BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Department of Education said Tuesday it is working to address concerns raised in a federal review regarding its special education programs.

A 2024 review by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs found that the state did not meet federal standards in certain areas, especially regarding complaints and dispute resolution. 

OSEP says that Louisiana did not "have procedures in place to ensure that mediators contracted by the State are knowledgeable in laws and regulations relating to the provision of special education and related services," which was inconsistent with federal guidelines. The federal government also said Louisiana's practice of requiring parties to sign a mediation confidentiality agreement was not consistent with its regulations.

Additionally, the review found that some of the state's procedures and processes surrounding complaints were not up to standard, with several problems revolving around the due process of such complaints.

The LDE said it is actively working to correct these shortcomings.

“We have made progress over the last few years, with only a few updates remaining," said Lauren Wells, the executive director of diverse learners with the state.

In the report, OSEP also requested additional documents from the state that show how it verifies the correction of noncompliance. State officials provided those documents, and OSEP closed that particular finding.

Read the full federal review here.