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Hearing Letter 17: The Due Process Complaint Shell: Issues and Proposed Resolutions

When to Use It

Use this shell to draft the due process complaint itself, the document that opens the hearing. It is a pleading, not a letter of complaint, and it has to carry the content federal law requires or the district can challenge it as insufficient. State the child’s name, address, and school; describe the problem, including facts relating to it; and propose a resolution for each problem to the extent you know it (34 C.F.R. § 300.508(b)). New York publishes a model due process complaint form that carries these fields, so use the current New York State Education Department model form as your template rather than building the pleading from scratch. A complaint is not limited to a denial of a free appropriate public education: it can also raise the district’s identification, evaluation, or placement of the child, so state the problem that fits your facts rather than forcing every claim into a FAPE label. If the student is homeless and has no fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, the form asks for available contact information for the student and the name of the school the student attends in place of a home address. The heart of the drafting is the issue: write each one as a question a hearing officer can answer yes or no, tied to the provision it arises under, not as a paragraph of grievance.

The reason to get every issue in now is a trap worth naming. You may not raise an issue at the hearing that you did not raise in the complaint, unless the district agrees (34 C.F.R. § 300.511(d); 8 NYCRR § 200.5(j)(1)(ii)). What you leave out of the complaint is usually left out of the case. So inventory every claim before you file (H-Tool 39), and plead each as its own issue with its own proposed resolution. You may amend if the district consents in writing and receives an opportunity to resolve the amended complaint, or if the hearing officer grants permission no later than 5 days before the hearing begins (34 C.F.R. § 300.508(d)(3); 8 NYCRR § 200.5(i)(7)). Amendment restarts the applicable resolution and decision timelines (34 C.F.R. § 300.508(d)(4); 8 NYCRR § 200.5(i)(7)(iii)). Federal law requires the complaint to be provided to the other party and a copy forwarded to the State educational agency (34 C.F.R. § 300.508(a)). The current NYSED https://www.nysed.gov/special-education/due-process-hearing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Due Process Hearing page, checked July 25, 2026, directs a parent to send the original to the district and one copy to NYSED; H-Tool 46 owns the live recheck of the filing address and method.

Send it to: the district (the superintendent or special education office) and, at the same time, the state education agency’s due process office.