General Information for Requesting Appointment of a Special Magistrate for Unresolved Student Welfare Complaints

As an alternative to filing a declaratory judgment action in court, parents may request the appointment of a Special Magistrate to address certain parental disputes with a school district or a charter school. The law pertaining to special magistrate requests for unresolved student welfare complaints is in section 1001.42, Florida Statutes. The process for requesting a special magistrate for unresolved disputes within a school district is in Rule 6A-1.094125, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.). The process for requesting a special magistrate for unresolved disputes at a charter school is in Rule 6A-6.0791, F.A.C.

Special Magistrates are available for some, but not all, types of disputes. A Special Magistrate is either an administrative law judge provided by the Division of Administrative Hearings or a person appointed by the Commissioner of Education who is a member of The Florida Bar in good standing with a minimum of five years of administrative law experience.

Please refer to FLDOE.org for more information regarding the use of a Special Magistrate.