Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Child’s Name: D.E.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
CLOSED HEARING & STIPULATED RECORD1
ODR Case Numbers:
16022-1415AS 16023-1415AS
Parties to the Hearing:
Parent[s]
Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School
910 North 6th Street Philadelphia, PA 19123
Pennsylvania Department of Education 333 Market Street / 9th Floor Harrisburg, PA 17101
Representative:
David J. Berney, Esquire Morgen Black-Smith, Esquire 1628 J.F.K. Boulevard
Suite 1000
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Unrepresented & Non-Participatory
M. Patricia Fullerton, Esquire Elizabeth Anzalone, Esquire 333 Market Street / 9th Floor Harrisburg, PA 17101
Date of Decision: March 31, 2017
Hearing Officer: Michael J. McElligott, Esquire
INTRODUCTION
[The student] (“student”)2 is a [late pre-teenaged] student residing in [redacted] school district. The student qualifies under the terms of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Improvement Act of 2004 (“IDEA”)3 for specially designed instruction/related services as a student with emotional disturbance, the health impairment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a specific learning disability in reading.
The procedural background in these matters is intricate. As set forth more fully below, the student attended the Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School (“[] CS”). In September 2014, the student was placed by CS in a private school. In December 2014, the student’s parent was informed by the CS, along with the families of other students attending the school, that it would cease operations. Since September 2014, and currently, the student has attended the private placement.
In March 2015, the parent filed with the Office of Dispute Resolution (“ODR”) a special education due process complaint against the CS to which ODR assigned the ODR file number 16022-1415AS. The complaint alleged that the CS had denied the student a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”). In the same complaint, parent alleged that, since CS was no longer operational, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (“PDE”) was responsible for remedying the alleged denial of FAPE. ODR assigned ODR file number 16023-1415AS to this complaint against PDE.
Those complaints began a chain of subsequent filings, rulings, and appeals to federal court which, ultimately, culminated in the issuance of this decision at both ODR file numbers, which have been consolidated for purposes of issuing this final decision in both matters.
ISSUE
What should be the value
of the compensatory education hours, agreed to between the parent and PDE as a remedy in this matter?