Basis for Civil Suit

As parents of a child with special needs (autism) , we have been in litigation and contention with our local school district (CT) for the past 3 years regarding staff and program competency and appropriate curriculum issues.

We feel that we have supported a strong evidential case that will soon be going to due process proceeding for the continuation of out-placement services..

Since we feel that the school district (and specific individuals within the school district) has knowingly evaded their legal obligations as it applies to IDEA and has deliberately mislead and has lied to both ourselves and our attorney, made false statements relating to staff resignations and qualifications, and have caused both myself and my wife needless mental anguish and suffering as a result of this deception, do we have a basis for a civil suit?

We would prefer to cite the individuals themselves and characterize them as acting outside of their responsibilities to the school district. If the individuals are cited separately, I believe that the school district would be hesitant to involve itself since it was not part of the civil suit and would disavow the actions of these individuals . Actually, it would seem that since the school district has a less than 50% chance in winning the due process hearing, it would not be advantageous to allow a public civil suit reach court since it could be entered into evidence that the school district it will already been proven that the district did not provide an appropriate curriculum for the parents' child.

Any thoughts?

You might very well have a good foundation for a civil suit.

However, federal and state laws generally require that you "exhaust your administrative remedies" first.

What does this mean? This means that you must go to due process and then allow the period for appeals of the hearing officer's decision to pass before filing your civil suit.

It's possible that the remedies you seek will be taken care of at the due process level because the hearing officer has a lot of discretion as to what he/she can order.

If you are going to due process, I would HIGHLY recommend that you get an attorney on board who knows a LOT about special education law. It's a highly specialized area, and not just anyone can do it competently because there is so much to learn as to the applicable state and federal laws.

Schools do NOT like to go to due process. Probably about 85 percent of cases settle before going to due process, which means you can ask that your attorney fees be paid by the school as one of the terms of the settlement. If you win at due process, then the school HAS to pay your attorney fees. If you lose, then you're stuck w/the fees. As you can see, though, you have a very high chance of having those fees paid.

If you'd like to bone up on your rights yourself (and I think you should), I suggest you check out some websites: reedmartin.com, wrightslaw.com and mayerslaw.com.

Your blood will probably boil when you see what your rights are vs. what has actually happened in your case.

Good luck to you!