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Tool 91: Mediation: What to Bring, What to Say, What Never to Sign the Same Day

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THE RULE

Every state must offer mediation for any special-education dispute under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), whether or not anyone has filed for due process (34 C.F.R. § 300.506(a)). Mediation is voluntary for both sides, and it may not be used to deny or delay your right to a hearing (34 C.F.R. § 300.506(b)(1)(i)-(ii)).

The mediator must be qualified, impartial, and trained (34 C.F.R. § 300.506(b)(1)(iii)). The mediator may not work for the district or the state agency involved with your child, and may not have any conflict of interest (34 C.F.R. § 300.506(c)(1)). The state pays the full cost of the mediation itself (34 C.F.R. § 300.506(b)(4)). Sessions must be scheduled promptly, at a place convenient to both sides (34 C.F.R. § 300.506(b)(5)).

Two more rules decide how you behave in the room. First, everything said in mediation is confidential and cannot be used as evidence in a later hearing or court case (34 C.F.R. § 300.506(b)(8)). Second, if you reach agreement, it goes into a written document signed by you and a district representative with authority to bind the district (34 C.F.R. § 300.506(b)(6)). That signed document is legally binding and enforceable in state or federal court (34 C.F.R. § 300.506(b)(7)).

WHY IT MATTERS

Mediation is the first rung on the ladder (Tool 88) where a conversation can end in a contract a court will enforce. It is free, it is usually faster than a hearing, and your child still attends the same school on Monday - mediation tends to leave that relationship standing.

But binding cuts both ways. The district is held to what it signs, and so are you. A sentence you did not fully understand on a tired afternoon is still enforceable the next morning. That is why this tool has a signing rule, and the signing rule has no exceptions.