There is a pending due process complaint that was initiated by a school district several months ago and it is about to go to hearing. Then, a couple days ago, the parent initiates a due process complaint against the district. The parent initiated compl

There is a pending due process complaint that was initiated by a school district several months ago and it is about to go to hearing. Then, a couple days ago, the parent initiates a due process complaint against the district. The parent initiated complaint alleges that it is based on many of the same facts as the pending action and they would not object to the two being combined. Would the SEA open a new due process file and then send a notice of filing that directs the hearing officer of the pending district initiated complaint to determine whether or not the actions should be consolidated? It does not seem that the SEA should make the decision and it doesn’t make sense to get a new hearing officer involved? Or would the SEA open a new due process and go through the process of assigning a hearing officer and then one of the parties could file a motion to consolidate the cases if they wish to? The problem is, in our state we do not just assign hearing officers, each party is given a list of three potential hearing officers that they rank in order of preference. Based off of how the parties rank the hearing officers one is appointed.