Appeal a Disciplinary Decision

State Guidance, Behavior

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In the general disciplinary context, there are two distinct types of appeals. One is a local appeal at the administrative level and the other is an IDEA due process hearing. The local appeal is one in which a parent disagrees with the violation of the code of conduct or the consequences. This type of appeal would follow the LEA’s policies and procedures, and the campus administrator would provide the parent with the procedural requirements for the appeal. If not resolved through the steps of the local appeal, the determination ends up before the school board.

Under the IDEA when a parent of a student with a disability disagrees with a disciplinary placement decision or the results of the manifestation determination, the parent may appeal the decision by requesting a due process hearing. Likewise, the LEA may request a due process hearing to appeal a disciplinary placement decision if the LEA believes that maintaining the student's current placement is substantially likely to result in injury to the student or to others.

Dispute Resolution

As referenced in TEA’s Special Education Dispute Resolution Systems Handbook, IDEA strongly favors resolving disputes through alternate, less adversarial, and more cost-effective means than through a due process hearing. The parent and the LEA have available either the resolution process or the mediation process as vehicles for resolving their differences outside of a due process hearing.

Resolution Process

The resolution process gives the parties a chance to try to resolve their differences before going to a
hearing. When a due process hearing involves a disciplinary change of placement, it is expedited and
shortened timelines apply to the resolution meeting and the resolution process. The resolution meeting must occur within 7 days of receipt of the due process complaint unless the parent and school district agree in writing to waive it or agree to go to mediation. The due process hearing may proceed unless the matter is resolved by the parties within 15 days of receipt of the due process complaint. A non-expedited hearing has a longer resolution timeline.

Mediation Process

TEA offers mediation to parents and school districts who have a disagreement involving any matter arising under IDEA-Part B. Mediation is voluntary, meaning that both parties must agree to participate in mediation. TEA provides information about mediation each time it receives a special education complaint or a due process hearing request, but parents and LEAs may request mediation at any time. For more information about mediation, see the Office of Legal Services, Special Education Mediation Program.

Due Process Hearings

A special education due process hearing is one of the dispute resolution processes available to parents and LEAs. A due process hearing may be requested by the parent or the LEA by filing a due process complaint when one party does not agree on the identification, evaluation, educational placement, or services of a student with a disability, or on the provision of a FAPE to a student with a disability. When a party files a due process complaint, the IDEA regulations allow the parent and the school to resolve the dispute at a resolution meeting. In addition, the parties may agree to go to mediation at any time, even if neither the parent nor the school has requested a due process hearing. If the parties do not resolve the dispute, they may go to a hearing, a legal process in which the parent and the school present their case to a hearing officer, who will issue a decision. When there is a disagreement with certain disciplinary decisions, the hearing and decision will be expedited (see the expedited hearing below).

Procedures for Filing a Due Process Complaint

A hearing is requested by FILING A DUE PROCESS COMPLAINT.

  • To file a due process complaint, a party must send a written due process complaint to TEA. TEA has developed a model due process complaint form that is available on TEA’s website. A party is not required to use the model form, but TEA encourages its use to ensure that all required information is included in the request. The form is also available on request from TEA, through all regional education service centers, and through all LEAs.
  • The public agency must inform the parent of any free or low-cost legal or other relevant services in the area.
  • The due process complaint must remain confidential.
  • The party who files a due process complaint must forward a copy to the other party at the same time the party sends it to TEA.
  • The due process complaint must include specific information: name of the student; address of the student's residence; the name of the student's school; description of the nature of the problem, including any related facts; and a proposed resolution of the issue (to the extent known and available to the filing party at the time). If the student is homeless (per the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act), the complaint must include available contact information for the student and the student’s school.
  • The due process complaint must be e-mailed, mailed, hand-delivered, or faxed to:
    • Texas Education Agency Office of General Counsel
      1701 North Congress Avenue
      Austin, TX 78701-1494
      Fax: (512) 463-6027 SE-Legal@tea.texas.gov

The hearing timeline is expedited in only three situations:

  1. The hearing timeline will be expedited if the parent disagrees with the LEA’s conclusions in the MDR (i.e., whether the conduct in question results from the student’s disabling condition or the LEA’s failure to implement the student’s IEP).
  2. The hearing timeline will be expedited if the parent disagrees with the LEA’s decision to move the student to an IAES due to conduct involving a drug or weapon, or where
    the conduct resulted in serious bodily injury to another student or a member of the school staff.
  3. The hearing timeline will be expedited if the LEA believes that the student’s conduct was dangerous and that their continued presence in the current setting is substantially likely to injure other students, school staff, or the student.

The features of an expedited timeline are as follows:

  • Unlike the standard hearing, which generally allows a 30-day resolution period for the parties to work out their differences in the Special Education Dispute Resolution Process, the parties are given only 15 days to complete the resolution period in an expedited hearing. The parties must have a resolution meeting within 7 days of receipt
    of the request for a hearing unless the parties waive the resolution meeting in writing or agree to go to mediation instead.
  • Parties may use the Office of General Counsel, Special Education Mediation Program, instead of the Resolution Process, to discuss a potential settlement. Still, the mediation, in an expedited due process hearing, cannot delay the expedited timelines.
  • With an expedited hearing, the hearing must take place within 20 school days of the date that the due process hearing request is filed.
  • In an expedited hearing, the hearing officer is given 10 school days from the end of the hearing to render the decision. The hearing officer cannot grant any extensions of these hearing and decision timelines.
  • When a hearing that will be expedited has been requested, the student must stay in the disciplinary placement designated by the LEA while awaiting the decision of the hearing officer or until the end of the time period in which the student was required to be in that placement.

Authority of the Hearing Officer

If the due process hearing proceeds, the hearing officer must issue a decision within the timeframe set out above and may:

  1. Return the student with a disability to the placement from which the student was removed if the hearing officer determines that the removal was a violation of federal law or that the student's behavior was a manifestation of the student's disability; or
  2. Order a change of placement of the student with a disability to an appropriate IAES for not more than 45 school days if the hearing officer determines that maintaining the student's current placement is substantially likely to result in injury to the student or others.

Due process hearing PROCEDURES may be repeated if the LEA believes that returning the student to the original placement is substantially likely to result in injury to the student or others (e.g., if at the end of the IAES placement the LEA does not believe the student can safely return to the original placement, another expedited hearing can be requested).

The hearing officer’s decisions are appealable in federal or state court.