A due process hearing is the most complex and, in many ways, the most powerful formal dispute resolution mechanism available to parents. In Louisiana, a request for a due process hearing culminates in a trial before an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”), who adjudicates whether an LEA has violated a student’s right to FAPE and can order appropriate remedies for any violations found.
Due process hearings are narrower in scope than formal written complaints because they must relate to a specific student. Due process hearing requests may be filed to address any matter related to the identification, evaluation, educational placement, or provision of FAPE to a student with a disability.1 The ALJ’s authority, however, is generally limited to a substantive determination that a student was denied FAPE. The ALJ can only rule on procedural grounds when the procedural inadequacies impeded the student’s right to FAPE, impeded the parent’s opportunity to participate in the decision-making process regarding FAPE, or caused a deprivation of educational benefit.2
As with formal written complaints, due process proceedings have a 1-year prescriptive period. This means allegations must relate to violations that occurred not more than 1 year before the parent knew or should have known about an alleged action that forms the basis of the hearing request.3 The prescriptive period does not apply, however, if the parent was prevented from filing a request for a due process hearing due to specific misrepresentations by the LEA that it had resolved the problem or to the withholding of required information from the parent.4
To request a due process hearing, a parent must submit a written request to the LDE that includes: (1) the student’s name; (2) the student’s address; (3) the name of the school the student is attending; (4) in the case of a homeless student or youth, the available contact information for the student and the name of the school the student is attending; (5) a description of the nature of the problem of the student relating to the proposed or refused initiation or change, including facts relating to the problem; and (6) a proposed resolution of the problem to the extent known and available to the requestor at the time.5
The LDE’s Due Process Hearing Request form includes sections for providing all of the required information along with instructions for mailing, faxing, or emailing the request to the LDE’s Legal Division.6 As with the form for formal written complaints, the LDE form should be used as a cover page to which the substance of the request is attached. A copy of the request must also be forwarded to the special education director or superintendent of the LEA that is the subject of the due process hearing request.7
In theory, a due process hearing request does not have to be as extensive as a formal written complaint because there will be an opportunity to adduce testimony and additional evidence at the hearing. Nevertheless, an attorney representing a parent in a due process proceeding should draft a thorough request that presents the complete factual scenario and legal analysis of the alleged violations.8
- 1La. Bulletin 1706 § 507(A)(1).
- 2Id. § 513(A).
- 3Id. §§ 507(A)(2), 511(F).
- 4Id. § 507(G).
- 5Id. § 508(B).
- 6See La. Dep’t of Educ., Request for Special Education Due Process Hearing.
- 7See id.
- 8A template for requesting a due process hearing based on common alleged violations of FAPE is provided in Section 9.