exist to support families with medical and educational transitions, the Defense Department is limited in what it can do to help families with special education disputes. There is no statutory role for the department in determining a child’s eligibility for special education services. That’s mostly up to the Department of Education, states, and school districts.
“The way the law is designed, they're provided latitude in defining disability categories and setting eligibility criteria. That results in unevenness or variation,” Nowicki added.“It's not as though our experiences in the military community are different from the experiences of our civilian counterparts in special education.
Disabled children are evaluated to determine the kinds of support they need. But when they move, their new school districts often start that process from scratch. New evaluations average 171 days to complete, according to a Partners in Promise survey last year. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, requires school districts to conduct evaluations within 60 days.“If a military student arrives in a new location, and it takes them — as our survey data show — roughly 5.
Dispute with school districts about special education services can take months or years to resolve. The dispute process relies on back-and-forth communication between parents and school districts, with actions escalating from informal complaints to mediation to court cases, according to Partners in Promise. By the time resolution is reached, it may already be time to move again.