I.W., 6515/05-06 AS
Name/File Number
Xx/xx/xx
Date of Birth
06/20/06
Date of Hearing
Closed
Type of Hearing
Parties to the Hearing:
Parent(s)
Parent(s) Name(s) Addresses
Philadelphia City
School District
Office of General Counsel 440 N. Broad Street 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19130
School District Address
Kenneth Cooper, Esq.
Office of General Counsel 440 N. Broad Street 3rd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19130
School District Counsel & Address
06/23/06
Date Transcript Received
07/08/06
Date of Decision
Anne L. Carroll, Esq.
Hearing Officer Name
I. BACKGROUND
On April 24, 2006, the Mother of Student filed a request for a due process hearing to seek a private school placement by the Philadelphia City School District. A hearing on that request was scheduled for June 8, 2006.
On May 19, 2006 the hearing officer received a letter from counsel for the School District, Kenneth Cooper, Esq., requesting dismissal of the due process hearing request or a continuance of the hearing date for two reasons: 1) The School District expected that Student’ s Mother would lose legal custody of the student at a hearing scheduled for June 9, 2006 in the Court of Common Pleas; 2) the report of an educational evaluation ordered as a result of a prior hearing was being completed, after which an IEP meeting would be held to develop a program for the 2006/2007 school year.
A decision on the School District’s motions was issued on May 25, 2006, canceling the June 8 hearing and concluding that it was impossible to entirely grant or deny the School District’s motion without a record. A new due process hearing session, therefore, was scheduled subsequent to the custody hearing and was limited to three issues: 1) Whether the Mother retained the right to proceed with the due process hearing in light of the outcome of the custody hearing in the Court of Common Pleas; 2) whether the Father intended to proceed with the hearing if he were granted sole legal custody of the student; 3) whether the due process hearing request should be dismissed as premature, in that an IEP meeting had not yet been held to discuss the new evaluation results and develop a program/placement for the Student based upon the evaluation.
ISSUES
- Who has the right to pursue a due process hearing and otherwise make special education decisions on behalf of Student?
- Should the pending due process hearing request be dismissed due to the incomplete IEP process?