PENNSYLVANIA
SPECIAL EDUCATION HEARING OFFICER
DECISION
DUE PROCESS HEARING
Name of Child: J.F.
ODR #15531/14-15 AS
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Date of Hearing: December 1, 2014
OPEN HEARING
Parties to the Hearing: Parent[s]
School District of Philadelphia Office of General Counsel
440 N. Broad Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19130
Representative:
Jason Fortenberry, Esq. and Sonja Kerr, Esq. PILCOP
1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 2nd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19103
Judith Baskin, Esq.
Office of General Counsel 440 N. Broad Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19130
Date Record Closed: December 16, 2014
Date of Decision: December 23, 2014
Hearing Officer: Linda M. Valentini, Psy.D., CHO Certified Hearing Official
Background
Student1 is a teenaged student in 8th grade who is eligible for special education pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] and Pennsylvania Chapter 14 under the classifications of autism and intellectual disability; Student also has speech/language and motor deficits. Student receives autistic support programming in a District school. The Parents filed this complaint with regard to the Extended School Year program that had been proposed for summer 2014, alleging that the District denied Student a free, appropriate public education [FAPE] on procedural and substantive grounds by denying them meaningful participation in developing their child’s ESY program and by proposing an inappropriate ESY program. The Parents are requesting reimbursement for the substitute programs and services they unilaterally procured for Student in summer 2014.
Issue[s]
- Did the School District of Philadelphia [District] commit a procedural error by significantly impeding the parents’ opportunity to participate in the decision making process regarding ESY for summer 2014?
- Was the ESY program offered to Student for summer 2014 substantively appropriate?
- Must the District reimburse the Parents for the programs and services they unilaterally procured for Student in summer 2014 in lieu of accepting the District’s ESY program?