The Blog: Simply Said
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...
Citing to Endrew F., Eighth Circuit Rejects Parent’s FAPE Claims
Albright v. Mountain Home School District, 926 F.3d 942, 74 IDELR 187 (8th Cir. June 12, 2019), is one of a number of recent court of appeals cases grappling with how to interpret the free, appropriate public education (FAPE) term of the IDEA in light of Endrew F. v....
Eleventh Circuit Weighs in on What Constitutes a Material Failure
A recent case from the Eleventh Circuit takes up the recurring question of when the failure to implement an IEP violates the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and entitles parents to a remedy for their child. L.J. v. School Board of Broward County, 927 F.3d...
D.C. Circuit: IAES Injury to Child/Others Must Be Certain, Great, and Actual
IDEA provides that in some circumstances a child with a disability who violates school rules can be placed in an interim alternative educational setting for a specified period of time. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(k)(1), (2)(G), (3)(B), (4)(A). The issue of when an interim...
Recent OSEP Letters
At the end of January, the Office of Special Education Programs of the United States Department of Education issued several guidance letters that may be of interest to Impartial Hearing Officers. Although OSEP always cautions that “section 607(d) of IDEA prohibits the...
Second Circuit: Reason to Suspect Need for SpEd, Not Disability Triggers Child Find Obligation
W.A. v. Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist., Nos. 17-3248, 17-3313, 2019 WL 2479164, 927 F.3d 126, 74 IDELR 186 (2d Cir. June 14, 2019), is a case of interest on issues of child-find and tuition reimbursement. The case (actually two cases consolidated) involved a...
R.E.B. – The Other Shoe Dropped
Back in October 2017, this blog featured a post describing R.E.B. v. Hawaii Department of Education, 870 F.3d 1025, 117 LRP 38439 (9th Cir. Sept. 13, 2017) (per curiam, before Kozinski, Hawkins, and Bea). In April of the following year, the Ninth Circuit withdrew the...
Whether and When the SEA is a Proper Party to a DPC
Saenz ex rel. V.S. v. Board of Education of Silver Consolidated Schools, No. CV 18-954, 2019 WL 1795539, 74 IDELR 97 (D.N.M. April 24, 2019), presents the issue of whether and when the state educational agency (SEA) may be a proper respondent in IDEA proceedings, a...
FAPE to Children Convicted as Adults Under State Law and Incarcerated in an Adult Prison
Brown v. District of Columbia, No. CV 17-348, 2019 WL 1924245, 119 LRP 17246 (D.D.C. April 30, 2019), presents the problem whether an individual convicted of a felony and incarcerated in a federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility is entitled to special education...
LRE Proves to be Double-Edged Sword in Reimbursement Case
A.S. v. Board of Education of Shenendohowa Central School District, No. 1:17-CV-0501, 2019 WL 719833, 73 IDELR 260 (N.D.N.Y. Feb. 20, 2019), bears special interest for impartial hearing officers regarding tuition reimbursement. The case involved a seven year old boy...
“Clerical Error” in IEP Proved Costly for One NYS School District
A recent decision from the Southern District of New York, Board of Education of Yorktown Central School District v. C.S., No. 17 CV 6542, 2019 WL 294799, 119 LRP 1767 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 23, 2019), appeal filed, No. 19-270 (2d Cir. Jan. 29, 2019), presents issues...
Second Circuit: Repeated Goals Do Not Necessarily Deny FAPE
F.L. v. Board of Education of Great Neck U.F.S.D., 735 F. App’x 38, 72 IDELR 232 (2d Cir. Aug. 24, 2018), is non-precedential Second Circuit case that nonetheless holds interest for impartial hearing officers. The parent challenged IEPs from the 2012-13, 2013-14, and...
Consulting with Attorney/Advocate May Trigger SOL
Board of Education of the North Rockland Central School District v. C.M., 744 F. App’x 7, 72 IDELR 172 (2nd Cir. 2018), is a noteworthy case despite the fact that it is nonprecedential. The case involved a unilateral residential placement undertaken by the parents of...
Child Find Failure Resulted In SOL Being “Tolled”
In Wehrspann v. Dubuque Community School District, No. 15-CV-1029-LRR, 118 LRP 33775 (N.D. Iowa July 27, 2018) (magistrate judge report and recommendation), adopted, 2018 WL 3865379, 72 IDELR 212 (Aug. 14, 2018), the magistrate judge recommended that the district...
Funding of Stay-Put Must Continue Despite IHO Limiting Placement to Specific Dates
The litigation on the West Coast concerning the Anchorage school district may contain an important lesson for impartial hearing officers. In Anchorage Sch. Dist., v. M.G., No. 3:17-cv-00157-SLG, 2018 WL 1041535, 71 IDELR 192 (D. Alaska Feb. 23, 2018), the court...
Limitations on Parent’s Communication with District Upheld
A recent case of interest, Forest Grove School District v. Student, No. 3:14-CV-00444-AC, 2018 WL 6198281, 118 LRP 48402 (D. Or. Nov. 27, 2018), covered a wide range of issues. Of particular interest was the court’s ruling that limitations the district had imposed on...