POLICY LETTER: February 9, 2012 to Amy Goetz and Atlee Reilly

February 9, 2012Amy Goetz and Atlee ReillyAttorneys at LawSchool Law Center, LLC.452 Selby Avenue, Second Floor EastSaint Paul, Minnesota 55102Dear Ms. Goetz and Mr. Reilly:I am writing in response to your August 15, 2011 letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Your letter was forwarded to the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services for a response. I am happy to respond to your letter regarding the October 4, 2010 response that you received from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) concerning a parent's right to a due process hearing under section 615 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In your June 29, 2010 letter to Dr. Perry Williams in OSEP and in your August 15th letter to Secretary Duncan, you expressed concern that students and families in Minnesota have had their right to a due process hearing under section 615 of the IDEA limited due to a decision in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. MinnesotNotice of Procedural Safeguards appears to be consistent with the Eighth Circuit precedent, this office cannot require the State Department of Education to amend its Notice of Procedural Safeguards or otherwise require the State to amend its statute.You are asking OSEP to take further action, including withholding IDEA funds, to ensure that Minnesota's due process system complies with the requirements of section 615 of the IDEA. As stated in OSEP's October 4, 2010 response, decisions in the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals are binding in the State of Minnesota and, to the extent that those decisions allow Minnesota to limit IDEA protections in this way, and absent additional legal authority, OSEP cannot require the State to take an action that is contrary to those decisions. OSEP does not believe the State is necessarily endorsing the position of the court by including the information quoted above in the Notice of Procedural Safeguards regarding the Thompson case. Rather, the Sta