Compensatory Services
Also: Comp Ed
Additional services a district must provide to make up for services that were denied or not delivered.
Compensatory services (sometimes called "comp ed") are remedial services a district must provide to a student when the student was denied services they were entitled to under an IEP. The classic trigger is missed service minutes — for example, when a special education teacher's vacancy left a student without pull-out reading instruction for a semester — but comp ed can also result from a denial of FAPE identified through a due-process hearing.
The goal of compensatory services is to place the student in the position they would have been in had the services been delivered. The quantity and type of compensation are typically negotiated between the district and the family, or ordered by a hearing officer.
The best prevention is simple: deliver the minutes on the IEP, document that you delivered them, and make up missed sessions proactively rather than waiting for a complaint.
Related terms
- Service MinutesThe specific number of minutes per week (or other interval) of special education and related services an IEP commits the district to deliver.
- Due ProcessThe formal legal procedure by which parents and schools resolve disputes about special education.
- FAPEA student's right under IDEA to receive a Free Appropriate Public Education tailored to their individual needs at no cost to the family.
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