This is a redacted version of the original decision. Select details have been removed
from the decision to preserve anonymity of the student. The redactions do not affect the
substance of the document.
Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Child’s Name: C.F.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Dates of Hearing:
May 15, 2014
May 27, 2014
CLOSED HEARING
ODR Case # 14806-1314KE
Parties to the Hearing:
Parent[s[
Pennridge School District 1200 North 5th Street Perkasie, PA 18944
Representative:
Frederick Stanczak, Esquire 179 North Broad Street
2nd Floor
Doylestown, PA 18901
Mark Walz, Esquire 331 East Butler Avenue New Britain, PA 18601
Date Record Closed: May 27, 2014
Date of Decision: June 17, 2014
Hearing Officer: Jake McElligott, Esquire
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Student is an elementary school age student residing in the Pennridge School District (District) who has been identified as a student with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA)1. The student has been identified under the terms of IDEA as a student with an intellectual disability and speech/language impairment. The 2013-2014 school year, the student’s kindergarten year, was the student’s first year in District schools after multiple years in early intervention programming. The parents requested an independent educational evaluation (IEE) at public expense, including the services of a specific evaluator and/or specific types of assessments.
The District declined to provide an IEE under the terms requested by parents and, in March 2014 shortly after parents’ request, filed a special education due process complaint to defend its evaluation processes and reports related to the student.
For the reasons set forth below, I find that the District’s evaluation processes and reports are appropriate and so parents are not entitled to an IEE at public expense under their specific terms. For reasons again set forth below, however, the District is ordered to provide an independent evaluation at public expense under the terms of the hearing officer’s order.
ISSUES
Are parents entitled to an IEE at public expense?