Level 1 complaint is with the principal. She replied stating that the witness didn’t report the situation properly and will be trained in how to make more accurate reports.

Level 2 complaint was with the Director of Student and Parent Services. She replied by stating that technically, my son was not restraint since it doesn’t fall under the legal definition so the school is not obligated to notify us.

So now I have submitted Level 3 complaint and will be with the board of directors. I have requested this hearing to be public but the district has the option of making it a closed hearing.

My other complaint was with the TEA where I submitted that I was entitled to be notified when my son was restraint. This is where the district’s attorneys replied with a package of over 200 pages and they were obligated to send me a copy. In this package is where we saw the teacher’s response and the witness report. We also read that other teacher’s saw that my son was being hurt by this man but later on they recanted their story. And this was painful to see. These witnesses didn’t want to get involved.

But today I received the TEA’s response. It states that my allegation is substantiated and that they find the district is non-compliance. It is requiring the district to submit a timeline for corrective action by April 17 and they have to demonstrate the completion of the corrective actions as well. They need to develop and provide a restraining notice to parents, document the restraint, revise their policies and guidelines for special education, and provide a memoranda or guidance letter to staff, along with other items.

If they fail to correct the noncompliance it will result in additional sanctions against the district.

And I’m relieved. I was looking for accountability. I was looking for policy change. I was looking for answers. And we found it.