PENNSYLVANIA
SPECIAL EDUCATION HEARING OFFICER
DECISION
DUE PROCESS HEARING
Name of Child: DZ
ODR #9276/08-09 KE
Date of Birth: xx/xx/xx
Dates of Hearing: November 14, 2008 January 9, 2009 March 6, 2009 March 16, 2009 May 12, 2009
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing: Mr. and Mrs.
Interboro School District
900 Washington Avenue
Prospect Park, Pennsylvania 19076
Representative:
Stephanie Carpenter, Esquire
Law Offices of Caryl Andrea Oberman 607 A North Easton Road
Willow Grove, Pennsylvania 19090
Timothy Gilsbach, Esquire Fox Rothschild LLP
Suite 200 P.O. Box 3001 Ten Blue Bell, Pennsylvania 19422
Date Record Closed: June 5, 2009
Date of Decision: June 9, 2009
Hearing Officer: Linda M. Valentini, Psy.D.
Background
Student is an eligible kindergarten age student with cognitive, language, motor and social delays; Student attends the [school] in the Interboro School District (hereinafter District). Mr. and Mrs. (hereinafter Parents) requested this hearing, asserting that the District denied Student a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in various regards. The Parents seek compensatory education for alleged denial of FAPE, and are also seeking reimbursement for a private evaluation. An additional issue under Section 504, related to an allegation of student-on-student harassment, was dismissed. 1
Issues2
1. Must the Interboro School District reimburse Mr. and Mrs. ’s out-of-pocket expense for the private evaluation conducted by the [redacted] Institute?
2. Did the Interboro School District fail to offer Student a free, appropriate public education in the following regards: Inappropriate placement in a regular education setting instead of a special education learning support setting;
- Failure to offer the pendent placement which the Parents requested;
- Inappropriate IEP goals, objectives and specially designed instruction;
- Inadequate amount of individual and/or group speech/language sessions, and consultation time;
- Inadequate amount of individual and/or group occupational therapy sessions, and consultation time.
3. If the Interboro School District failed to offer Student a free, appropriate public education in the areas delineated above while Student was in the regular education program and/or the special education program, is Student entitled to compensatory education, in what form and in what amount?