This is a redacted version of the original hearing officer decision. Select details have been
removed from the decision to preserve anonymity of the student as required by IDEA 2004.
Those portions of the decision which pertain to the student’s gifted education have been
removed in accordance with 22 Pa. Code § 16.63 regarding closed hearings.
Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Student’s Name: B.F.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
ODR No. 15089-13-14-AS
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing:
Parent[s]
Central Bucks School District 16 Welden Drive Doylestown, PA 18901
Representative:
Pro Se
Scott H. Wolpert, Esquire Timoney Knox
400 Maryland Drive
P.O. Box 7544
Fort Washington, PA19034
Date of Hearing: July 28, 2014
Record Closed: July 28, 2014
Date of Decision: September 9, 2014
Hearing Officer: William F. Culleton, Jr., Esquire
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The student in this matter (Student)1 is a child living within the respondent District who completed sixth grade in a District elementary school and is scheduled to attend a private school in the coming school year. (NT 12-13; S 18.) Student is identified as a child with a disability of Other Health Impairment and Specific Learning Disability pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1401 et seq. (IDEA). (NT 12.) [Redacted.]
In response to a request for an independent educational evaluation (IEE) by Student’s Parents, the District filed a request for due process, seeking an order establishing that its Evaluation Report dated January 10, 2014, as amended on or about July 1, 2014, is appropriate. (NT 20-21.) The hearing was completed in one session.
I conclude that the District’s Evaluation Report was appropriate, and I decline to order an IEE at public expense.
ISSUES
- Was the District’s Evaluation Report dated January 10, 2014, as amended on or about July 1, 2014, appropriate under the IDEA?2
- Are Parents entitled to an IEE at public expense?