Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Child’s Name: H.F.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Date of Hearing:
May 10, 2012
CLOSED HEARING
ODR Case # 3035-1112KE
Parties to the Hearing: Parent
Pittsburgh School District 341 South Bellefield Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Representative: Pro Se
Jocelyn P. Kramer, Esquire Law Offices of Ira Weiss
445 Fort Pitt Blvd., Suite 503 Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Date Record Closed: May 15, 2012
Date of Decision: June 7, 2012
Hearing Officer: Jake McElligott, Esquire
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Student1 is a [late teen-age] student residing in the Pittsburgh 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”) and Pennsylvania special education regulations (“Chapter 14”).2 Specifically, the student has been identified with an emotional disturbance.
Parent asserts that the student was denied a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”), due to the District’s failure to meet its obligations under IDEIA and Chapter 14 to provide special education and related services for a specific time period during the 2011-12 school year when the student was excluded from school.
The District counters that the exclusion was based upon miscommunications, was unintentional, and did not constitute a change of placement for the student resulting in a denial of FAPE.
For the reasons set forth below, I find in favor of the parent.
ISSUES
Did the District fail to provide the student with a FAPE, as required by IDEIA, for a time period during the 2011-12 school year?
If so, is the student entitled to compensatory education?
H-F-Pittsburgh-ODRNo-3035-1112KE