Charter School Fails Autistic Student: Inappropriate Placement, Missing Behavior Support

A nine-year-old student with autism attended New Pacific Charter-Roseville, where the school repeatedly failed to provide appropriate behavior support, improperly moved him to independent study when his behaviors escalated, and never completed a written IEP for the 2024-2025 school year. The ALJ found the district denied the student a free appropriate public education across both school years and ordered a $14,000 compensatory education fund covering academic instruction, behavior intervention, speech, occupational therapy, and counseling.

What Happened

Student is a nine-year-old child with autism who enrolled at New Pacific Charter-Roseville for the 2023-2024 school year. His initial IEP, developed in April 2023, placed him in a general education classroom for 88 percent of the school day and included speech therapy, occupational therapy, specialized academic instruction, and positive behavior supports. The school also agreed to conduct a functional behavior assessment. From the very first week of school, Student began experiencing serious behavioral incidents — including elopements from the campus and its after-school program, and physical altercations — which escalated over the fall semester. Despite Parent raising concerns repeatedly, the school did not complete a written behavior intervention plan until December 2023, months after the school year began.

When Student's behaviors peaked in November 2023, New Pacific moved him from his general education classroom to an independent study program at home — essentially removing him from school entirely. The school's own staff later admitted this decision was made partly to "placate" Parent rather than because it was educationally appropriate. Student returned to general education in January 2024, but continued to struggle with school refusal, missing more than 52 full school days by year's end. For the 2024-2025 school year, New Pacific never completed a written IEP, leaving Student without a legally enforceable education plan when school started. Student disenrolled on September 11, 2024, after the school threatened to remove him for excessive absences.

What the District Did Wrong

Inappropriate placement to independent study (2023-2024). The ALJ found that New Pacific violated federal and state law by removing Student from his general education classroom and placing him in independent study in November 2023, without first trying supplementary aids, behavior support, or a transition aide to keep him in a less restrictive setting. The school's own witnesses admitted the independent study recommendation was not based on Student's educational needs. Under the law, a school cannot remove a student with disabilities from general education unless it has first tried to make that setting work with appropriate supports — and New Pacific never did that.

Failure to provide behavior intervention services and counseling (2023-2024). Although Student's April 2023 IEP promised a functional behavior assessment and behavior support, the school did not have a written behavior intervention plan in place for the first several months of school. The ALJ found the school failed to provide behavior intervention services for 12 weeks and counseling services for 12 weeks, directly denying Student services his IEP required.

Failure to hold a timely IEP meeting (2023-2024). By March 2024, Student had missed 17 days of school for the spring semester alone and was refusing to exit Parent's car. The ALJ found the school should have convened an IEP team meeting by March 22, 2024, to evaluate whether the behavior plan was working and address the school refusal. Instead, the school collected no behavior data and held no meeting until August 2024 — after the school year ended. This denied both Student and Parent meaningful participation in addressing his escalating needs.

No written IEP at the start of the 2024-2025 school year. New Pacific never finished writing Student's annual IEP. The April 2024 IEP meeting was started but never completed, and no parent consent was obtained. The law requires a complete, written, consented-to IEP to be in place on the first day of school. Without it, Student had no enforceable education plan and Parent could not meaningfully participate in decisions about his program.

What Was Ordered

New Pacific must establish a $14,000 compensatory education fund for Student, covering services across five categories:
- Specialized academic instruction (up to $125/hour)
- Behavior intervention services (up to $175/hour)
- Speech and language services (up to $175/hour)
- Occupational therapy services (up to $175/hour)
- Counseling services (up to $175/hour)
Parent has full discretion to use the fund across any of these service categories, in any quantity of hours, without being restricted to a specific number of hours per category — giving Parent flexibility to meet Student's current needs.
Services may be provided by a non-public agency or another qualified provider agreed upon by Parent and New Pacific.

Why This Matters for Parents

A school cannot remove your child from general education just because behaviors are hard — it must try supports first. The law requires schools to use supplementary aids, behavior intervention plans, and other supports to keep students with disabilities in the general education environment before moving to a more restrictive placement. If a school skips this step, as New Pacific did here, that placement change can be challenged as a FAPE denial.
Your child's IEP must be in writing and signed before the school can implement it — verbal promises don't count. The ALJ emphasized that discussions at an IEP meeting are not the same as an offer of FAPE. If the written IEP document is never completed and you never sign it, the school has no enforceable program for your child, and you have no way to hold them accountable. Always insist on receiving and reviewing the complete written IEP before signing.
Document everything, and push for an IEP meeting when your child is missing school. Parent's communication logs and emails were critical evidence in this case. When a student is refusing school or missing significant days, the law requires the school to convene an IEP meeting to review data and adjust the plan. If your child is struggling to attend, put your request for an IEP meeting in writing immediately.
Schools must collect real behavior data — not just rely on your reports. One reason New Pacific failed Student was that staff never collected systematic, ongoing data about his behavior. Without data, the school could not evaluate whether its behavior plan was working or justify changes. Parents can request that the IEP include specific data collection requirements as part of the behavior intervention plan.

What Happened

What the District Did Wrong

What Was Ordered

New Pacific must establish a $14,000 compensatory education fund for Student, covering services across five categories:
- Specialized academic instruction (up to $125/hour)
- Behavior intervention services (up to $175/hour)
- Speech and language services (up to $175/hour)
- Occupational therapy services (up to $175/hour)
- Counseling services (up to $175/hour)
Parent has full discretion to use the fund across any of these service categories, in any quantity of hours, without being restricted to a specific number of hours per category — giving Parent flexibility to meet Student's current needs.
Services may be provided by a non-public agency or another qualified provider agreed upon by Parent and New Pacific.

Why This Matters for Parents

A school cannot remove your child from general education just because behaviors are hard — it must try supports first. The law requires schools to use supplementary aids, behavior intervention plans, and other supports to keep students with disabilities in the general education environment before moving to a more restrictive placement. If a school skips this step, as New Pacific did here, that placement change can be challenged as a FAPE denial.
Your child's IEP must be in writing and signed before the school can implement it — verbal promises don't count. The ALJ emphasized that discussions at an IEP meeting are not the same as an offer of FAPE. If the written IEP document is never completed and you never sign it, the school has no enforceable program for your child, and you have no way to hold them accountable. Always insist on receiving and reviewing the complete written IEP before signing.
Document everything, and push for an IEP meeting when your child is missing school. Parent's communication logs and emails were critical evidence in this case. When a student is refusing school or missing significant days, the law requires the school to convene an IEP meeting to review data and adjust the plan. If your child is struggling to attend, put your request for an IEP meeting in writing immediately.
Schools must collect real behavior data — not just rely on your reports. One reason New Pacific failed Student was that staff never collected systematic, ongoing data about his behavior. Without data, the school could not evaluate whether its behavior plan was working or justify changes. Parents can request that the IEP include specific data collection requirements as part of the behavior intervention plan.