Oscar
Oscar v. Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
Opinion
Opinion
BACKGROUND
John Oscar is the father of a student with an individualized education plan (“IEP”) in the Lower Kuskokwim School Dis- trict. On April 5, 2007, Oscar sent an email to the Disability Law Center, Parents Inc., and DEED that expressed “grave disappointment that the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) ha[d] violated” his daughter’s IEP. The letter out- lined three concerns and “request[ed] a full investigation to resolve this issue.”
The next day, two DEED employees called Oscar to dis- cuss his concerns and they memorialized the conversation with an email summation. The email explained three avenues for seeking redress, which included contacting the school dis- trict, requesting mediation, and mailing a signed complaint to a specified address. Oscar responded by email, stating that he would “contact if further assistance is needed.”
On April 13, 2007, an attorney from the Disability Law Center called DEED to discuss the status of Oscar’s com- plaint. The written summation of the conversation included the three options explained to Oscar. The summation also acknowledged that “DEED does not consider the April 5 let- ter from Mr. Oscar a proper request for complaint as…