An IEP is a legally binding document. If the school is not delivering the services it promised, you have real, enforceable options. Here is the escalation path.
Analyze Your Child's IEP Free →Pull out the IEP and find the specific service, minutes, accommodation, or goal that is not being delivered. “They’re not helping him” is hard to enforce; “The IEP requires 30 minutes of daily reading intervention and he has received none in three weeks” is enforceable.
Keep a simple log: date, what was supposed to happen, what actually happened. Save emails. When you raise concerns, use email rather than phone calls so there is a record.
Begin with the teacher and case manager, then request an IEP meeting, then contact the district’s special education director. Most issues resolve here once you’ve documented the gap clearly and put it in writing.
If the school still does not comply, you have three formal routes, all free to start:
When a school fails to deliver services, your child may be entitled to compensatory education — make-up services to address what was missed. Track the missed services so you can request this.
Yes. Once you consent to an IEP, the school is legally required under IDEA to provide the services, accommodations, and supports it describes.
Not providing the listed services or minutes, ignoring accommodations, not measuring goals, or making changes without proper notice can all be implementation failures.
You can file a written state complaint with your state education agency. It’s free, does not require a lawyer, and they must investigate, typically within 60 days.
Compensatory education is make-up services a child may be owed when the school failed to deliver required IEP services.