In our state, LEAs contact the Supreme Court for appointment of a hearing officer (from a list of IHOs approved/trained by the SEA) once the due process complaint has been filed. We have a situation where a due process complaint was filed and the LEA is r

In our state, LEAs contact the Supreme Court for appointment of a hearing officer (from a list of IHOs approved/trained by the SEA) once the due process complaint has been filed. We have a situation where a due process complaint was filed and the LEA is refusing to appoint a hearing officer because LEA says parent signed a settlement agreement (after the end of the school year during which Student turned 22) agreeing not to file additional due process requests and, therefore, any other issues are either a violation of the signed settlement agreement or outside the IDEA and therefore must be handled by a court rather than through due process. Had the LEA asked us, we would have indicated they should appoint a hearing officer and make any arguments about insufficiency to the hearing officer, but they did not ask us. The student's advocate is insisting due process is appropriate. Has anyone encountered something like this before? Any suggestions or information regarding our obligation here are appreciated.