August 2026:
The MLO Minute: “Families: Please Use Your Compensatory Education” —
By Heather Hulse, J.D., M.S., M.A., Senior Partner Scranton Office, Lead Attorney for Western Pennsylvania —
School districts and charter schools are obligated to provide students in special education with a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”), pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). When special education hearing officers determine that these agencies fail to provide students with a FAPE, compensatory education is the remedy under federal law that is often ordered for the student. Compensatory education is an equitable remedy that is designed to make up for the past failures of school districts and charter schools to provide the student with a FAPE.
Compensatory education is often ordered in the form of minutes or hours of educational services. These may include, but are not limited to, remedial academic instruction, speech and language services, occupational therapy services, physical therapy services, social skills, instruction, coping skills instruction, counseling services, behavioral services, and instruction in executive functioning. Compensatory education is often negotiated via a settlement agreement between families and school districts or charter schools. This can frequently include a compensatory education fund that is typically held by the school district or charter school that the family may access for direct payment or reimbursement of special educational services as well as sometimes educational items for the student. Items that may be included typically are a computer or iPad for the student, programs for the computer or iPad, noise canceling headphones, sensory tools, and other educational books or materials.
Compensatory education funds typically include an expiration date. After that expiration, any remaining funds would revert back to the school district’s or charter school’s general education fund.
Too often, families have not utilized compensatory education funds for students prior to the expiration date. While life can often get extremely busy, it is very important for families of special education students that have obtained compensatory education either via hearing officer decision or more commonly a settlement agreement to utilize these resources on behalf of the student. Families need to pay very close attention to the compensatory education fund’s expiration date and be sure to utilize those funds to the maximum extent possible for the student for which they were intended.
Our office provides to each family that we represent, and for which we obtain compensatory education, a list of resources of special education, instructors, evaluators, and service providers that may be contacted to provide instruction or services to special education students. It is our hope that families utilize this list of resources so they may fully access their child’s compensatory education to the maximum extent possible.
If you have any questions or concerns about how to access your child’s compensatory education, or regarding your child’s educational needs not being met, please feel free to contact our office by CLICKING HERE. Our initial consultation is free, and these matters are often handled on a contingency basis without hourly fees charged to families.
