G.S., 6148/05-06 AS
Name
[redacted]
Date of Birth
02/24/06, 02/27/06, 03/04/06
Dates of Hearing
Closed
Type of Hearing
Parties to the Hearing:
Parent[s] Parents’ Names
Council Rock School District
The Chancellor Center
30 North Chancellor Street Newtown, PA 18966 School District Address
Mark J. Klein
School District Superintendent
Grace Deon, Esq.
Eastburn & Gray
60 East Court Street, P.O. Box 1389 Doylestown, PA 18901-0137
School District Counsel & Address
Mark Voigt, Esq.
Plymouth Meeting Executive Campus 600 West Germantown Pike, Suite 400
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 Parent Counsel & Address
03/11/06
Date Transcript Received
03/ 26/06
Date of Decision
Anne L. Carroll, Esq.
Hearing Officer Name
Anne L. Carroll
Signature of Hearing Officer
I. BACKGROUND
[Student] is a [teenaged] resident of Council Rock School District who attends Council
Rock High School South as a 10th grade special education student. Prior to enrolling in the School District in the summer of 2004, [Student] attended private schools, leaving the [redacted] School after 8th grade, when [Student] reached the end of its curriculum.
The School District provided [Student] with a learning support IEP for 9th grade based upon [Student’s] Mother’s representation that [Student] has a learning disability and was attending a school for learning disabled students. [Student], however, had never been identified as an IDEA eligible school-age “child with a disability.” Shortly after [Student] enrolled in the School District, it sought [Student’s] Parents’ permission for an evaluation to determine [Student’s] eligibility for special education services, which [Student’s] Parents ultimately provided.
Upon completion of the evaluation in the spring of 2005, the School District concluded that [Student] is not IDEA eligible and recommended termination of special education. [Student’s] Parents sought mediation, which was unsuccessful. Parents then requested a due process hearing, which they later withdrew in order to obtain an independent educational evaluation (IEE). After Parents withdrew their request for a hearing, the School District requested a due process hearing for a determination that their evaluation was appropriate and accurate and to seek an order that [Student] is not an IDEA eligible student, since [Student] does not meet the criteria for a specific learning disability, or, in the alternative, because [Student] does not need special education.
ISSUES
- Did the School District appropriately evaluate [Student] to determine whether [Student] is eligible for special education services?
- Is the School District correct in its determination that [Student] is not a “child with a disability” who, by reason thereof, needs specially designed instruction, and, therefore, is not an IDEA eligible student?
- Is the School District permitted to discontinue special education services to [Student]?