Special Education Due Process Complaint -
The Settlement Process
When a parent or person in parental relationship submits a DPC, someone at the child’s school, Superintendent’s office, or Committee on Special Education (CSE) reads the complaint to assess whether they can address the problem raised in the DPC. At the same time, staff in NYCPS's legal office (“Office of the General Counsel Special Education Unit” or “SEU”) review the complaint to identify whether NYCPS will offer to settle the claim rather than proceed to a hearing.
If SEU believes that the claim might be appropriate for settlement, they will notify parent (or their representative/attorney) that they think a settlement might be possible. SEU will send a notification that includes a list of the types of “settlement documents” that they will need to see—possibly including, but not limited to, tuition/service contracts, an affidavit from any private school or private providers attesting to the cost of services/tuition, a description of the program or services parent is asking NYCPS to pay for, the student’s class or service schedule, proof of attendance or service delivery, any proof of payment, the licenses of service providers, and loan documentation if applicable. Though NYCPS legal staff try to get all necessary documents from parent (or their representative/attorney) at the start of the process, there may be requests for additional documents at any time during the review and negotiation steps of the process.
Once NYCPS reviews your documents and obtains necessary legal approval from the Office of the NYC Comptroller, they will be in touch with parent or their representative/attorney to negotiate a settlement.
These negotiations involve NYCPS deciding what it will agree to pay for or provide, and parent deciding what to would agree to in return. They may also reach out to request additional documents, or to inform parent or their representative/attorney that NYCPS has decided that it does not want to settle parent’s claim and will instead litigate the claim through an impartial hearing.
If parent (via their attorney or representative, if they have one) and NYCPS legal staff reach an agreement about the terms of a settlement, NYCPS will put those items into a written settlement agreement. This draft settlement agreement will be sent to parent or their representative/attorney) to review and for parent to sign. Parent’s signature must either be in ink or via a verified digital signature (i.e. DocuSign with the audit trail attached or Adobe Verified Signature with the audit trail attached.) Once parent signs and returns the agreement to NYCPS, a supervisor in NYCPS’s legal office will review it again and sign on behalf of NYCPS.
Once the settlement agreement (also called a “Stipulation of Settlement”) is signed by a supervisor within NYCPS’s legal office, they will send parent (or their representative/attorney) a copy of the signed agreement. At this point, parent or their representative/attorney must notify the Impartial Hearing Office that parent is withdrawing their DPC with prejudice—that is withdrawing it permanently such that parent cannot file it again.
NYCPS will also forward the settlement agreement and any necessary documentation that parent has provided to NYCPS’s Bureau of Non-Public School Payables (or “NPSP”). This is the office that processes any payments, whether reimbursements to the parent or directly to providers like schools and therapists. If parent needs to submit any additional documentation after the agreement is signed – such as proof of attendance, service invoices, or proofs of payment – that documentation will need to be sent directly to NPSP. Their contact information will be in the stipulation that parent signed.
If you have issues with a settlement, please try to resolve it directly with the staff assigned to your case. But if you are unable to resolve by discussing with the NYCPS legal staff who are handling your case or their direct supervisor, you can also escalate problems to SEUSettlementConcerns@schools.nyc.gov. Please note that if you are represented by an attorney or non-attorney representative, SEU cannot communicate with you directly regarding your settlement. You will need to communicate via your attorney/representative.