PENNSYLVANIA
SPECIAL EDUCATION HEARING OFFICER
DECISION
DUE PROCESS HEARING
Name of Child: J.A.
ODR #6341/05-06 LS
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Date of Hearing: April 18, 2006
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing: Parent[s]
School District of Philadelphia Office of General Counsel
440 N. Broad Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19130
Representative:
Pro Se – Did not appear
Kimberly Caputo, Esquire
Office of General Counsel
440 N. Broad Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19130
Date Transcript Received: April 20, 2006
Date of Decision: April 23, 2006
Hearing Officer: Linda M. Valentini, Psy.D.
Background
[Student] is a [teenaged] 8th grade student in regular education attending [redacted] Elementary School in the School District of Philadelphia (hereinafter District). Pursuant to academic and behavioral issues the District sought to evaluate [Student] to determine whether [Student] is eligible for special education services. [The Parent] (hereinafter Parent) has been non-responsive to the District’s communications regarding permission to evaluate. The District, pursuant to its childfind obligations, requested this hearing to seek a hearing officer’s order to conduct an evaluation of [Student] without parental consent.
The Parent did not appear for the hearing at the scheduled 9:00 a.m. start time. The hearing officer telephoned her home at 9:12 and received a recorded message, “This number has been suspended; calls cannot be completed at this time”. The hearing officer telephoned the Office for Dispute Resolution (ODR) at 9:18 a.m. and left a voicemail message for the case manager, asking that she call the hearing officer on her cell phone in the event that the Parent had called to report a problem with her attending the hearing. There was no contact from ODR.
Given the Parent’s absence the hearing officer declared the hearing a Closed Hearing and began the proceedings. The hearing concluded at 10:10 a.m. The Parent did not appear.
Issue
Should the School District be permitted to conduct a multidisciplinary evaluation of [Student] without the permission of the Parent?
J-A-School-District-of-Philadelphia-ODRNo-6341-05-06-LS