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"We Will Do It in the Summer": Why You Should Never Accept Delays in Compensatory Education

When a school district admits to a denial of FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education), the remedy is often Compensatory Education—a bank of hours (e.g., 50 hours of tutoring or speech therapy) designed to "make up" for what the student missed.

However, a common tactic districts use is to delay these hours, often telling parents, "We are short-staffed, so we will do this in the summer." While this sounds practical, agreeing to a long delay can be disastrous for the student's legal rights and educational progress.

Here is why a 12-month+ delay is legally dangerous and how to force the district to act now.

1. Delay is Denial

Compensatory education is meant to put the student in the position they would have been in had the violation not occurred.

  • The Reality: If a student missed reading instruction in 2023, giving them those hours in 2025 does not fix the problem. The gap has widened.

  • The Legal Standard: Most hearing officers consider a delay of more than a few months to be "unreasonable." Forcing a student to wait 1.5 years for a remedy creates a new denial of FAPE.

2. The "Statute of Limitations" Trap

This is the biggest risk parents face.

  • The Clock: In many states, you have a limited time (often 1 or 2 years) to file a complaint about a specific issue.

  • The Trap: If a district drags out the delivery of hours until the statute of limitations expires, they may legally be able to say, "That agreement is too old, we don't have to honor it anymore." Never rely on a verbal promise to "do it later."

3. The Solution: "Vendorization"

If the district claims they cannot provide the hours now because they don't have staff, that is an administrative problem, not a student problem.

  • What is it? "Vendorization" means the district pays an outside agency or private tutor to provide the hours.

  • The Argument: "If the district cannot staff these hours immediately, please provide a contract for a private provider (vendor) so we can access these services immediately."

4. Filing a State Compliance Complaint

If the district refuses to schedule the hours, the most effective tool is a State Compliance Complaint.

  • This is not a lawsuit. It is a form filed with the State Department of Education alleging that the district has failed to implement a signed agreement or IEP. The state can order the district to pay for private services immediately.