Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Child’s Name: A. H.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Dates of Hearing:1 August 11, 2016 September 21, 2016 October 13, 2016 October 14, 2016 November 4, 2016
CLOSED HEARING
ODR Case #17885-1516KE
Parties to the Hearing: Parent[s]
Avon Grove School District 107 Schoolhouse Road West Grove, PA 19390
Representative:
Mark Voigt, Esquire
Plymouth Meeting Executive Campus 600 W. Germantown Pike – Suite 400 Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
Kathleen Metcalfe, Esquire 331 E. Butler Avenue
New Britain, PA 18901
Date of Decision: November 30, 2016
Hearing Officer: Michael J. McElligott, Esquire
INTRODUCTION
Student (“student”)2 is a late-teen-aged student who formerly resided in the Avon Grove School District (“District”). The parties agree that the student qualifies under the terms of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Improvement Act of 2004 (“IDEIA”)3, although they disagree over the specific identification status of the student.
Parent claims, in the complaint, that the student was denied a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”) during the school years 2012- 2013 through 2015-2016, inclusive, and seeks a compensatory education remedy for that alleged denial, including failure to identify the student with specific learning disabilities and a health impairment. When the complaint was filed in June 2016, the student’s placement for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year was also in dispute, and parent sought a placement in a private tutoring center for GED preparation.
The District counters that at all times it provided FAPE to the student for the period of the student’s enrollment, including the programming proposed for the 2016-2017 school year. As such, the District argues that the parent is not entitled to remedy.
The student’s educational history over the school years considered at the hearing and in evidence, as set forth in the record below, was deeply impacted by issues of non-attendance.
For the reasons set forth below, I find in favor of the District.
ISSUES
Did the District provide the student with FAPE for the school years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016?
If not, is the student entitled to compensatory education?
A-H-Avon-Grove-ODRNo-17885-1516KE