(Photo: File)
A new lawsuit claims Cumberland County Schools systematically violated federal disability law by delaying special education evaluations for children who showed clear signs of needing help.
Under federal law, when a parent or teacher refers a child for a possible disability, the district must complete an evaluation, often within a 90-day window. But the complaint, filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina, alleges the school district routinely stalled these evaluations by requiring students to first complete the “Multi-Tiered System of Support,” a schoolwide intervention program meant to help struggling students before they fall behind. MTSS is not a special education service, and federal law does not permit districts to use it to delay or deny an evaluation.
According to the complaint, the practice left children waiting months, sometimes more than a year, for assessments they were legally entitled to receive much sooner.
The lawsuit was brought by Cynthia Lee, a former teacher at Sherwood Park Elementary School, and three former second-grade students identified as R.S., D.C. and J.M. They say Cumberland County Schools unlawfully used the MTSS program as a “gatekeeper,” blocking or postponing evaluations even after parents submitted written referrals. The complaint also says the district failed to give parents required notices when it declined to move forward with an evaluation.
In a statement, Cumberland County Schools said it was aware of the lawsuit but does not comment on pending litigation. The district said it “remains committed to supporting students with disabilities and working with families in accordance with applicable state and federal law,” and is reviewing the complaint with its legal counsel.
Lee alleges she repeatedly alerted administrators that the students showed signs of disabilities and needed prompt evaluations. She says that as she continued raising concerns, school administrators became hostile.
After Lee filed a formal complaint with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction on April 30, 2025, she says she was confronted in staff meetings, publicly criticized and eventually forced to resign at the end of the school year.
According to the lawsuit, the Department of Public Instruction investigated Lee’s complaint and found that Cumberland County Schools had violated IDEA’s Child Find, which requires schools to identify and evaluate any child who may have a disability. The state described the district’s practices as “systemic.”
The complaint does not specify how the district responded to those findings.
The lawsuit also names DPI, arguing the state failed to enforce federal disability law and allowed districts, including Cumberland County, to use MTSS in ways that delayed legally required evaluations.
NCDPI said it had not yet been served with the lawsuit and could not comment.
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