Section 504 Procedural Safeguards

a. The District’s impartial hearing and review procedures are as follows:

i. Complaint/Impartial Hearing

(a) A student or parent/guardian complaint regarding the District’s compliance with the identification, evaluation, or educational placement provisions of Section 504 may be filed with the Section 504 Complaint Manager. The District’s Section 504 Coordinator and Complaint Manager is: Name and Title: Jennifer Pearson, Director of Special Education Office Address: 3801 W. Lake Avenue, Glenview, IL 60026E-mail address: jpearson@glenbrook225.org Telephone: (847) 486-4708

(b) The complaint must be in writing, signed and dated by the complainant (or, in the case of a student under age 18, his or her parent or guardian). It must include a description of the facts and circumstances of the complaint, as well as a description of the relief being sought. The Complaint Manager will be available to provide assistance to the complainant as needed in the preparation and processing of the complaint and in the review procedures. A complaint form is available at the School District’s Administrative office. 

(c)  Upon receipt of the complaint, the Complaint Manager will promptly; (i)    provide the complainant with a copy of these Procedural Safeguards, and (ii) conduct an investigation, including, but not limited to, interviews with District employees and/or students and a review of all relevant documents. The Complaint Manager will complete such investigation within ten (10) school days of receipt of the complaint, unless there are extenuating circumstances which warrant an extension of this time line. For purposes of this Section, “school days” is defined as days, or portions of days, in which students are in attendance for instructional purposes.

(d)  The Complaint Manager will confer with the complainant upon completion of such investigation to determine if the complaint can be resolved informally. If such informal resolution is not possible and the complainant wishes to proceed with a hearing, the Complaint Manager will provide the complainant with a list of three (3) impartial hearing officers. The complainant will indicate in writing his or her selection of an impartial hearing officer, in order of preference (with #1 being the most preferred and #3 being the least preferred). The complainant will return the list of impartial hearing officers, with order of preference indicated in writing, to the Complaint Manager within five (5) school days of receipt of the list from the Complaint Manager.

(e) The Complaint Manager will, upon receipt of the complainant’s selections, promptly notify the first choice hearing officer of the pending case. In the event that the first choice hearing officer cannot hear the case, the second choice officer will be contacted. In the event that the second choice officer cannot hear the case, the Complaint Manager will contact the complainant’s third choice officer. If none of the officers contacted can hear the case, the complainant will be asked to select/ prioritize three additional hearing officers from another list which will be provided by the Complaint Manager to the complainant within five (5) days of the notice of decline from the third hearing officer.

(f)  A hearing will be scheduled by the hearing officer within fifteen (15) school days after the date that the hearing officer agrees to accept the appointment, unless the complainant and the Complaint Manager agree otherwise or there are extenuating circumstances which warrant an extension of this timeline.

(g) The District and the complainant will have the right to present evidence relevant to the issue raised in the complaint. The District and the complainant will have the right to be represented by counsel.

(h) The hearing officer will limit his/her decision to the issue or issues presented by the complainant in the written complaint. The hearing officer’s decision must be written and will include a summary of the evidence and the reasons for the decision. The decision is to be based solely on the hearing officer’s interpretation of the meaning or application of Section 504.

(i)  The hearing officer will send a copy of the decision to the complainant and the Complaint Manager within five (5) school days after the conclusion of the hearing.

(j)   The decision of the hearing officer will be final unless appealed pursuant to Paragraph 5(e)(ii) (see below).