Special Education Equity
As I assist assist a young teenager with a learning disability and his English-challenged parent attempt to get an appropriate, more than de minimis education in least restrictive environment for the child, it is apparent that we are still in the beginning stages of achieving equity for marginalized populations.
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Hawai‘i DOE Refuses to Respond to State Complaint (07Dec2020)
State-Complaint: Inclusion, LRE, Untrained DOE Admins (18Sep2020)
Parent Unwillingly Named As Plaintiff in Due Process Hearing (13Aug2020)
Ethics Complaint: DOE Monitoring & Compliance Branch Refusing to Communicate with Parent (30May2020)
last update: 08 DEC 2020
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Dear BOE - Letters to Hawaii Board of Education requesting improvements to policies and rules for greater home-to-school collaboration.
Due Process Hearing - The hearing that won't be heard. Parent can't afford and attorney and can't speak English well. That's it. Case closed.
Defamation - (latest: 23 Nov 2020) In an effort to get rid of advocate Vanessa Ott, local school principal begins a campaign to discredit Ms. Ott.
07 Dec 2020 - HI DOE Refuses to Respond to State Complain
Correspondence
From: Taren Taguchi <taren.taguchi@k12.hi.us>
Date: Mon, Sep 21, 2020 at 8:02 AM
Subject: IDEA state Written complaint
To: Vanessa Ott <msvott@gmail.com>
Cc: Cara Tanimura <Cara.Tanimura@k12.hi.us>, Brikena White <Brikena.White@k12.hi.us>
Aloha Ms. Ott,
I hope you and your family are safe and healthy. I have been assigned to investigate this third-party IDEA state written complaint.
The Monitoring and Compliance Branch, Office of the Deputy Superintendent, Department of Education (Department), received your written complaint. We consider your complaint a third-party written complaint, which will be investigated as Case Number 20092101. Within 60 days, an investigation will be conducted related to allegations of noncompliance of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) and/or Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR), Title 8, Chapter 60. A Complaint Investigative Report will be issued to the school, district, and the parent. Pursuant to IDEA and HAR, as a third-party complainant, you will not receive any other communication on this issue.
We encourage you to visit our website, specifically the Procedural Safeguards Notice at: http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/TeachingAndLearning/SpecializedPrograms/SpecialEducation/Pages/Rights.aspx.
Pursuant to 34 CFR §§300.151 through 300.153 and HAR §§8-60-52 through 8-60-54, findings of fact, rationale, conclusion, and decision will be issued. If either the school or district violated IDEA and/or HAR Chapter 60, corrective action will be ordered.
Thank you for this important information. We appreciate your advocacy for students with disabilities.
Mahalo,
Taren Taguchi, Educational Specialist
IDEA Complaints Management Program
Monitoring and Compliance Branch
Office of the Deputy Superintendent
Hawaii Department of Education
P.O. Box 2360
Honolulu, HI 96804
Cell: 808-853-0261
taren.taguchi@k12.hi.us
________________________________________
From: Vanessa Ott<msvott@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Dec 5, 2020 at 7:11 AM
Subject: Why is the DOE Monitoring & Compliance Branch Not Complying with IDEA Procedural Safeguards?
To: Cara Tanimura <Cara.Tanimura@k12.hi.us>, Taren Taguchi <taren.taguchi@k12.hi.us>
Cc: Christina Kishimoto <Christina.Kishimoto@k12.hi.us>, Catherine Payne <catherine.payne@boe.hawaii.gov>
Ms. Taguchi and Ms. Tanimura,
It has now been 75 days since the Monitoring & Compliance Branch acknowledged receipt of my IDEA State Complaint. I have heard absolutely nothing since then. Why is the M&CB not complying with the DOE Procedural Safeguards?
MINIMUM STATE COMPLAINT PROCEDURES
34 CFR §300.152
HAR §8-60-53
Time limit; minimum procedures
The Department must include in its State complaint procedures a time limit of 60 calendar days after a complaint is filed to:
1. Carry out an independent on-site investigation, if the Department determines that an investigation is necessary;
2. Give the complainant the opportunity to submit additional information, either orally or in writing, about the allegations in the complaint;
3. Provide the Department with the opportunity to respond to the complaint, including, at a minimum: (a) at the option of the Department, a proposal to resolve the complaint; and (b) an opportunity for a parent who has filed a complaint and the Department to agree voluntarily to engage in mediation;
4. Review all relevant information and make an independent determination as to whether the Department is violating a requirement of Part B of IDEA; and
5. Issue a written decision to the complainant that addresses each allegation in the complaint and contains: (a) findings of fact and conclusions; and (b) the reasons for the Department’s final decision.
Mahalo,
Vanessa Ott
808 - 854 -1018
cc: Christina Kishimoto, Hawaii Department of Education Superintendent
Catherine Payne, Hawaii Board of Education Chair
________________________________________
From: Taren Taguchi<taren.taguchi@k12.hi.us>
Date: Mon, Dec 7, 2020 at 1:10 PM
Subject: Fwd: IDEA state Written complaint
To: Vanessa Ott <msvott@gmail.com>
Cc: Cara Tanimura <Cara.Tanimura@k12.hi.us>, Christina Kishimoto <christina.kishimoto@k12.hi.us>, Catherine Payne <Catherine.Payne@k12.hi.us>
Hi Ms. Ott,
I hope you and your family are healthy and safe.
Thank you for filing the IDEA Third-Party State Written Complaint. I've attached the email response to you on September 21, 2020. Pursuant to the Code of Federal Regulations, we did not send the report to the Third-Party Complainant. Thank you for your understanding.
Mahalo,
Taren Taguchi, Educational Specialist
IDEA Complaints Management Program
Monitoring and Compliance Branch
Office of the Deputy Superintendent
Hawaii Department of Education
P.O. Box 2360
Honolulu, HI 96804
Cell: 808-853-0261
taren.taguchi@k12.hi.us
________________________________________
From: Vanessa Ott<msvott@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 8, 2020 at 12:53 AM
Subject: Re: IDEA state Written complaint
To: Taren Taguchi <taren.taguchi@k12.hi.us>
Cc: Cara Tanimura <Cara.Tanimura@k12.hi.us>, Christina Kishimoto <christina.kishimoto@k12.hi.us>, Catherine Payne <Catherine.Payne@k12.hi.us>
Ms. Taguchi,
The Hawaii Administrative Rules and the Code of Federal Regulations make it quite clear that within 60 calendar days of filing a State Complaint the State of Hawaii Department of Education must "issue a written decision to the complainant that addresses each allegation in the complaint and contains: (a) findings of fact and conclusions; and (b) the reasons for the Department’s final decision.
By your own admission, you've not followed the law because I have not received a written decision to the complainant that addresses each allegation in the complaint and contains: (a) findings of fact and conclusions; and (b) the reasons for the Department’s final decision.
Mahalo,
Vanessa Ott
808 - 854 -1018
DOE Not Following the Law
Hawai‘i Administrative Rules (a Hawai‘i version of the Federal Code of Regulations) specify that a person who files an IDEA State Complaint , the "complainant," must receive a response within 60 days that addresses each allegation, and contains findings of fact from an investigation, conclusions, a decision, and reasons for the decision.
In complete opposition to the law, the DOE says “as a third-party complainant, you will not receive any other communication on this issue” (21 Sep), and “pursuant to the Code of Federal Regulations, we did not send the report to the Third-Party Complainant. Thank you for your understanding" (07 Dec).
No, I don’t understand how the DOE can do exactly the opposite of what the law specifies, and then claim they’re following the law.
13 Aug 2020 - Parent Unwillingly Named as Plaintiff
Is This Legal?
ln March 2020, the parent of a child with a learning disability receiving special education services per the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) filed a request for a public, impartial due process hearing. It turns out that this is a legal proceeding. Currently, per the Hawaii Administrative Rules for the Department of Education , a third party cannot speak for a parent in an IDEA due process hearing unless that person is an attorney. The parent has extremely limited English skills and could not represent herself. So, she had to withdraw her request for an impartial hearing.
In July, Vanessa Ott wrote to the Monitoring & Compliance Branch of the HI DOE Office of the Superintendent asking how this impoverished mother who cannot afford an attorney and cannot speak English well is going to get some impartial oversight to the problems with the local school Principal that prevent her child from receiving an appropriate education. Without the parent's signed consent, and unbeknownst to her, the matter is referred back to the State Attorney General's Office of Dispute Resolution as a Due Process Hearing Request ,and the Parent finds herself embroiled in another court proceeding where she's named as the Plaintiff, but didn't file a hearing a request. She asks them to stop. It takes dozens of pages of correspondence (compiled in the PDF below) to end the nightmare.
Does anyone know if this is legal?
Ethics Complaint: DOE Refusing to Communicate w. Parent
Why Not Let Parents Choose Their Own Interpreters?
The DOE has a problem with community volunteers helping non-English-proficient parents. This is extremely problematic for parents of special needs children.
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