Alaska
- Dispute routes stated in the sources
- "There are separate procedures for administrative complaints and for due process complaints and hearings. As explained below, any individual or organization may file an administrative complaint alleging a violation of any Part B requirement by a school district, the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, or any other public agency. Only you or a school district may file a due process complaint on any matter relating to a proposal or a refusal to initiate or change the identification, evaluation or educational placement of a child with a disability, or the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to the child." — Notice of Procedural Safeguards / Parental Rights for Special Education, retrieved Aug 25, 2026 Alaska’s own vocabulary: the state-complaint route is called an "administrative complaint," not a state complaint. Mediation and IEP Facilitation are offered as two further, separate voluntary routes, both run through the same contracted provider.
- Offices in these sources
- Special Education, Alaska Department of Education & Early Development: Donald Enoch, Education Administrator, Donald.Enoch@alaska.gov, phone 907-465-2972, fax 907-465-2806. Department general contact: PO Box 110500, Juneau, AK 99811-0500, main phone 907-465-2800, eed.contact@alaska.gov.
Administrative complaints and due process hearing requests both go to: Special Education Dispute Resolution, Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, P.O. Box 110500, Juneau, AK 99811-0500, fax (907) 465-2806, sped@alaska.gov; the notice separately lists (907) 465-8693 as the SPED office phone for requesting dispute-resolution records.
Mediation and IEP Facilitation requests go to a contracted provider based outside Alaska: Alaska Special Education Mediation Services, c/o Dave Thomas, P.O. Box 4750, Whitefish, Montana 59937, phone (406) 250-3875, dthomaswf@gmail.com — as published in the state’s own notice, not a research error. - Parent centers in these sources
- Stone Soup Group (Statewide), (907) 561-3701 or (877) 786-7327, stonesoupgroup.org — Alaska’s Parent Training & Information Center (PTI), as the department’s own SPED page labels it.
Disability Law Center (Statewide), (800) 478-1234, dlcak.org, with local numbers for Anchorage (907) 565-1002, Fairbanks (907) 456-1070, and Juneau (907) 586-1627. - Sources last checked
- Aug 25, 2026
Reproduced from the state’s own pages and documents quoted below: potentially relevant official sources, not a determination of which one governs any situation.
This page assembles what Alaska publishes about resolving special education disputes: who runs each route, what the published procedures state, and where the original documents live. The fullest single statement is the Notice of Procedural Safeguards / Parental Rights for Special Education, a 35-page document that carries no revision date on its own face; this capture reflects the version live at the URL on the retrieval date below. Alaska’s structure is distinctive among the states captured so far: mediation and IEP Facilitation are both delivered by a single named contractor at an out-of-state mailing address, rather than by a state office or a separate administrative-hearings agency. District-level practice may add procedural detail this page does not carry. Confirm applicability with the department itself. All dates on this page are quoted from the sources, not a deadline calculation performed for you.
The routes, as the state describes them
Administrative complaint (Alaska Department of Education & Early Development). "Any individual or organization, including parents, may file a signed written administrative complaint under the procedures described above. The complaint must allege a violation of any requirement of Part B of the IDEA or its regulations by a school district, the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development or any other public agency." (Notice of Procedural Safeguards, Filing an Administrative Complaint, §300.153)
Mediation (Alaska Special Education Mediation Services, contracted). "You (and the school district) have the right to ask for mediation to resolve a disagreement about your child’s special education program. You (and the school district) have the right to refuse mediation." "Mediation is a voluntary process that is available to resolve disputes under Part B of the IDEA. Mediation is available to parents and schools at any point in the special education process." (Notice of Procedural Safeguards, Mediation, §300.506)
IEP Facilitation (same contracted provider). "Individualized Education Program (IEP) facilitation is a voluntary process that can be used when all parties to an IEP meeting agree that the presence of a neutral third party would help to facilitate communication for the successful drafting of the student’s IEP. This process is not necessary for most IEP meetings, but can be helpful for teams that are experiencing difficulties in drafting an appropriate IEP." (Notice of Procedural Safeguards, IEP Facilitations)
Due process hearing (Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, appointing hearing officers). "You or the school district may file a due process complaint on any matter relating to a proposal or a refusal to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of your child or the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to your child." "Once a request for a due process hearing is received by the department, a trained hearing officer is appointed." "The hearing officer will be appointed through a random selection process from a list maintained by the department." Districts and parents "each have the right to reject, without stating a reason, one hearing officer appointed by the department." (Notice of Procedural Safeguards, Filing a Due Process Complaint / Due Process Complaint, §300.507–508)
The published process
- Placement during a dispute
- "Except as provided below under the heading PROCEDURES WHEN DISCIPLINING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES, once a due process complaint is sent to the other party, during the resolution process time period, and while waiting for the decision of any impartial due process hearing or court proceeding, unless you and the school district agree otherwise, your child must remain in his or her current educational placement." — Notice of Procedural Safeguards, §300.518, retrieved Aug 25, 2026
- Independent evaluation at public expense
- "You have the right to an independent educational evaluation of your child at public expense if you disagree with an evaluation of your child obtained by your school district, subject to the following conditions: 1. If you request an independent educational evaluation of your child at public expense, your school district must, without unnecessary delay, either: (a) File a due process complaint to request a hearing to show that its evaluation of your child is appropriate; or (b) Provide an independent educational evaluation at public expense, unless the school district demonstrates in a hearing that the evaluation of your child that you obtained did not meet the school district’s criteria." "You are entitled to only one independent educational evaluation of your child at public expense each time your school district conducts an evaluation of your child with which you disagree." — Notice of Procedural Safeguards, §300.502
- Who may be present, and what record is made
- "Any party to a due process hearing (including a hearing relating to disciplinary procedures) has the right to: 1. Be accompanied and advised by a lawyer and/or persons with special knowledge or training regarding the problems of children with disabilities; 2. Present evidence and confront, cross-examine, and require the attendance of witnesses; 3. Prohibit the introduction of any evidence at the hearing that has not been disclosed to that party at least five business days before the hearing; 4. Obtain a written, or, at your option, electronic, word-for-word record of the hearing; and 5. Obtain written, or, at your option, electronic findings of fact and decisions." Parents specifically "must be given the right to: 1. Have your child present; 2. Open the hearing to the public; and 3. Have the record of the hearing, the findings of fact and decisions provided to you at no cost." — Notice of Procedural Safeguards, Hearing Rights, §300.512. Recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from due process hearings: not stated in the sources reviewed (the notice and the SPED landing page were searched); district policies may address it.
The three rows above answer the questions an experienced adviser raises first, from the state’s own published documents, or record that a question is not answered in them.
Timelines, as stated in the sources
All quoted; none calculated. From the Notice of Procedural Safeguards / Parental Rights for Special Education except where noted.
On administrative complaints: "Administrative complaints are generally resolved within a 60-calendar-day timeline". The department may "Permit an extension of the 60 calendar-day time limit only if: (a) exceptional circumstances; or (b) the parent and the school district or other public agency involved voluntarily agree to extend the time to resolve the matter through mediation or alternative means of dispute resolution." The violation alleged "must have occurred not more than one year prior to the date that the complaint is received."
On requesting a due process hearing: "To file a due process hearing request, parents must do so in within 12 months from the date the school district provided a written notice of the decision with which the parent disagrees" — the notice’s own phrasing, preserved as printed. "School districts must file a complaint for a due process hearing within 60 days after a parent takes the action or inaction that is the subject of the complaint."
On the resolution process: "Within 15 calendar days of receiving notice of your due process complaint, and before the due process hearing begins, the school district must convene a meeting with you and the relevant member or members of the individualized education program (IEP) Team who have specific knowledge of the facts identified in your due process complaint." "If the school district has not resolved the due process complaint to your satisfaction within 30 calendar days of the receipt of the due process complaint (during the time period for the resolution process), the due process hearing may occur."
On the hearing decision: "Not later than 45 calendar days after the expiration of the 30-calendar-day period for resolution meetings or, as described under the sub-heading Adjustments to the 30-calendar-day resolution period, not later than 45 calendar days after the expiration of the adjusted time period: 1. A final decision is reached in the hearing; and 2. A copy of the decision is mailed to each of the parties." A hearing officer "may grant specific extensions of time beyond the 45-calendar-day time period described above at the request of either party."
On appeal: "The party (you or the school district) bringing the action shall have 90 calendar days from the date of the decision of the hearing officer to file a civil action." (Notice of Procedural Safeguards, Civil Actions, §300.516)
On discipline: "school personnel may, for not more than 10 school days in a row, remove a child with a disability who violates a code of student conduct from his or her current placement to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting" (which must be determined by the child’s IEP Team), another setting, or suspension. "Within 10 school days of any decision to change the placement of a child with a disability because of a violation of a code of student conduct" the district, parent, and IEP Team must hold a manifestation determination. Regardless of that determination, "school personnel may remove a student to an interim alternative educational setting (determined by the child’s IEP Team) for up to 45 school days, if the child" carries a weapon, knowingly possesses or sells illegal drugs or a controlled substance, or has inflicted serious bodily injury on school grounds. For expedited disciplinary hearings, "The school district will arrange for an expedited due process hearing, which must occur within 20 school days of the date the hearing is requested and must result in a determination within 10 school days after the hearing." Unless waived or replaced by mediation, "a resolution meeting" must occur "within seven calendar days of receiving notice of the due process complaint."
What any of this means for a particular situation is for the agency and its processes to determine.
Source map
| Document | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of Procedural Safeguards / Parental Rights for Special Education (PDF) | education.alaska.gov | no date on the document itself; capture reflects the version live at retrieval; retrieved Aug 25, 2026 |
| SPED (Special Education landing page) | education.alaska.gov | no page date published; retrieved Aug 25, 2026 |
| Alaska Mediation Services (DOCX) | linked from the SPED landing page | listed; capture pending |
| SPED Hearing Officers List (DOCX) | linked from the SPED landing page | listed; capture pending |
| Alaska Parents’ Guide (PDF) | linked from the SPED landing page | listed; capture pending |
| FERPA Summary (DOCX) | linked from the SPED landing page | listed; capture pending |
| Non-English speakers page | linked from the SPED landing page | listed; capture pending |
Change log
Aug 25, 2026 · Page created (pilot). Captured first-party: the Notice of Procedural Safeguards / Parental Rights for Special Education (PDF text, full 35-page document retrieved including its appendix complaint form; quotations verified against the text layer), and the SPED landing page (HTML). Findings recorded rather than smoothed: (1) Alaska’s mediation and IEP Facilitation services are both delivered under contract by a named individual, Dave Thomas of Alaska Special Education Mediation Services, at a Whitefish, Montana mailing address — reproduced exactly as the state’s own notice publishes it; (2) the notice publishes three distinct phone numbers for reaching the department about special education (Donald Enoch’s direct line, the general department line, and the SPED records-request line), each attributed to its stated purpose rather than merged into one; (3) the notice’s own text has an apparent grammatical slip in its due-process filing-window sentence — "parents must do so in within 12 months" — preserved verbatim rather than corrected; (4) the source document carries no revision or approval date anywhere on its face, unlike Alabama’s, Massachusetts’s, or Pennsylvania’s dated notices; this capture reflects the version live at the URL on the retrieval date, and any future revision would need to be re-checked against this text; (5) recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from due process hearings, is not addressed in the sources reviewed. Capture pending: Alaska Mediation Services and SPED Hearing Officers List (DOCX), Alaska Parents’ Guide (PDF), FERPA Summary (DOCX), and the non-English-speakers page. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-25. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.