Risk Gambling with the Cost to Children with IEPs

When a school district or AEA fails to comply with its legal obligations under special education law because they think there’s a low risk that they will be sued, they aren’t practicing risk management -  they’re engaging in “risk gambling.” Risk gambling doesn’t manage risk - it creates it - and the students bear the cost.

School districts and AEA personnel engage in risk gambling when, for instance, they:

• narrow the scope of their FAPE obligations by improperly limiting a child’s specially designed instruction and services in an IEP,

• prioritize budgetary savings over the provision of services required for a child to receive a FAPE,

• fail to implement IEPs with fidelity,  

• are indifferent to bullying and harassment that results in a denial of FAPE,  

• fail to comply with safety standards,

• fail to comply with mandatory reporting and other reporting laws

School districts and AEAs should keep in mind that judges don’t care whether they were ignorant of their legal obligations or didn’t think they'd be sued. When an AEA or school district substitutes risk gambling for risk management, the consequences can include:

• Compensatory damages  

• Attorney fees (under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, IDEA, ADA, §504, and Title IX)  

• Corrective action plans  

• State or federal monitoring  

• Licensing complaints

• Loss of public trust  

• Media scrutiny  

• Staff turnover  

• Long-term reputational harm  

Risk management involves ongoing proactive procedures for identifying legal obligations and taking steps to ensure compliance. Examples of practices used by AEAs and school districts acting responsibly  include:

• Training staff on their specific legal duties  

• Auditing performance on legal duties

• Engaging in document compliance review

• Fixing problems early, and

• Treating parent concerns as early-warning signals.