School Not Following IEP in Vermont: What to Do When Services Are Missing

Your child's IEP says 45 minutes of speech therapy twice a week. You find out the SLP has been out for three weeks and no sessions have happened. Or the paraprofessional who's supposed to be supporting your child in the classroom is covering other students half the time, or has left the district and not been replaced. The IEP promises something on paper that isn't happening in the building.

This is one of the most common—and most frustrating—problems Vermont parents face. Vermont's special education staffing shortage is real and severe. Some districts have sent letters home explicitly warning families that they may not be able to fully implement IEPs due to staff vacancies. That communication is honest, but it is not a legal defense. An IEP is a legally binding document. A staffing shortage does not excuse non-implementation.

Why Vermont Has a Particular Problem With This

Vermont spends an average of $28,288 per special education student annually. Yet roughly 82% of students with IEPs are placed in general education, and schools lean heavily on paraprofessionals to make that work. High turnover among paras, shortages of speech-language pathologists and OTs in rural supervisory unions, and Act 173's block grant model—which reduces the financial pressure to fill vacancies quickly—have combined to create a system where IEPs routinely promise more than schools deliver.

Vermont Rule 2360.2.13 requires paraprofessionals to be appropriately trained and supervised by licensed special educators. If your child has mandated para hours in their IEP, the district cannot replace a para with peer support or reduce hours without a formal IEP amendment. The IEP is the floor, not the ceiling—but it must actually be the floor.

What Counts as Non-Implementation

Non-implementation occurs when the school does not provide services as written in the IEP. This includes:

• Speech, OT, PT, or counseling sessions that are skipped, shortened, or cancelled without rescheduling
• Paraprofessional hours that are reduced because the assigned para called in sick or left the district
• Accommodations (extended time, preferential seating, modified assignments) that are inconsistently applied
• Specialized instruction minutes that are missed due to scheduling conflicts or staffing vacancies
• ESY services that were promised but not provided during summer

Non-implementation is different from a dispute about what the IEP should say. If you believe the IEP itself is inadequate, that is a different issue (see vermont-disagree-with-iep). Non-implementation means the existing IEP—which you agreed to—is not being followed.

Step 1: Document Everything First

Before you file anything, build your record. Send a written request to your child's case manager or special education director asking for:

• Session logs showing the dates and duration of all speech therapy, OT, PT, or other related services provided this year
• A current record of paraprofessional assignment and coverage for your child's support hours

Put this request in writing—email is fine—and note the date you sent it. Vermont schools must maintain these records under IDEA, and you have the right to see them. If the logs show gaps, you have documentation of the discrepancy between the IEP and what was actually delivered.

Also start keeping your own log. For each missed service or reduced para support, note the date, what was supposed to happen, and what actually happened. Ask your child's teacher to confirm in writing if sessions were cancelled.

Step 2: Request a Written Explanation

Contact the special education director in writing and state specifically what is not being implemented and for how long. Ask for a written explanation of what steps the district is taking to remedy the gap.

Many problems at this stage get corrected without further escalation because the written request signals that you are tracking the issue and expect resolution. Districts sometimes don't realize the scope of a problem until it is documented and presented directly.

Be direct but not hostile. In Vermont's small supervisory unions, you will have a long-term relationship with these administrators. The goal is to have the services implemented, not to win a confrontation. Something like: "I want to make sure we're on the same page about what [child's name]'s IEP requires and figure out together how to get back on track."

Step 3: Request an IEP Meeting If Services Are Chronically Missing

If the problem is ongoing—services have been missing for weeks, your child is falling behind, and the district's response is vague—request an IEP team meeting in writing. At the meeting:

• Ask the team to document specifically how and when missed services will be made up
• Ask whether the district can demonstrate it has complied with the IEP year-to-date
• Discuss whether compensatory education is warranted for services that were not provided (see vermont-compensatory-education)

Do not accept verbal assurances at the meeting. Ask for any commitments to be documented in writing, either as an IEP amendment or in meeting notes that all parties sign.

When to Escalate: Filing an AOE Complaint

If the district acknowledges the gap but does not remedy it, or denies that a gap exists despite your documentation, you can file an Administrative Complaint with the Vermont Agency of Education.

Administrative complaints are the most direct tool for IEP implementation problems because they are designed for procedural violations—including failure to implement services as written. The AOE investigates and issues a written decision within 60 calendar days. If a violation is found, the AOE can order corrective action, including compensatory education to make up for missed services.

The complaint must be filed in accordance with SBE Rule 2365.1.5 and must be specific: identify the school, the child, the dates, and the specific IEP provisions that were not implemented. See how-to-file-vermont-aoe-special-education-complaint for detailed instructions on the complaint process.

Paraprofessional Issues: A Special Note

Vermont uses paraeducators as a cornerstone of its high-inclusion model, but this creates specific advocacy challenges. If your child's IEP specifies individual paraprofessional support and that support is being:

• Reassigned to cover other students
• Provided by untrained substitutes who don't know your child's needs
• Simply absent for extended periods with no replacement

...these are implementation failures, not acceptable operational constraints.

Vermont Rule 2360.2.13 requires paraprofessionals to work under the supervision of licensed special educators who are responsible for the design and implementation of the instructional program. If a para is your child's primary support and that para has not been trained on your child's specific IEP goals and behavioral protocols, raise this in writing with the special education director.

The district cannot use para vacancies as a reason to informally reduce services that are written into the IEP. Service reductions require a formal IEP amendment meeting with your participation.

What Vermont Law Says About Staffing Shortages

The Vermont AOE has been explicit: districts cannot cite staffing shortages as justification for failing to implement IEPs. The district's obligation to provide FAPE runs parallel to its staffing challenges, not downstream from them. If a district cannot find an SLP in a rural supervisory union, they must contract with a private provider or use telehealth. Waiting until a position is filled is not an acceptable timeline when your child is missing services.

Act 173's block grant model gives districts less financial pressure to fill specialist vacancies quickly. Vermont Legal Aid's Disability Law Project has actively litigated against districts using the staffing crisis as cover for service reduction. Document gaps carefully—compensatory education (make-up services for what was missed) is a recognized remedy both through AOE complaints and direct IEP negotiation. See vermont-compensatory-education for how to calculate and request it.

The Vermont IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook at /us/vermont/advocacy/ includes a service delivery tracking log, a template letter requesting documentation of missed services, and a sample AOE complaint outline—designed for Vermont's specific rules and the practical realities of small-district advocacy.

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