Hearing Officers

Q: What types of backgrounds do Hearing Officers have?

A: Hearing Officers are professionals with knowledge of special education issues and law. Typically, a Hearing Officer is an attorney, college professor, psychologist, or educational agency worker. The Hearing Officer may be retired from these professions. Hearing Officers lists the individuals currently serving in this capacity for ODR, along with their professions and backgrounds.

Q: Are Hearing Officers associated with the school district?

A: No. A Hearing Officer is an impartial professional who is not affiliated with the particular education agency involved in your due process hearing, either through employment or a professional or personal relationship.

Q: How will the Hearing Officer contact me?

A: Either the Hearing Officer or his or her office staff will contact you to begin the process of scheduling the due process hearing. Depending on the complexity of the case, the preference of one or both of the parties, or the usual practice of the Hearing Officer, he or she may hold a telephone conference prior to the due process hearing. The conference may review the issues, discuss scheduling, and deal with any matters that need to be resolved prior to the hearing.

At the time of this initial contact, the Hearing Officer or his or her staff will let you know how the Hearing Officer will be communicating with the parties, and in turn how the Hearing Officer wishes to be contacted, such as by letter or email. The Special Education Dispute Resolution Manual describes the pre-hearing and hearing processes in detail.

Q: Why is there an issue about how the due process hearing parties communicate with the Hearing Officer?

A: Because the Hearing Officer will not participate in ex parte communication, that is communication with either party about the merits of the case outside the presence of the other party. It is the content of the discussion , not the discussion itself, which makes it improper.

For example, it is acceptable for the Hearing Officer to speak to a parent or an educational agency representative on the telephone about scheduling matters. It is not acceptable to have such a conversation about the issues in dispute, the conduct of the parent or school district, the opinion of the parent or school district about the child's educational program, and so on. If either side attempts to engage in ex parte communication with the Hearing Officer, the Hearing Officer will immediately terminate the discussion. Some Hearing Officers will not speak to either side individually in order to ensure that ex parte communication never occurs. When the Hearing Officer first contacts you, he or she will tell you the acceptable methods for communicating.

Q: Who supervises the Hearing Officers?

A: As required by IDEA 97, the Hearing Officers are impartial individuals who contract with ODR to preside over due process hearings. Because of the impartiality requirement, Hearing Officers must make all decisions about the due process proceedings independent of any other individual or agency. Therefore, Hearing Officers do not receive direction or instruction from ODR on how to handle a particular case. Appeals of the Hearing Officer's decisions are available to the parties.