The Blog: Simply Said
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...
RTI Not a Substitute to Obligation to Evaluate
Avaras v. Clarkstown Central School District, No. 15 CV 9679 (S..D.N.Y.) concerns a child identified as N.A. with reading difficulties and other conditions. He was provided academic intervention services and Response to Intervention services in kindergarten, and...
Systemic Failure in Providing Nursing, Transportation, and Porter Services Found to Deny FAPE
A case that came out at the end of last summer, J.L. v. New York City Department of Education, 324 F. Supp. 3d 455, 72 IDELR 237 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 28, 2018), should be of interest to New York impartial hearing officers, even though the case did not originate through a...
Endrew F. Higher Standard Does Not Apply to Comp Ed – Sixth Circuit
Compensatory education services as a remedy for violations of IDEA can present difficult issues for Impartial Hearing Officers. Just how does the trier of fact measure the educational loss and calculate the remedial services that will be needed to make up for it? A...
Recent OSEP Letters of Import
This past year, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) of the United States Department of Education issued a number of guidance letters that may be of use to Impartial Hearing Officers. Although OSEP always cautions that its responses to inquiries are...
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...