluation or filing for due process to defend its own assessments — and it must do so without unnecessary delay. Garvey did neither. It simply did not respond at all. The family filed for due process in February 2019. After a five-day hearing, the ALJ found that Garvey had violated the student's rights by waiting too long to conduct the functional behavior assessment and by completely ignoring the family's IEE request. The district prevailed on most of the other issues, including the appropriateness of its overall program, placement, and assistive technology implementation.

What the District Did Wrong

Delayed functional behavior assessment despite years of notice. Garvey knew Student's tantrum behaviors were impeding his learning since at least the 2015–2016 school year. Its own January 2017 IEP noted that behavior goals were needed — yet no behavior goals were ever written, and no functional behavior assessment was conducted until February 2018. This years-long gap was a denial of FAPE.
Staff inadvertently reinforced the behaviors they were trying to stop. Because no one had identified the actual function of Student's tantrums (seeking adult attention and escaping non-preferred tasks), staff responses — consoling him, holding him, rubbing lotion on him, letting him leave a task — actually rewarded the behavior. This made things worse, not better, and continued until the behavior assessment was finally completed in early 2018.
Completely failed to respond to the family's IEE request. When the family requested independent evaluations in July 2018, Garvey took no action whatsoever — it did not agree to fund the evaluations, did not offer a reason for refusing, and did not file for due process to defend its own assessments. This is a clear procedural violation under IDEA. The ALJ found this significantly impeded the parents' ability to participate meaningfully in the IEP process, leaving them in limbo about their rights and options.

What Was Ordered

Garvey must fund an independent speech and language evaluation at public expense. The district must initiate the evaluation process within 30 calendar days of the decision date. The district must also pay up to three hours of the independent evaluator's time to attend an IEP meeting to discuss the results.
Garvey must provide three hours of behavior training to all preschool and elementary special education staff — including teachers, paraprofessionals, aides, administrators, school psychologists, behaviorists, and related service providers — before the end of the first semester of the 2019–2020 school year. The training must cover: identifying behavior needs, developing behavior goals, when to refer students for functional behavior assessments, positive behavior reinforcement, and how to develop and implement behavior intervention plans.
All other requests for relief were denied. The ALJ did not order compensatory education, a placement change, additional IEEs in the other areas requested, or any remedy related to speech services, occupational therapy, academics, health, or assistive technology implementation.

Why This Matters for Parents

Districts must respond to IEE requests — silence is not an option. If you request an independent evaluation, the school district is legally required to either agree to fund it or file for due process to defend its own assessment. If the district does nothing, that is itself a procedural violation you can raise in a due process complaint. Document your request in writing and track whether and when the district responds.
"We know behavior is a problem" is not enough — the district must act on it. If your child's IEP acknowledges that behavior is impeding learning, the district cannot simply note it and move on. Failing to conduct a functional behavior assessment or write behavior goals — especially when the district's own documents flag the need — can constitute a denial of FAPE. Push in IEP meetings for specific, written behavior goals and a formal behavior plan.
Staff who don't understand the cause of a behavior can make things worse. This case shows that well-meaning teachers and aides who comfort or soothe a child during tantrums — without understanding the function of the behavior — can actually reinforce the very behavior they're trying to stop. A proper functional behavior assessment identifies why the behavior happens, which is the only way to design an effective response plan.
Progress, even slow progress, matters in FAPE disputes. The ALJ ruled against the family on most program issues because the evidence showed Student was making slow but real gains consistent with his level of disability. When challenging whether a program is appropriate, parents need evidence not just that progress was slow, but that a different program would have produced meaningfully better results.
Parental participation rights are substantive, not just procedural. The right to request an IEE exists specifically so parents can get independent expert opinions to challenge or supplement what the district is offering. When a district ignores that request entirely, it shuts parents out of the IEP process in a way courts take seriously — even if the underlying assessments turn out to be defensible. Use this right, and enforce it if the district fails to respond.

What Happened

What the District Did Wrong

Delayed functional behavior assessment despite years of notice. Garvey knew Student's tantrum behaviors were impeding his learning since at least the 2015–2016 school year. Its own January 2017 IEP noted that behavior goals were needed — yet no behavior goals were ever written, and no functional behavior assessment was conducted until February 2018. This years-long gap was a denial of FAPE.
Staff inadvertently reinforced the behaviors they were trying to stop. Because no one had identified the actual function of Student's tantrums (seeking adult attention and escaping non-preferred tasks), staff responses — consoling him, holding him, rubbing lotion on him, letting him leave a task — actually rewarded the behavior. This made things worse, not better, and continued until the behavior assessment was finally completed in early 2018.
Completely failed to respond to the family's IEE request. When the family requested independent evaluations in July 2018, Garvey took no action whatsoever — it did not agree to fund the evaluations, did not offer a reason for refusing, and did not file for due process to defend its own assessments. This is a clear procedural violation under IDEA. The ALJ found this significantly impeded the parents' ability to participate meaningfully in the IEP process, leaving them in limbo about their rights and options.

What Was Ordered

Garvey must fund an independent speech and language evaluation at public expense. The district must initiate the evaluation process within 30 calendar days of the decision date. The district must also pay up to three hours of the independent evaluator's time to attend an IEP meeting to discuss the results.
Garvey must provide three hours of behavior training to all preschool and elementary special education staff — including teachers, paraprofessionals, aides, administrators, school psychologists, behaviorists, and related service providers — before the end of the first semester of the 2019–2020 school year. The training must cover: identifying behavior needs, developing behavior goals, when to refer students for functional behavior assessments, positive behavior reinforcement, and how to develop and implement behavior intervention plans.
All other requests for relief were denied. The ALJ did not order compensatory education, a placement change, additional IEEs in the other areas requested, or any remedy related to speech services, occupational therapy, academics, health, or assistive technology implementation.

Why This Matters for Parents

Districts must respond to IEE requests — silence is not an option. If you request an independent evaluation, the school district is legally required to either agree to fund it or file for due process to defend its own assessment. If the district does nothing, that is itself a procedural violation you can raise in a due process complaint. Document your request in writing and track whether and when the district responds.
"We know behavior is a problem" is not enough — the district must act on it. If your child's IEP acknowledges that behavior is impeding learning, the district cannot simply note it and move on. Failing to conduct a functional behavior assessment or write behavior goals — especially when the district's own documents flag the need — can constitute a denial of FAPE. Push in IEP meetings for specific, written behavior goals and a formal behavior plan.
Staff who don't understand the cause of a behavior can make things worse. This case shows that well-meaning teachers and aides who comfort or soothe a child during tantrums — without understanding the function of the behavior — can actually reinforce the very behavior they're trying to stop. A proper functional behavior assessment identifies why the behavior happens, which is the only way to design an effective response plan.
Progress, even slow progress, matters in FAPE disputes. The ALJ ruled against the family on most program issues because the evidence showed Student was making slow but real gains consistent with his level of disability. When challenging whether a program is appropriate, parents need evidence not just that progress was slow, but that a different program would have produced meaningfully better results.
Parental participation rights are substantive, not just procedural. The right to request an IEE exists specifically so parents can get independent expert opinions to challenge or supplement what the district is offering. When a district ignores that request entirely, it shuts parents out of the IEP process in a way courts take seriously — even if the underlying assessments turn out to be defensible. Use this right, and enforce it if the district fails to respond.