The Blog: Simply Said
Four-Month Child-Find Delay Unreasonable – Fifth Circuit
The child-find obligation imposed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that school districts promptly identify, locate, and evaluate students who are suspected of having disabilities. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(3)(A). In Krawietz v. Galveston...
Revisiting How We Look At The Second And Third Prongs In Reimbursement Cases
The topic of tuition reimbursement awards is one of particular importance to impartial hearing officers. A recent opinion, J.T. v. Department of Education, Civil No. 11-00612, 2018 WL 2449190, 72 IDELR 95 (D. Haw. May 31, 2018), serves as a good reminder of how the...
Failure to File Within 2 Years of KOSHK Limits Parents Claims
A relatively recent case interpreting the due process statute of limitations provision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is Brady P. v. Central York School District, No. 1:16-CV-2395, 2018 WL 1367325, 71 IDELR 215 (M.D. Pa. Mar. 16, 2018). The case...
OSEP Rejects Next Succeeding Business Day Rule
On April 19, 2018, Ruth E. Ryder, Acting Director of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs, issued a letter in response to questions raised by the New York State Education Department Office of Special Education about the effect of New...
Sixth Circuit – LRE Is A Strong Preference, But Not Absolute
A relatively new case that merits attention is L.H. v. Hamilton County Department of Education, Nos. 17-5989, 18-5086, 2018 WL 3966517, --- F.3d ----, 118 LRP 34015 (6th Cir. Aug. 20, 2018). The student, now 15, has Down Syndrome, and was educated in a mainstream...
Tuition Reimbursement and Equitable Factors
The topic of tuition reimbursement awards is one of continuing importance to impartial hearing officers. A new opinion, J.T. v. Department of Education, Civil No. 11-00612, 2018 WL 2449190, 72 IDELR 95 (D. Haw. May 31, 2018), sheds light on the subject. The decision...
Court Rejects Expanded Use of Sufficiency Dismissal
An instructive recent case on decisions about sufficiency of due process complaints is I.K. v. Montclair Board of Education, No. CV 16–9152, 2018 WL 2441761, 72 IDELR 101 (D.N.J. May 31, 2018) (unpublished). The court denied both a motion for summary judgment for the...
Mootness
A recent case of interest is Burke v. Hillsborough County School Board, No. 8:17–CV–993–T–33JSS, 2018 WL 1139064, 71 IDELR 187 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 2, 2018), appeal filed, No. 18-11257 (11th Cir. Mar. 29, 2018). The case involved a gifted third grader with autism who was...
Public School Placement More Restrictive than Private Placement
A recent case concerning several issues of interest to impartial hearing officers is R.A. v. West Contra Costa Unified School District, 696 F. App’x 171, 70 IDELR 88 (9th Cir. 2017). The case dealt with a ten-year-old student with autism spectrum disorder whose...
Tuition Reimbursement Awarded for Failure to Child Find, Implement IEP
Spring Branch Independent School District v. O.W., No. 4:16-CV-2643, 72 IDELR 11 (S.D. Tex. Mar. 29, 2018), merits the attention of impartial hearing officers. The court affirmed the decision of the due process hearing officer against the school district in a case...
IHO Authority to Reopen Case, Reconsider Decision, Retain Jurisdiction
A newsworthy State review officer (SRO) decision concerning finality and correction of IHO decisions, and how that topic affects timeliness of appeals to the SRO, is New York City Department of Education, No. 17-021, 117 LRP 25324 (NY SRO May 22, 2017). The lengthy...
Authority to Decide Residency Disputes by IDEA IHOs
Residency disputes arise with remarkable frequency in the practice of special education law. In A.P. ex rel. E.F. v. Lower Merion School District, No. 16–5925, 2018 WL 1100908, ___ F. Supp. 3d ___, 71 IDELR 188 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 1, 2018), Judge Savage ruled that when a...
New York State Seeking Applicants to Serve as IDEA Hearing Officers
The New York State Education Department is canvasing for Special Education Impartial Hearing Officer candidates. An impartial hearing officer presides over a due process case requested by either a parent or school district on matters relating to the identification,...
Ninth Circuit to Rehear R.E.B. v. Hawaii Dep’t of Educ.
A few months ago, we wrote about R.E.B. v. Hawaii Dep’t of Educ., No. 14-15895, 2017 WL 4018395, — F.3d —-, 117 LRP 38439 (9th Cir. Sept. 13, 2017) (per curiam, before Kozinski, Hawkins, and Bea). It's back. Background first. In R.E.B., the parent of a child with...
Reasonable Accommodations Extend to Advocate at IEP Meetings / Hearings
The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights issued a determination in August concerning disability accommodations for an advocate at a Committee on Special Education annual IEP review meeting. In Smithtown, N.Y. Central School District, 117 LRP 46371 (OCR...
FAPE Does Not Include Religious and Cultural Instruction
The Supreme Court just denied certiorari in a case from last summer that has received considerable attention around the country. M.L. ex rel. Leiman v. Smith, 867 F.3d 487, 70 IDELR 142 (4th Cir. Aug. 14, 2017), cert. denied, 86 U.S.L.W. 3354, 86 U.S.L.W. 3356 (U.S....
USDOE Rejects NYS’s ESSA Waiver
On January 16, 2018, the U.S. Department of Education rejected New York’s application for a waiver of sections 1111(b)(1)(B) and (b)(2)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), 20 U.S.C. §...
Child Find, Functional Behavioral Assessment, Tuition Reimbursement
Board of Educ. of Wappingers Cent. Sch. Dist. v. M.N., No. 16-CV-09448(TPG), 2017 WL 4641219, 71 IDELR 9 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 13, 2017), appeal filed, No. 17-3707 (2d Cir. Nov. 14, 2017), is a recent case of interest with regard to the IDEA child-find requirement, the...
Federal Guidance on Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District Re-1
Free, appropriate public education, behavioral interventions and supports, placement On December 7, 2017, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) released a document entitled Questions and Answers (Q&A) on...
DIR/Floortime, Accommodations for Allergies and Sensory Needs, Student-Teacher Ratio
On October 10, 2017, the Second Circuit summarily affirmed NB v. New York City Department of Education, No. 15 Civ. 4948, 2016 WL 5816925, 68 IDELR 228 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 29, 2017), aff’d sub nom. N.B. v. New York City Department of Education, No. 16-3652-cv, 2017 WL...