PENNSYLVANIA
SPECIAL EDUCATION HEARING OFFICER
DECISION
DUE PROCESS HEARING
Name of Child: J.K.
ODR #01933/10-11 JS
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Dates of Hearing: February 15, 2011 April 5, 2011
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing: Parent[s]
Downingtown Area School District 540 Trestle Place
Downingtown, Pennsylvania 19335
Representative:
Jennifer Bradley, Esquire McAndrews Law Offices
30 Cassatt Avenue
Berwyn, Pennsylvania 19312
Jennifer Donaldson, Esquire
Sweet, Stevens, Katz and Williams 331 E. Butler Avenue PO Box 5069 New Britain, Pennsylvania 18901
Date Record Closed: April 29, 2011
Date of Decision: May 10, 2011
Hearing Officer: Linda M. Valentini, Psy.D., CHO Certified Hearing Official
Background
Student1 is a teen-aged former resident of the Downingtown Area School District (District). The Parent requested this hearing under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (hereinafter “IDEA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (hereinafter “Section 504”), 29 U.S.C. § 794, alleging that the District failed to provide Student with a free appropriate public education (FAPE) by not timely identifying Student as a child with a disability and by assigning Student to an inappropriate placement.
For the reasons set forth below I find in favor of the District.
Issues
The Issues to be addressed in this decision are as follows:
- Did the District fail to offer Student a free appropriate public education from January 5, 2009 through April 18, 2010?
- If the District did not offer Student a free appropriate public education during that period, is Student entitled to compensatory education and if so in what form and in what amount?
- Did the District fail to offer Student an appropriate placement and if so is the Parent entitled to tuition reimbursement for her unilateral placement of the Student at the Private School from April 17, 2009 to the end of the 2010-2011 school year, or in the alternative full days of compensatory education for that period?