• If you have a disagreement regarding issues such as eligibility, placement, the IEP, Discipline or the provision of a Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for your child your first steps should be:
• Try to resolve the concern with your child’s teacher
• Try to resolve the concern with your school Principal
• Contact the Exceptional Children Program Director
• Contact the Superintendent
• If none of these options resolve your concerns, or if you would prefer to bypass those options, you have four additional options to resolve your dispute:  Facilitated IEP meeting, file a State Complaint, request Mediation, or file a Due Process Petition/Complaint
• You may request a Facilitated IEP meeting in order to attempt to resolve your concern through the IEP team process.  With a Facilitated IEP meeting, the state will appoint an impartial facilitator to attend an IEP meeting and encourage parent and school staff to address and resolve concerns. Rules regarding facilitated IEP meetings are included in your Handbook of Parent’s Rights and Responsibilities
• You may file a state complaint.  With this option, you would send an official letter of complaint and documentation to NCDPI.  The state department will then request a response from the school district to determine if procedures have been adequately implemented.  If not, NCDPI will inform the district of specific corrective actions to take to resolve the concern. There are specific rules regarding state complaints listed below.
• Mediation is a process where an impartial third party works with both parents and school staff to resolve your complaint.  
• You may file a due process complaint.  This is a lawsuit in which you are seeking an Administrative Law Judge’s ruling regarding the actions of the school with required steps for the district to follow to resolve the complaint.  This is an involved process and typically involves an attorney.

For more information on dispute resolution, please visit page 38 of the Policies Governing Students with Disabilities manual.