COVID School Closure Cost District: Compensatory Ed Ordered for 7-Year-Old with Autism

A parent filed a due process complaint against Corona-Norco Unified School District on behalf of her 7-year-old son with autism and speech-language impairment, arguing the district failed to provide a FAPE when it transitioned to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The ALJ found the district violated the IDEA by providing no academic, speech, or occupational therapy services for three weeks after school closures began in March 2020, and by failing to adequately deliver occupational therapy throughout the rest of the spring 2020 semester. The district was ordered to fund 80 hours of compensatory education for the student.

What Happened

A parent filed a due process complaint in December 2020 on behalf of her 7-year-old second-grade son, who was eligible for special education under the categories of Autism and Speech and Language Impairment. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the student was making progress in a special day class under a November 2019 IEP that provided 1,500 minutes per week of specialized academic instruction, 20 minutes per week of speech and language therapy, and 20 minutes per week of individual occupational therapy. When California ordered school campuses closed in March 2020, Corona-Norco Unified transitioned to distance learning — but for three full weeks (March 16, March 23, and April 6, 2020), it provided the student with no academic instruction, no speech therapy, and no occupational therapy at all. Even after distance learning formally began on April 13, 2020, the district never delivered direct occupational therapy services in any form for the rest of the school year, instead sending home generic worksheet packets and relying on untrained family members to implement therapy.

The parent raised a wide range of claims: that distance learning itself denied her son a FAPE, that the October 2020 IEP was inadequate in its goals and services, that the student needed a one-on-one aide, that he should be placed in a general education classroom, and that his regression went unaddressed. The ALJ heard six days of testimony in March and April 2021 and issued a mixed ruling. The parent won on the limited but important question of whether the district violated the IDEA during those first weeks of the pandemic and throughout spring 2020 for occupational therapy. The district prevailed on nearly all other claims, including the adequacy of the October 2020 IEP, the appropriateness of the special day class placement, and whether the student regressed due to distance learning.

What the District Did Wrong

Three weeks of zero services (March 16 – April 6, 2020): After school campuses closed on March 16, 2020, the district provided the student with no academic instruction, no speech-language therapy, and no occupational therapy for three full weeks. Even though the pandemic was unprecedented, the IDEA contains no exception allowing districts to simply stop providing services. The district was required to deliver services through alternate means — phone, Zoom, packets — and it failed to do so during this period.
No occupational therapy delivered from March 16 to June 3, 2020: While the district eventually approximated academic and speech services through distance learning beginning April 13, it never provided any direct occupational therapy services for the entire remainder of the school year. The occupational therapist sent generic worksheet packets by email and was available by phone, but she never held a Zoom session with the student. Meanwhile, the sensory tools the student depended on — his weighted vest, body sock, and TheraBand — were locked on campus and inaccessible. The untrained family members caring for the student at home (including a teenage uncle and a grandmother) were not equipped to implement occupational therapy exercises. The ALJ found this was a material failure to implement the IEP.

What Was Ordered

Corona-Norco Unified School District must provide the student 76 hours of compensatory individual academic instruction to make up for the three weeks of missed academic services.
The district must provide the student 4 hours of compensatory speech and language and occupational therapy to make up for missed services.
All compensatory services are capped at a rate not to exceed $55 per hour, consistent with the Professional Tutors of America rate stipulated by the parties.
If Professional Tutors of America is a certified nonpublic agency, the district must directly fund services there. If not, the district must reimburse the parent based on proof of attendance and payment at an agency of the parent's choosing, up to $55 per hour.
All compensatory services must be made available to the student until June 30, 2023 (a nearly two-year window from the decision date).
All other requests for relief were denied, including claims for tuition reimbursement at a private school, placement in general education, a one-on-one aide, and compensatory services for the 2020–2021 school year.

Why This Matters for Parents

The IDEA has no COVID exception. The ALJ was explicit: there is no legal carve-out that excuses a district from implementing an IEP simply because a pandemic closed school buildings. If your child's services stopped during COVID — even for just a few weeks — that may constitute a FAPE violation entitling your child to compensatory education. Check your child's service logs for gaps starting March 2020.
Switching modalities is allowed; providing nothing is not. Districts were permitted to shift to Zoom, phone calls, and packets during COVID closures. What they were not permitted to do is go silent. If your district ever stopped services entirely — for any reason, pandemic or otherwise — and never offered to make those weeks up, you may have a viable claim.
Sensory tools and equipment belong with the child, not the school. The student's weighted vest, body sock, and other sensory supports were stranded on a locked campus, making occupational therapy impossible at home. Parents should request in their IEP that all needed sensory tools, assistive devices, or equipment be sent home or duplicated for home use — especially during any school closure. This should be written into the IEP itself.
Compensatory education does not have to be hour-for-hour. Courts and ALJs are not required to award exactly as many missed minutes as were lost. The ALJ here calculated a specific, targeted remedy based on the services in the IEP — not on parent estimates of total missed instruction. When requesting compensatory ed, ground your request in the specific services listed in the IEP and the specific weeks they were not delivered, rather than the overall hours of the school day.
Parent refusal of accommodations can affect your case. The ALJ noted that when the teacher offered to lower the difficulty level of assignments or provide printed packets to reduce screen time, the parent declined. While this did not defeat the parent's claims on the occupational therapy issue, it did affect the overall picture. Parents should accept or document in writing their reasons for declining district accommodations — refusing help without explanation can undermine your credibility at a hearing.

What Happened

What the District Did Wrong

Three weeks of zero services (March 16 – April 6, 2020): After school campuses closed on March 16, 2020, the district provided the student with no academic instruction, no speech-language therapy, and no occupational therapy for three full weeks. Even though the pandemic was unprecedented, the IDEA contains no exception allowing districts to simply stop providing services. The district was required to deliver services through alternate means — phone, Zoom, packets — and it failed to do so during this period.
No occupational therapy delivered from March 16 to June 3, 2020: While the district eventually approximated academic and speech services through distance learning beginning April 13, it never provided any direct occupational therapy services for the entire remainder of the school year. The occupational therapist sent generic worksheet packets by email and was available by phone, but she never held a Zoom session with the student. Meanwhile, the sensory tools the student depended on — his weighted vest, body sock, and TheraBand — were locked on campus and inaccessible. The untrained family members caring for the student at home (including a teenage uncle and a grandmother) were not equipped to implement occupational therapy exercises. The ALJ found this was a material failure to implement the IEP.

What Was Ordered

Corona-Norco Unified School District must provide the student 76 hours of compensatory individual academic instruction to make up for the three weeks of missed academic services.
The district must provide the student 4 hours of compensatory speech and language and occupational therapy to make up for missed services.
All compensatory services are capped at a rate not to exceed $55 per hour, consistent with the Professional Tutors of America rate stipulated by the parties.
If Professional Tutors of America is a certified nonpublic agency, the district must directly fund services there. If not, the district must reimburse the parent based on proof of attendance and payment at an agency of the parent's choosing, up to $55 per hour.
All compensatory services must be made available to the student until June 30, 2023 (a nearly two-year window from the decision date).
All other requests for relief were denied, including claims for tuition reimbursement at a private school, placement in general education, a one-on-one aide, and compensatory services for the 2020–2021 school year.

Why This Matters for Parents

The IDEA has no COVID exception. The ALJ was explicit: there is no legal carve-out that excuses a district from implementing an IEP simply because a pandemic closed school buildings. If your child's services stopped during COVID — even for just a few weeks — that may constitute a FAPE violation entitling your child to compensatory education. Check your child's service logs for gaps starting March 2020.
Switching modalities is allowed; providing nothing is not. Districts were permitted to shift to Zoom, phone calls, and packets during COVID closures. What they were not permitted to do is go silent. If your district ever stopped services entirely — for any reason, pandemic or otherwise — and never offered to make those weeks up, you may have a viable claim.
Sensory tools and equipment belong with the child, not the school. The student's weighted vest, body sock, and other sensory supports were stranded on a locked campus, making occupational therapy impossible at home. Parents should request in their IEP that all needed sensory tools, assistive devices, or equipment be sent home or duplicated for home use — especially during any school closure. This should be written into the IEP itself.
Compensatory education does not have to be hour-for-hour. Courts and ALJs are not required to award exactly as many missed minutes as were lost. The ALJ here calculated a specific, targeted remedy based on the services in the IEP — not on parent estimates of total missed instruction. When requesting compensatory ed, ground your request in the specific services listed in the IEP and the specific weeks they were not delivered, rather than the overall hours of the school day.
Parent refusal of accommodations can affect your case. The ALJ noted that when the teacher offered to lower the difficulty level of assignments or provide printed packets to reduce screen time, the parent declined. While this did not defeat the parent's claims on the occupational therapy issue, it did affect the overall picture. Parents should accept or document in writing their reasons for declining district accommodations — refusing help without explanation can undermine your credibility at a hearing.