When Schools Fail to Follow the IEP - What North Carolina Parents Can Do

Advocating for Your Child’s Education in North Carolina — Blog Series, Part 2

In our last post we covered common legal violations in the special education evaluation and eligibility process. Now, let’s explore what happens after your child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is created—and what you can do if schools fail to implement the plan, discipline your child unfairly, or exclude you from decisions.

This post stands on its own. Whether you’ve read Part 1 or not, you’ll learn about your rights and how to enforce them.

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1. What to Do When Your Child’s IEP Isn’t Followed

Your child’s IEP isn’t something that their school is doing to be nice—it is a legally binding document, required by our State Constitution. When your child’s school fails to follow the IEP, they are violating your child’s civil rights.

Legal Requirements

For your child’s school to be in compliance with IEP requirements under federal and state law, they must:

1. Provide all services exactly as described in your child’s IEP; and
2. Use qualified, trained personnel to provide those services.

Common Violations

Unfortunately, many schools fail to meet these obligations. Some frequent problems we see are:

• Failing to provide required services, such as speech or occupational therapy services.
• Not providing the required services through a qualified professional, often by substituting a trained specialist with someone who lacks the specialized skills necessary to deliver essential services like speech therapy, occupational therapy, or individualized behavioral support.
• Providing required accommodations inconsistently or incompletely.

What You Can Do

If your child’s school is not fully implementing their IEP, there are simple steps you can take to help get things back on track:

1. Document every missed service and notify the school in writing immediately;
2. Request that the school provide makeup services (compensatory education) to correct their mistakes and shortfalls;

If the school does not address your complaint and get into compliance with the IEP, contact an attorney promptly to discuss next steps—we can help.

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2. What to Do if Your Child with Disabilities Gets into Trouble at School

Is your child being disciplined at school because of behavior related to their disability? That's not just frustrating—it's wrong. Children in the United States have rights under federal law that protect them against unfair discipline for behavior related to their disabilities.

Before schools can suspend or expel a child with an IEP for extended periods, they have to follow a process put in place to protect your children’s rights.

Legal Requirements

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides specific protections for students with disabilities regarding discipline:

• If a student with disabilities is suspended for 10 or more days in a single school year, their school must follow a specific process to determine if a student’s behavior is linked to their disability—this process is called a Manifestation Determination Review (MDR).
• If the behavior is linked to their disability, the school cannot suspend or expel students for behavior directly caused by, or significantly related to, their disability.
• Unfortunately, schools sometimes try to skip or rush through this process—especially if a child's behavior is challenging—because it's easier for them to remove the child from school rather than provide the required supports.

Common Violations

Despite clear legal protections, schools often make serious mistakes when disciplining students with disabilities. Common issues include:

• Failing to conduct an MDR after the required 10 days of suspension.
• Incorrectly determining that a student's behavior is unrelated to their disability, without clear evidence.
• Failing to provide necessary educational services during suspensions, leaving students behind academically.

What You Can Do

If your child faces disciplinary actions such as repeated suspensions or a potential long-term suspension:

• Demand a MDR meeting. During this meeting, the school must determine whether the behavior is related to your child's disability.
• Request an updated Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and a revised Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) to address the underlying issues.
• If the school refuses or fails to comply with these requirements, consider speaking to a special education attorney about what you should do next. Getting legal guidance first can help ensure the best possible outcome.

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3. Lack of Parental Participation: You Must Be Heard

Your voice matters—especially when it comes to protecting your child’s right to a Free Appropriate Public Education. Federal law (IDEA) explicitly guarantees your right to meaningful participation in decisions about your child’s education.

To make sure you can help your child, federal law gives you the power to make a difference, and schools have to make sure you are given the ability to have meaningful participation in the process of determining and protecting your child’s needs. Unfortunately, many schools fall short of fully involving parents, but you have the power to make sure they don’t cut you out.

Schools must respect your rights at every stage—from scheduling meetings to deciding critical educational issues. When schools fail to involve you properly, they're not just ignoring best practices—they're breaking the law.

Legal Requirements

Federal law, specifically IDEA, clearly outlines the responsibilities of your child’s school when it comes to your enabling your participation. Specifically, schools must:

• Include parents as equal and meaningful participants in all IEP meetings and decisions.
• Make it possible for you to attend IEP meetings by ensuring that they are scheduled at times you can attend.
• Provide qualified interpreters if you need language assistance during meetings or to help you review documents.
• Offer Prior Written Notice (PWN) before making any significant changes to your child's education plan, and they must clearly explain those changes.

Common Violations

Despite all of this, schools can make mistakes or take actions that limit your involvement or that even exclude you altogether. Common violations include:

• Holding meetings without parents present or making important decisions without meaningful input from parents.
• Failing to provide adequate interpretation or translation support for parents who need that support—this is not optional, a language barrier does not negate your rights as a parent.
• Making important decisions before discussing them with you. This is known as "predetermination," and it makes your participation less meaningful, undermining your rights as a parent.

What You Can Do

Being a parent can be hard—your child’s school cannot make it harder by cutting you out of making important decisions that impact your child’s education. If your right to meaningful participation has been violated or ignored, consider taking these steps:

• If decisions were made before your IEP meeting or if something happened that made your participation more difficult or less meaningful: Request another IEP meeting immediately. The school has no choice but to respect your right to participate in your child’s education.
• If the school makes changes to your child’s education plan that you disagree with or aren’t sure about: Demand Prior Written Notice. They must explain why those changes were made and support their decisions with data.
• If the school refuses or if they continue to exclude you from decision-making: Consult with a special education attorney. Knowing your rights and the rights of your child isn’t enough—we can help you take action to protect and enforce them by helping you understand all of your options.

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4. Reimbursement Rights: What the Law Covers (and Doesn’t)

When schools fail to provide required special education services, working families are often faced with a difficult question: Can I afford to help my child?

At North Carolina Legal Services, we’re committed to making sure that when the education system fails your family, the justice system won’t.

We do this in three ways:

1. We offer income-based discounts for legal services and representation, trying to bridge the gap between free legal services that are often hard to qualify for and traditional firms, which often charge more than $400 per hour.
2. We’ll do our best to work with you on a payment plan that you can afford, rather than requiring the full cost of your case up-front, as most law firms do.
3. We’ll fight to make sure that you are reimbursed for the costs associated with enforcing your child's special education rights, including independent evaluations and private services when justified. We believe you shouldn’t have to spend your hard-earned money to make your child’s school follow the law.

The law provides certain avenues for recovering expenses related to IEP violations, but not all expenses are eligible—knowing what qualifies and how to get reimbursed is critical.

Legal Requirements

You can to seek reimbursement in these specific situations if:

• You disagree with the school's evaluation of your child, or if you believe it was incomplete or inadequate, you may have the right to seek reimbursement for an Independent Educational Evaluations (IEE).
• Your public school district failed to provide a Free Appropriate Public Education, you might be able to be reimbursed for private school tuition or specialized private services.
• You prevail at trial the law allows reimbursement of attorney’s fees.

What You Can Do

If you think you might need take action to correct the school's failure to meet its legal obligations, meet with an attorney. We can help you come up with a strategy that meets your child’s needs and your family’s budget. This could mean providing you with full representation throughout the process, or it could mean helping you represent yourself.

It’s always better to meet with an attorney early in the process, rather than waiting—making decisions without legal guidance may limit your ability to recover expenses later.

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5. Addressing Systemic Problems: You’re Not Alone

If your child’s IEP isn’t being followed, other families may be experiencing similar difficulties. Systemic issues—like staffing shortages, inadequate training, or widespread non-compliance—can impact many students at once.

What You Can Do

Contact advocacy groups such as Disability Rights North Carolina or the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which can investigate broader patterns and push for lasting solutions. If you know other families are having similar problems, they may help you file a systemic complaint with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

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Conclusion: Empowerment Through Knowledge

When schools fail their obligations, you have the law on your side—you have the power to protect your child’s rights. If you don’t know how, we can help.

At North Carolina Legal Services, we help families navigate and resolve challenges like these every day. You are not alone.