ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. -- Gilian Stubbs said math teachers at Ranum High School in Adams County told him they were not sure where he should go during the start of the semester in January 2007, so, he wandered the halls.

"I wasn't sure where I was supposed to go for the first week and a half of the semester because they wouldn't tell me," he said.

Gilian is one of the more than 83,000 students receiving some form of special education in Colorado public schools.

The Ranum High senior is about to graduate, but during his junior year he was trapped in a turbulent tug-of-war between his parents and the Adams County 50 School District over his special education needs.

"I got an 'F'," Gilian said.

Gilian said that is what happened when Ranum High School administrators changed his math class.

Every student in the state's special education program has an Individual Education Plan, or IEP, which provides a roadmap to how their special needs are met.

The Stubbs family says Gilian's curriculum was changed mid-year, when they put him in a new math class without notifying them ahead of time.

"It's easier for me to do it in my head, than to write it down," Gilian said. "A lot of my teachers don't understand that."

Gilian has been diagnosed with non-verbal learning disorder and dyslexia, which make math in particular a challenge.

His dad, Kyle Stubbs, said he requested an IEP meeting in January of 2007 to discuss the change.

"This was a very simple request to straighten out the schedule and make sure there were no misunderstandings," Stubbs said.

The IEP's are managed by a team that includes teachers, specialists, administrators and the student's parents.

The meeting request is something the Colorado Department of Education said is common. The Stubbs family say their previous requests for meetings had always been accommodated.

Stubbs said something changed.

"The teachers were all the sudden forbidden from speaking to me," he said.

Stubbs said Ranum Principal Kirchers Leday refused the IEP meeting and ultimately banned him from communicating with any of the other faculty or staff members.

Stubbs said that is why the teachers did not know what to tell Gilian.

Gilian said it made him feel "Stupid. I didn't know what to do. I was just standing out in the hall for half the class period not knowing what to do."

Stubbs filed a complaint with the superintendent of Adams County District 50 in January 2007 and requested mediation the following month.

He said principal Leday and the district would not attend mediation.

The Colorado Department of Education ruled in May, 2007, that the district must convene an IEP meeting, but the district appealed in June and the judge has yet to rule.

An Adams County 50 spokesperson said, "The District is in full compliance with these statutes with regard to the scheduling of Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings, communicating with parents regarding a student with a disability, drafting and implementing IEPs, and complying with all procedural timelines."

The district also said Leday tried eight times to meet with the Stubbs family, but they did not respond to his requests.

"If anything different is happening, good communication would suggest that parents be informed of what's happening within the school day," said Ed Steinberg, assistant commissioner and state director of special education.

Steinberg said parents are a critical part of the IEP team and are rarely prohibited from communicating with school staff.

'That's very extreme, very unusual," he said.

He said state and federal laws protect parents' rights and allow schools to set limits, but, at the end of the day communication is the key to working out disputes.

The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights completed its own investigation.

It found no evidence of discrimination by Adams County 50.

The report said the district did not promptly respond to the Stubbs family, and did not adequately train key staff members.

It also calls the communication restriction placed on the family an "adverse action."

Adams County 50 said policy development recommended in the report was already under way and that the district diligently works with students and families to meet their needs.

For more information about Colorado's Individual Education Plan laws and regulations, Colorado Department of Education.