← All letters

Letter 28: Ten-Business-Day Notice of Unilateral Private Placement

When to Use It

Send this letter only if you have decided to remove your child from public school, enroll [him/her/them] in a private school, and seek tuition reimbursement from the district. The law gives you two ways to protect a reimbursement claim. You can state your position at the most recent IEP meeting before removal (34 C.F.R. § 300.148(d)(1)(i)). Or you can give written notice at least 10 business days before removal (34 C.F.R. § 300.148(d)(1)(ii)). This letter is that written notice. It must do three things: reject the placement the district proposed, state your concerns, and state your intent to enroll your child in a private school at public expense. Tool 41 covers the whole Burlington/Carter playbook.

Send it to: the director of special education, by certified mail and email both. The date of receipt controls the 10-day count.

READ THIS BEFORE YOU RELY ON THIS LETTER Reimbursement is never guaranteed. You pay the tuition first. A hearing officer or court decides later whether the district must pay you back. It orders repayment only if it finds two things: the district did not make a free appropriate public education available in a timely manner, and your private placement is appropriate (34 C.F.R. § 300.148(c); School Committee of Burlington v. Department of Education of Massachusetts, 471 U.S. 359 (1985); Florence County School District Four v. Carter, 510 U.S. 7 (1993)). Reimbursement can be reduced or denied if this notice is late or missing. It can also be reduced or denied if you do not make your child available for an evaluation the district properly notices before removal, or if a court finds you acted unreasonably (34 C.F.R. § 300.148(d)). Families lose these cases and carry the tuition alone. This is the one letter in this appendix you should strongly consider having a special-education attorney review before you send it.