OHIO — A federal lawsuit filed to make sure students attending the Warren County Educational Service Center get the education they deserve is now set to be taken up by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

What You Need To Know

  • Disability Rights Ohio filed a class action complaint in federal court on behalf of all of the students at the ESC
  • Disability Rights Ohio alleges that the Department of Education violated parent’s rights by not giving them a voice or due process when it came to their student’s education
  • An investigation by the state’s Department of Education previously revealed students weren't getting the supports or services needed
  • DRO is hoping the court will find that the department of education must reinstate the original findings from their investigation

Kristen Hildebrant, senior attorney at Disability Rights Ohio, said the Department of Education “found that there were significant violations of the federal special education law occurring at the Warren County Educational Service Center, and they issued findings asking them to correct those violations.”

Months after the findings were made public, Hildebrant said the Warren County ESC and a couple of school districts involved in the complaint got the department to overturn the findings in the original complaint. 

That included reducing or removing “compensatory education hours that were awarded to the students there to make up for the lack of appropriate services being provided,” she said.

According to Hildebrant, it was not a process departmental leadership would have typically taken, which is why the lawsuit was filed. She said the route leadership took stopped families from having a voice in the matter, which violated department requirements.

In addition, families were not aware that the department was reconsidering its findings.

“Ultimately, we are hopeful that a federal judge will agree with us that what the department did was illegal and that they need to reinstate the findings of the original complaint and ensure that the students at the ESC who were awarded the compensatory education services, in fact, get those services,” she said.

This is why Disability Rights Ohio is hoping the court can settle the matter once and for all.