WANAMINGO — A complaint against the Kenyon-Wanamingo School District was filed with the Minnesota Department of Education Office of Administrative Hearings Jan. 28, alleging that the school district had not provided a student with an adequate education.
A public administrative hearing regarding the issue will be held at 9 a.m. Monday through Friday at the Wanamingo Community Center.
A Wanamingo couple filed the complaint of behalf of their son, who has had a long-standing, language-based learning disability.
The family is being represented by Margaret O'Sullivan Kane of Jane Education Law LLC.
The complaint alleges that the school district has provided the boy with an inadequate education, resulting in a violation of the student's rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
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According to the complaint, after several years of working with the district, the parent became aware that their son was being passed from grade to grade unable to read or write the most rudimentary materials.
The parents sought private services through Sylvan Learning Center, where he was found to have grade-equivalent reading level of 1.6. After five months of tutoring, his reading level has improved.
The family would like the district to reimburse them for the cost of tutoring.
They'd also like hope the administrative law judge will order an independent comprehensive evaluation plan at the University of Minnesota and order the district to develop an Individualized Education Program that meets all of the boy's needs.
The also believe the judge will find that the district violations resulted in education harm entitling the boy to compensatory relief.
The school district, represented by Ratwik, Roszak and Maloney, P.A., asserts that it has provided the student with a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and state law.
In a response to the complaint, the district denied that it has committed any substantive or procedural violation of the law.
The district believes the tutoring provided by Sylvan Learning Center was unnecessary and that the district was in all ways competent to address the student's programming. Moreover, the district noted that the parents had never properly notified the school district of their intention to seek reimbursement.
