The Impartial Hearing Reporting System (IHRS) is required under
Section 200.5(i)(3)(xiv) of the Regulations of the Commissioner of
Education. These regulations require that each Board of Education report
information relating to an impartial hearing in a format and interval
prescribed by the Commissioner. The IHRS is a web-based data collection
system designed to record information about the impartial hearing
process at critical points, beginning with the initial written request
for a hearing and ending with the implementation of decisions rendered
in the hearing. The IHRS is a “real time” system and is used to monitor
New York State’s due process system to ensure that impartial hearings
are completed within the time periods required by federal and State law
and regulation.
The IHRS benefits the school district and the impartial hearing officer
(IHO) in the management of the impartial hearing process in several
ways. The IHRS:
- Provides a ”real time” record of all activity within individual
impartial hearings from the point of request through the point of
decision, including implementation of the decision;
- Assists in the implementation of the correct rotation through the IHO list at the time of appointment;
- Includes the most up to date contact information for individual IHOs and provides information about any changes in the IHO’s
availability;
- Provides a method to document and track IHO contacts and responses
during the appointment process;
- Provides a means for the school district to record the
implementation of the IHO decisions; and
- Presents a way for school districts and the IHO to monitor their
own activities related to appointments and decisions.
The IHRS is a secure system and only individuals with assigned
confidential passwords may access the system. School district personnel
and Impartial Hearing Officers may request passwords to access the
system. Districts only have access to their own information and not data
entered by other school districts. The same is true for IHOs who have
“read only” access to their own cases.
Please contact the Department by email at
vesidih@mail.nysed.gov
or by telephone at (518) 473-0170 for information regarding the
impartial hearing reporting system including: assignment of user names,
passwords, and reset of passwords; information on how to use the system;
and questions regarding the impartial hearing process.
