Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Child’s Name: D.H.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Dates of Hearing:
March 10, 2010 May 19, 2010
CLOSED HEARING
ODR Case # 00549-09-10-AS
Parties to the Hearing:
Parent[s]
Beverly Gallagher
Southern York County School District 3280 Fissels Church Road
Glen Rock, PA 17327
Representative:
Kelly Darr, Esq.
Disability Rights Network of PA Philadelphia Building
1315 Walnut Street/Suite 400 Philadelphia, PA 19107
Sharon Montanye, Esq. Sweet, Stevens, et. al. 331 E. Butler Avenue P.O. Box 5069
New Britain, PA 18901
Date Record Closed: June 14, 2010
Date of Decision: June 29, 2010
Hearing Officer: Jake McElligott, Esquire
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Student is a teen-aged student residing in the Southern York County School District (“District”) who has been identified as a student with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Improvement Act of 2004 (“IDEIA”)1. The student’s disabilities, set forth in more detail below, are identified as other health impairments. This disability also qualifies the student under the protections of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (specifically under Section 504 of that statute, hence the follow-on reference to this section as “Section 504”).2 Parent claims the student has been denied a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”) under both IDEIA and Section 504, and has been denied the benefits of an education as the result of discrimination under Section 504, because the student has been denied technology to allow the student to access classroom instruction from home. The District counters that it has offered a program that is designed to provide FAPE, and that it has fully complied with its duties under both IDEIA and Section 504.
For the reasons set forth below, I find in favor of the parent and student.
ISSUE
Is the student’s educational program reasonably calculated to provide FAPE in the least restrictive environment (“LRE”)?
D-H-Southern-York-County-ODRNo-00549-09-10-AS