Your Family'S Special Education Rights – Virginia Procedural Safeguards Notice, Virginia Department Of Education, Division Of Special Education And Student Services Page 20

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Each meeting in the mediation process must be scheduled in a timely manner and held at a place
that is convenient for you and the school division.
If you and the school division resolve a dispute through the mediation process, both parties must
enter into a legally binding agreement that sets forth the resolution and that:
1. States that all discussions that happened during the mediation process will remain
confidential and may not be used as evidence in any subsequent due process hearing or
civil proceeding; and
2. Is signed by both you and a representative of the school division who has the authority to
bind the school division.
A written, signed mediation agreement is enforceable in any Virginia court of competent
jurisdiction (a court that has the authority under State law to hear this type of case) or in a
Federal District Court.
Impartiality of Mediator
The mediator:
1. May not be an employee of either the school division that is involved in the education or
care of your child or of VDOE if it is providing direct services to your child; and
2. Must not have a personal or professional interest which conflicts with the mediator’s
objectivity.
A person who otherwise qualifies as a mediator is not an employee of a school division or State
agency solely because he or she is paid by the agency or school division to serve as a mediator.
STATE COMPLAINT RESOLUTION PROCEDURES
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In addition to mediation, you have the right to use the state complaint process
or a due process hearing to resolve disagreements with the school division.
These methods have different procedures.
For example, only a parent or a
school division can ask for a due process hearing.
A state complaint, on the
other hand, may be filed by any individual or organization.
The regulations for IDEA set forth separate procedures for State complaints and for requests for
due process hearings. As explained below, any individual or organization may file a State
complaint alleging a violation of any IDEA requirement by a school division, the VDOE, or any
other public agency. Only you or a school division may file a request for due process on any
matter relating to a proposal or a refusal to initiate or change the identification, evaluation or
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SS/SE-4 (6/16)

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