Untimely Triennial Assessment Wins IEEs; COVID IEP Failures Yield Compensatory Services

A six-year-old student with autism in the Los Alamitos Unified School District won independent educational evaluations at public expense after the district took over five months past the legal deadline to complete his triennial assessment. The student also won 10 hours of compensatory speech therapy and 80 hours of compensatory specialized academic instruction because the district failed to implement his IEP during the COVID-19 school closures in spring 2020. The district prevailed on most other issues, including placement, behavior intervention plan, one-to-one aide, and occupational therapy.

What Happened

Student is a six-year-old first grader diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who attended the Los Alamitos Unified School District's Regional Autism Program (RAP), a specialized small-group classroom with embedded behavioral and therapeutic supports. Parent consented to a comprehensive triennial reassessment plan in February 2020. The district began the assessment but stopped when COVID-19 forced school closures in mid-March 2020, and did not resume assessments until August 31, 2020 — the start of the next school year. The final assessment report was not completed until October 9, 2020, well over five months past the legal 60-day deadline.

Parent filed for due process in February 2021, raising eight issues including the adequacy of the assessment, Student's placement in the RAP rather than a more inclusive setting, the absence of a behavior intervention plan and a one-to-one aide, failure to provide occupational therapy, and failure to implement Student's IEP during COVID-19 school closures. The district filed its own due process complaint seeking a ruling that its triennial assessments were legally appropriate. The cases were consolidated and heard over five days in June 2021.

What the District Did Wrong

Untimely Assessment (Parent Won This Issue): California law requires a school district to complete an assessment and hold an IEP meeting to review the results within 60 days of receiving a parent's written consent to the assessment plan. Parent signed consent on February 13, 2020. That 60-day clock did not stop simply because COVID-19 closed schools — the district never asked Parent to agree in writing to extend the deadline, as the law requires. The assessment was not completed until October 9, 2020, approximately five and a half months after the legal deadline. ALJ Arden found this significant delay interfered with Parent's right to participate in developing Student's IEP, because Parent did not have access to critical assessment information until long after they were legally entitled to it. Because the assessments were untimely, they were found to be legally inappropriate, and Student was entitled to independent educational evaluations (IEEs) at the district's expense in all five assessed areas: psychoeducation, health, speech and language, occupational therapy, and functional behavior.

COVID-19 IEP Implementation Failure (Student Partially Won This Issue): During the spring 2020 school closures (March 16 through May 28, 2020), the district failed to deliver the full 1,300 minutes per week of specialized academic instruction and one hour per week of speech therapy promised in Student's October 25, 2019 IEP. The district provided virtual group instruction but Student did not log in to most sessions. The ALJ found the district still failed to fully implement the IEP during this period, awarding compensatory services. The district prevailed on the claim that it failed to implement the September 29, 2020 IEP because Parent never consented to that IEP, so the district had no legal authority to implement it.

What the ALJ Found on Other Issues (District Prevailed): The ALJ found the district did not deny Student a FAPE by placing him in the RAP rather than a more inclusive general education setting, because Student required an extremely structured environment and significant behavioral supports. The district also prevailed on the claims that it should have provided a behavior intervention plan, a one-to-one aide, or direct occupational therapy services before September 2020 — the evidence showed Student's needs in those areas were adequately met through the RAP's embedded supports.

What Was Ordered

The district's October 9, 2020 triennial assessments were declared legally inappropriate due to untimeliness.
The district must fund independent educational evaluations of Student in the areas of psychoeducation, health, speech and language, occupational therapy, and functional behavior, conducted by evaluators of Student's choosing and consistent with the district's IEE guidelines.
The district must provide Student with 10 hours of compensatory one-to-one speech therapy, delivered by a nonpublic agency of Student's choosing, at the district's direct expense.
The district must provide Student with 80 hours of compensatory one-to-one specialized academic instruction, delivered by a nonpublic agency of Student's choosing, at the district's direct expense.
Student has two years from the date of the decision to use the compensatory services in Orders 3 and 4; unused services will be forfeited.

Why This Matters for Parents

The 60-day assessment deadline does not automatically pause for COVID or other emergencies. The law requires a written agreement from the parent to extend that timeline. If a district needs more time, it must ask — and get your written consent. If it does not, the assessment may be found untimely and legally inappropriate, entitling your child to IEEs at public expense.
An untimely assessment is grounds for publicly funded independent evaluations, even if the assessment content was otherwise adequate. Here, the ALJ found the assessments were not appropriate specifically because of the delay, not because the tests themselves were flawed. You do not have to prove the district's assessors made errors — procedural failures alone can trigger your right to an IEE.
If you don't consent to an IEP, the district cannot implement it — but the prior IEP remains in effect. Parent's refusal to consent to the September 2020 IEP meant the district kept implementing the October 2019 IEP. Importantly, the ALJ also noted that Parent could have signed the new IEP "with exceptions," accepting some portions (like the new occupational therapy offer) while rejecting others. Not knowing this option cost Student access to services.
Compensatory education is calculated based on what was actually missed, not just a day-for-day count. The ALJ calculated that roughly 490–500 minutes per week of specialized academic instruction went unprovided during 10 weeks of spring 2020 closures, resulting in an award of 80 hours of make-up instruction. Keeping records of which services your child actually received — especially during disruptions — helps establish what was lost.

What Happened

What the District Did Wrong

What Was Ordered

The district's October 9, 2020 triennial assessments were declared legally inappropriate due to untimeliness.
The district must fund independent educational evaluations of Student in the areas of psychoeducation, health, speech and language, occupational therapy, and functional behavior, conducted by evaluators of Student's choosing and consistent with the district's IEE guidelines.
The district must provide Student with 10 hours of compensatory one-to-one speech therapy, delivered by a nonpublic agency of Student's choosing, at the district's direct expense.
The district must provide Student with 80 hours of compensatory one-to-one specialized academic instruction, delivered by a nonpublic agency of Student's choosing, at the district's direct expense.
Student has two years from the date of the decision to use the compensatory services in Orders 3 and 4; unused services will be forfeited.

Why This Matters for Parents

The 60-day assessment deadline does not automatically pause for COVID or other emergencies. The law requires a written agreement from the parent to extend that timeline. If a district needs more time, it must ask — and get your written consent. If it does not, the assessment may be found untimely and legally inappropriate, entitling your child to IEEs at public expense.
An untimely assessment is grounds for publicly funded independent evaluations, even if the assessment content was otherwise adequate. Here, the ALJ found the assessments were not appropriate specifically because of the delay, not because the tests themselves were flawed. You do not have to prove the district's assessors made errors — procedural failures alone can trigger your right to an IEE.
If you don't consent to an IEP, the district cannot implement it — but the prior IEP remains in effect. Parent's refusal to consent to the September 2020 IEP meant the district kept implementing the October 2019 IEP. Importantly, the ALJ also noted that Parent could have signed the new IEP "with exceptions," accepting some portions (like the new occupational therapy offer) while rejecting others. Not knowing this option cost Student access to services.
Compensatory education is calculated based on what was actually missed, not just a day-for-day count. The ALJ calculated that roughly 490–500 minutes per week of specialized academic instruction went unprovided during 10 weeks of spring 2020 closures, resulting in an award of 80 hours of make-up instruction. Keeping records of which services your child actually received — especially during disruptions — helps establish what was lost.