A student with and IEP/Behavior plan is failing to make progress, can the parents of other students complain?

Question

Under, IDEA a child is provided an education through the least restrictive environment and in my scenario a regular classroom. This child has a diagonised behavior problem and is not making progress based on his IEP and behavior plan. The teacher spends most of her time focusing on this child and the parents of other students are starting to notice. Do the parents of the other students in the class have the right to complain to administration and if so, what should they expect as a result?

Answer 1

It does not really matter if the child has an IEP, or if the child is making progress or not.  You concern is about your child, the environment they are being asked to learn in, and the amount and quality of instructional time they are receiving. Any parent has the right to speak up about their child's education.

Answer 2

How do you know this child is not making progress? Unless you're part of the IEP team, you should have no idea as that's confidential information.

If you're the teacher in this situation, perhaps you need more support in the classroom.  You should talk to your principal about failure to make progress and the need for additional support in the classroom.  Perhaps this student needs a 1:1 aide to support him, and if he had such, he'd be successfull in that placement.  That would be the next step before removal from the class.  

If I was  a parent of another child in the class, I would voice my concerns with the principal and discuss how my child was being directly affected by the disruptions and lack of attention. I would ask what will be done to address my concerns.   I would also encourage other parents to do the same thing.  

Good luck.

Answer 3

The parents should definitely complain.  No child, no matter what the disability, has the right to disrupt the education of the other students in the classroom.  Parents can request a class change for their child, and if enough parents call to complain, administration will take notice.

If there are enough complaints the principal can call an IEP meeting to determine: if the child is actually in the LRE or whether a change of placement is in order; whether or not the teacher and student need more support, such as an aide or behavior analyst; a new behavior plan is needed.

If you don't get satisfaction from the principal I would continue up the chain of command, calling the district and superintendent - this usually gets speedy results.

All children are entitled to the best education possible, not just ESE students.  No matter what their label, they do not have the right to disrupt the learning of others.  Fight for your children, no one else will.

Answer 4

I think that the key here is "voicing your concern" vs complaining.  The teacher is trying to do her job, the administration is trying to their job, the students are trying to do their job, and so are the parents.  If the parents approach the situation more as  - maybe there needs to be some support in the classroom for the teacher, so that she has the resources to meet everyone's needs?  How are the other children's needs not being met?  Are you hearing this from students?  How old are the students?  I think that you also need to look at the age group of the students and what they are telling you - are they saying it like it is?  Not that students purposely lie about things etc, but ask some questions before making decisions.

Answer 5

Parents of other students ceratinly have the right to complain or address their concerns. The problem here though is that "progress" is subjective. A parent of another child in the class in is not going to be aware of the particulars of the IEP so they may not believe this child is making progress, when in fact for this child they may be improving. So I guess long story short...yes complaining is certainly within the rights of the other parents...I just dont think they are going to get very far.

Answer 6

Wow...that's tough!! Honestly, as a parent with an IEP (because of learning disability not behavior issue), I would absolutely want to know if my child was disturbing the entire class. And I thoroughly understand the IDEA guidelines but I don't think that having a child that disrupts everyone is benficial to anyone. I would complain...and as a caring and involoved parent...would expect another parent to complain if it were my kid. In the past, I have found that just because an IEP is in place doesn't necessarily mean that the teacher is getting the support from the administration that they need. Maybe if parents complained the admin would be forced to fix the problem instead of pushing it aside.

Answer 7

Of course they have the right to complain.

What can they expect?

I don't know.  It depends on the child, the IEP, the situation, the behavior, etc.