The Blog: Simply Said
IDEA Hearing Officers Serve in Judicial Role and are Protected by Absolute Immunity
In Donohue v. Lloyd, No. 18-CV-9712 (JPO), 2020 WL 2834207, 120 LRP 17087 (S.D.N.Y. June 1, 2020), Judge Oetken dismissed a parent’s case against an impartial hearing officer, the City of New York, New York State, the Board of Regents, and the New York State Education...
Eighth Circuit Upholds Child Find Violation of Intellectually Gifted Student
A recent Eighth Circuit case, Independent Sch Dist. No. 283 v. E.M.D.H., Nos. 19-1269, 19-1336, 2020 WL 2892238, --- F.3d ----, 120 LRP 17110 (8th Cir. June 3, 2020), covers a number of issues that arise frequently in cases before impartial hearing officers,...
School District’s Attorney’s Litigation Conduct Rouses IHO / SRO’s Ire
State-level review decisions in due process cases, though they lack binding force outside the cases themselves, often have instructive value for Impartial Hearing Officers. That is the case with Decision No. 190028, (SRO No. 20-080), N.Y.S. Educ. Dep’t State Review...
Claims for Subsequent Failures are Distinct from Prior, Similar Failures and are Not Time Barred
B.B. v. Delaware College Preparatory Academy, No. 19-1649, 2020 WL 63924976 IDELR 1 (3d Cir. Feb. 11, 2020), a nonprecedential decision, may be of interest to impartial hearing officers in making determinations about which claims are timely and which are barred by...
Reporting Progress to School District by Private Comp Ed Provider Reasonable
Price v. Commonwealth Charter Academy - Cyber, No. 19-1590, 2020 WL 1435175, (E.D. Pa. Mar. 24, 2020), is a somewhat unusual case for this blog in that it is not the review of an impartial hearing officer decision, but rather a decision to dismiss a lawsuit under the...
Endrew F. Standard Sinks School District’s Defense
Preciado v. Board of Education of Clovis Municipal Schools, No. 19-cv-0184 SMV/KRS, 2020 WL 1170635, --- F. Supp. 3d ----, 76 IDELR 67 (D.N.M. Mar. 11, 2020), covers a wide range of issues that impartial hearing officers confront in deciding special education cases....
Right to Meaningful Participation Does Not Guarantee Perfect Comprehension
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides that impartial hearing officer decisions are to be made on “substantive grounds based on a determination of whether the child received a free[,] appropriate public education.” 20 U.S.C. § 1415(f)(3)(E). A...
Parents Cannot Unilaterally Change Their Children’s Stay-Put
The Second Circuit has finally weighed in on the litigation over whether parents whose children who suffered from brain injuries were placed by the New York City Department of Education in iHope, a private academy, may move their children to a similar new school,...
IDEA Claim Accrual Depends on Allegation, Fifth Circuit Holds
R.S. v. Highland Park Independent School District, No. 19-10458, 2020 WL 914703, ___ F.3d ___, 120 LRP 7549 (5th Cir. Feb. 25, 2020), presents the issue of accrual of claims for purposes of the statute of limitations for due process hearing requests. It also contains...
Issues Related to COVID-19: Impacts for IHOs
The coronavirus pandemic is having an impact on education for students with disabilities, and thus it is likely to soon have an impact on the professional activities of impartial hearing officers. This post compiles some COVID-related guidance documents that may be of...
Obligation to Continue to Offer FAPE to Eligible Student in Private School
L.B. v. Kyrene Elementary Dist. No. 28, No. CV-17-03316-PHX-SMB, 2019 WL 4187515, 75 IDELR 44 (D. Ariz. Sept. 4, 2019), appeal filed, No. 19-16971 (9th Cir. Oct. 4, 2019), takes up issues about due process complaint pleading, as well as the duty to evaluate students...
Lack of Objective Evidence of Progress Sinks Parent’s Tuition Reimbursement Request
In R.H. v. Board of Education Saugerties Central School District, 776 F. App’x 719, 74 IDELR 221 (2d Cir. July 2, 2019), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals continued its pattern of denying tuition reimbursement for unilateral parental placements when there is not a...
Protracted FAPE Denial Warrants More Than Short-Term Fix
Among the issues that hearing officers find most challenging are how to apply the free, appropriate public education standard of Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. RE-1, 137 S. Ct. 988 (2017), how to apply the standard in cases involving post-secondary...
Court Rejects Request for Homebound Instruction for Student in Virtual School
On-line education is a modern reality, and impartial hearing officers may want to know how courts have handled cases in which parents contend that an online educational institution or program has failed in the obligation to afford free, appropriate public education to...
Failure To Meet IEP Goal Is “Troubling,” But That Alone Is Not Enough
Perkiomen Valley School District. v. S.D., No. CV 18-2093, 2019 WL 4675001, --- F. Supp. 3d ----, 75 IDELR 67 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 24, 2019), appeal filed, No. 19-3410 (3d Cir. Oct. 18, 2019), is noteworthy as an example of a reviewing court’s careful examination of...
Delay in Conceding FAPE Denial Proved Costly for NYC School District
It is unusual for this Blog to feature a case on attorneys’ fees. After all, Impartial Hearing Officers do not award fees; courts do. But a recent fees case, D.B. v. New York City Department of Education, No. 18 CIV. 7898, 2019 WL 4565128, 75 IDELR 73 (S.D.N.Y. Sept....
Endrew F.’s “Congent and Responsive Explanation” Language Extended to State Review Officer
Sequels to the Supreme Court’s decision in Endrew F. ex rel. Joseph F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1, 137 S. Ct. 988 (2017), continue to appear. One recent case from New York, AR v. Katonah Lewisboro Union Free School District, No. 18-CV-9938, 2019 WL...
Waiting 99 Days to Start Evaluation Process Resulted in Tuition Reimbursement Award in the Fifth Circuit
Spring Branch Independent School District v. O.W., No. 18-20274, 2019 WL 4401142, --- F.3d ----, 75 IDELR 29 (5th Cir. Sept. 16, 2019), offers impartial hearing officers an analysis of the problems that may arise when a student has severe behavioral disabilities and...
Failure to Provide Intensive Reading Intervention in IEP to Student Who Lacked Basic Reading Skills Resulted in Tuition Reimbursement
The substantive adequacy of individual education programs continues to be a controversial topic two years after the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1, 137 S. Ct. 988, 69 IDELR 174 (Mar. 22, 2017). A recent case on...
Fifth Circuit Rejects Monday Morning Quarterbacking in Eligibility Dispute
Lisa M. v. Leander Independent School District, 924 F.3d 205, 74 IDELR 124 (5th Cir. May 15, 2019), is a somewhat unusual case concerning eligibility under the IDEA that nevertheless may be instructive in the eligibility disputes that impartial hearing officers...