Getting What Your Child Needs · Compliance

My Child’s IEP Isn’t Being Followed, What Can I Do?

An IEP is a legally binding document. When a school fails to implement the services, accommodations, or supports it specifies, whether through oversight, staffing issues, or intentional decisions, that’s a violation of federal law, not just a policy disagreement. Here’s how to address it.

First: Distinguish Implementation Failure from Disagreement

There are two different problems that can look similar:

• Implementation failure: The IEP says your child receives 60 minutes/week of speech therapy, but they’re only getting 30 minutes. The IEP requires extended time on tests, but the teacher isn’t providing it. This is a compliance issue.
• Substantive disagreement: You think the IEP doesn’t provide enough services, but what it does specify is being provided. This is an advocacy issue, see how to request more IEP services.

The response to each is different. Implementation failure has clear legal remedies. Substantive disagreement requires negotiation and, if necessary, dispute resolution.

Step 1: Document Specific, Dated Instances

Before raising the issue formally, build your documentation. Vague complaints, “I don’t think they’re following the IEP”, are easy to dismiss. Specific, documented instances are harder to ignore:

• Compare service logs (request these) against the IEP service requirements
• Ask your child what services they’ve been receiving and document their responses with dates
• Review progress reports, if progress data is absent for a goal, that’s evidence services may not be happening
• Keep copies of all communications with the school

Step 2: Contact the Case Manager or Special Education Coordinator in Writing

Put your concern in writing, email is fine. State specifically what the IEP requires and what isn’t happening. Ask for a written response and a plan to come into compliance.

Sample language: “According to [child]’s IEP dated [date], she is to receive [service] for [frequency/duration]. I have reason to believe this service has not been provided as specified. I am requesting confirmation of current service delivery and a written response within 10 business days.”

The written request does two things: it creates a paper trail, and it gives the school a clear opportunity to correct the issue before you escalate.

Step 3: Request an Emergency IEP Meeting If Needed

If the issue is ongoing and significant, your child has gone weeks without services that were supposed to start, or a critical accommodation has been ignored for a grading period, request an IEP meeting in writing. Ask the team to address the implementation gap and document a corrective plan in the meeting notes.

Step 4: File a State Complaint

If the school acknowledges the gap but doesn’t remedy it, or denies it without credible documentation, you can file a formal complaint with the state education agency. In North Carolina, complaints are filed with the NC Department of Public Instruction Exceptional Children Division.

A state complaint alleging an implementation failure:

• Must be filed within one year of the alleged violation
• Is investigated by the state within 60 calendar days
• Can result in corrective action, compensatory services, and systemic remedies

This is not litigation, it’s an administrative process. You do not need an attorney to file a state complaint, though documentation and clear writing matter significantly.

Compensatory Services: What You Can Request

When a school has failed to implement an IEP and a child missed services as a result, parents may be entitled to request compensatory education, additional services to make up for the gap. Compensatory services are not automatic; you typically have to request them formally and demonstrate the impact of the missed services.

An IEP advocate can help you calculate what was missed, frame the request, and negotiate with the district on appropriate compensatory programming.