How to Get a One-on-One Aide in Delaware: IEP Paraprofessional Rights Explained

One of the most frequently requested — and frequently denied — supports in Delaware IEPs is a dedicated paraprofessional, often called a one-on-one aide. Parents ask for them. Districts resist them. The disagreement often ends with vague language in the IEP about "paraprofessional support as needed" that never materializes into consistent, structured assistance.

Here is what Delaware law actually says, how to build a case for an aide, and what to do when the district says no.

What the Law Says About Paraprofessionals in Delaware

Under IDEA and Delaware Administrative Code §925, paraprofessionals are classified as supplementary aids and services — supports provided in regular education classes and other education-related settings to enable students with disabilities to be educated alongside nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. This framing is important: a paraprofessional is not a separate placement. It is a support that allows a student to remain in a less restrictive environment.

Delaware regulations require that IEP teams consider supplementary aids and services — including paraprofessional support — before recommending a more restrictive placement. A district that removes a student to a self-contained classroom without first attempting adequate paraprofessional support in a less restrictive setting may be violating the Least Restrictive Environment requirement.

Paraprofessionals must be appropriately supervised by licensed special education staff. Delaware has faced documented credentialing issues — the 2025 State Auditor's report identified 62 educators with expired, invalid, or missing Special Education Certificates working in Delaware schools. Parents have the right to verify that paraprofessionals assigned to their child are working under appropriate supervision from a qualified teacher.

When Is a One-on-One Aide Appropriate?

There is no automatic entitlement to a dedicated aide. The IEP team must determine whether one-on-one support is necessary for the specific student to receive FAPE in the LRE. The question is not "would a one-on-one aide be helpful?" but "is a one-on-one aide necessary for this student to make meaningful educational progress?"

Situations where one-on-one support is commonly necessary include:

• Students with significant behavioral challenges who require consistent implementation of a Behavior Intervention Plan and cannot safely or effectively access instruction without direct support
• Students with autism who require prompting to engage with instruction, manage transitions, or use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices
• Students with physical or health impairments who need assistance with mobility, feeding, toileting, or medical monitoring
• Students with intellectual disabilities who require intensive prompting and reinforcement to access the general curriculum
• Students with severe anxiety or emotional disturbance who need a trusted adult to co-regulate during transitions or high-demand situations

The IEP team's determination should be based on evaluation data, progress monitoring records, teacher observations, and — where relevant — independent clinical assessments.

Building the Case: What Data You Need

Districts are most likely to deny an aide request when parents ask based on general concern without supporting documentation. The request is more likely to succeed when framed around specific data.

Gather and present:

Current progress data: Is your child making meaningful progress toward IEP goals in their current setting without an aide? If progress data shows stagnation or regression in key skill areas, that's evidence that current supports are insufficient.

Incident and observation records: How often is instruction interrupted by behavioral incidents? How often is your child unable to access class activities independently? Teacher logs, behavior incident reports, and your own observation notes from classroom visits are relevant evidence.

Functional Behavioral Assessment data: If behavioral challenges are the reason for the aide request, an FBA documenting the function and frequency of the behavior strengthens the case significantly.

Independent evaluation reports: A private neuropsychologist's or educational diagnostician's report recommending one-on-one support carries weight and is harder for the district to dismiss than a parent's request alone.

Medical documentation: For physical or health-related needs, physician or therapist documentation of the specific physical demands and assistance required during the school day is essential.

How to Make the Request

Submit the request in writing to the special education coordinator or IEP team chair. Email is best for documentation purposes. Include:

• A specific statement of the support requested (e.g., "a dedicated paraprofessional for the full school day" or "paraprofessional support during transitions and lunch periods")
• The data you're relying on to support the request
• A request for an IEP meeting to discuss the proposed support

Do not make this request verbally at an IEP meeting without following up in writing. Verbal agreements about paraprofessional support that don't make it into the written IEP are not enforceable.

What to Do When the District Says No

When a district denies an aide request, they must provide Prior Written Notice under 14 DE Admin. Code §926 documenting the refusal, the rationale, the data they considered, and the alternatives the team discussed.

Review the PWN carefully. Common inadequate rationales:

• "The student makes adequate progress without an aide." — Provide counter-data showing where progress is inadequate.
• "We use a classroom aide model rather than one-on-one support." — This may be acceptable, but the IEP must specify how the shared aide time is allocated and ensure it meets the student's documented needs.
• "One-on-one support could foster dependence." — This is a recognized concern, but it's a clinical question that must be assessed against the student's specific needs, not a blanket policy. Request the data supporting this concern.

If the denial is not supported by individualized assessment or contradicts the data you've presented, you have grounds for a DDOE state complaint. The complaint would allege that the district failed to provide appropriate supplementary aids and services necessary for FAPE.

You can also request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) if you believe the district's assessment of your child's needs is insufficient. When a parent requests an IEE, the district must either fund it without delay or file for due process to defend its own evaluation.

Language in the IEP Matters

If the IEP team agrees to paraprofessional support, the language in the document matters enormously. Vague language — "paraprofessional support as appropriate" or "aide assistance as needed" — is nearly unenforceable because it leaves implementation to the district's discretion.

Advocate for specific, measurable language:

• "One-on-one paraprofessional support during all academic instruction periods (7 hours daily)"
• "Dedicated paraprofessional to implement BIP during unstructured periods (lunch, recess, transitions)"
• "Paraprofessional to provide prompting and modeling for AAC device use across all settings"

Specific language creates a clear standard to measure compliance against. If the IEP says one-on-one support and your child arrives at school to find a room with one aide covering four students, that's a documented IEP implementation failure.

Get the Complete Advocacy Guide

The Delaware IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook at /us/delaware/advocacy/ includes paraprofessional request letter templates citing Delaware Administrative Code, a checklist for evaluating whether IEP aide language is specific enough to be enforceable, and guidance on filing a DDOE state complaint when supplementary aids and services are denied without adequate justification. Getting the right support language into an IEP is a skill — the Playbook gives you the tools to get it right.

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