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Parent says Maxwell Academy student missed 36 hours of IEP services; requests compensatory education
Summary
At public comment, a Maxwell Academy parent, Dahlia Magnus, said her daughter Chloe did not receive IEP‑mandated special-education services for the 2024–25 school year, that the district admitted the omission at a March IEP meeting, and that no agreement on compensatory services has been reached.
Dahlia Magnus, a parent of two Maxwell Academy students, addressed the board in public comment and said the district failed to provide legally required special-education services to her daughter, Chloe, who has a specific learning disability. Magnus said she first raised concerns in late January after Chloe reported she had not been receiving IEP services.
"It was only during this [IEP] meeting that the district representative finally admitted that Chloe had not been receiving her IEP services," Magnus told the board. She said she requested service logs and pushed for information for weeks, recording the March IEP meeting with permission. Magnus said the district informed her that Chloe had not received 36 hours of legally protected special-education support and that the parties have not agreed to a plan for compensatory education.
Magnus said she escalated the issue to the superintendent after not getting timely information from the school principal, and alleged lack of transparency and slow district response. She told the board that she was "only listened to if I speak in legal terms and threaten litigation" and warned that elected board members had not responded to her complaints earlier in the year. She said she will continue to press for a resolution: "I am not backing down. I will not stop until both of my children are being provided a free and appropriate public school education."
What the district has said in the meeting: Magnus said Superintendent Nadia Hillman has indicated the district is handling the situation; Magnus countered that she does not view the district as partnering with the family to resolve the issue.
Action requested and current status: Magnus asked for service logs and compensatory education; she reported that, as of the public comment, no compensatory-education agreement had been reached. The board did not take an immediate public action on the comment during the meeting; the record shows the parent raised the complaint and sought a district response and remedy.
Ending: The comment places a specific alleged special-education service failure on the board’s public record. District staff should follow special-education procedures, provide requested documentation and, if appropriate, negotiate compensatory services consistent with federal and state special-education law.
