§ 300.511 Impartial due process hearing.

Plain English summary

This section establishes the right to an impartial due process hearing whenever a due process complaint is filed, sets qualifications and independence requirements for hearing officers, and imposes a two-year statute of limitations for requesting a hearing from the date the parent or agency knew or should have known of the alleged action. Exceptions to the two-year timeline exist where the LEA made specific misrepresentations or withheld required information from the parent. The scope of issues at the hearing is limited to those raised in the original due process complaint unless both parties agree otherwise.

Key requirements

• Whenever a due process complaint is received under § 300.507 or § 300.532, the parents or the LEA involved in the dispute must have an opportunity for an impartial due process hearing, consistent with the procedures in §§ 300.507, 300.508, and 300.510.
• The hearing must be conducted by the SEA or the public agency directly responsible for the education of the child, as determined under State statute, State regulation, or a written policy of the SEA.
• A hearing officer must not be an employee of the SEA or the LEA that is involved in the education or care of the child, or a person having a personal or professional interest that conflicts with the person's objectivity in the hearing.
• A hearing officer must possess knowledge of, and the ability to understand, the provisions of the Act, Federal and State regulations pertaining to the Act, and legal interpretations of the Act by Federal and State courts.
• A hearing officer must possess the knowledge and ability to conduct hearings in accordance with appropriate, standard legal practice.
• A hearing officer must possess the knowledge and ability to render and write decisions in accordance with appropriate, standard legal practice.
• A person who otherwise qualifies to conduct a hearing is not an employee of the agency solely because he or she is paid by the agency to serve as a hearing officer.
• Each public agency must keep a list of the persons who serve as hearing officers, including a statement of the qualifications of each of those persons.
• The party requesting the due process hearing may not raise issues at the due process hearing that were not raised in the due process complaint filed under § 300.508(b), unless the other party agrees otherwise.
• A parent or agency must request an impartial hearing on their due process complaint within two years of the date the parent or agency knew or should have known about the alleged action that forms the basis of the due process complaint, or in the time allowed by State law if the State has an explicit time limitation.
• The two-year timeline does not apply to a parent if the parent was prevented from filing due to specific misrepresentations by the LEA that it had resolved the problem, or the LEA's withholding of information from the parent that was required under this part to be provided to the parent.

Affected parties

• Parents
• Local Educational Agencies (LEAs)
• State Educational Agencies (SEAs)
• Public agencies responsible for education of the child
• Impartial hearing officers

Official source

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/part-300/section-300.511