Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Child’s Name: J.M.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Dates of Hearing: 2/20/2015, 3/16/2015, 3/18/2015, 4/6/2015
CLOSED HEARING
ODR File No. 15736-14-15-AS
Parties to the Hearing:
Parents Parent[s]
Local Education Agency Council Rock School District The Chancellor Center Newtown, PA 18940
Representative:
Parent Attorney
Michael Gehring Esq. McAndrews Law Offices, P.C. 30 Cassatt Avenue
Berwyn , PA 19312 610-648-9300
LEA Attorney
Joanne Sommer Esq. Eastburn and Gray, PC 60 E. Court Street Doylestown, PA 18901 215-345-7000
Date Record Closed: May 7, 2015
Date of Decision: May 12, 2015
Hearing Officer: William Culleton Esq.
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Student1 is a twenty-one year old [adult] who is eligible for special education services pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1401 et seq. (IDEA). (NT 8-9.) Student lives within the respondent District. (NT 8-9, 27-29; 107-108; S 15.) Student is identified under the IDEA as a child with Intellectual Disability, 34 C.F.R. §300.8(c)(6). (NT 9.) Student has not graduated; the parties agree that Student, who became 21 years of age in 2014, was entitled to special education from the District until the end of the 2014-2015 school year, in the form of post-secondary transitional services. (NT 26-29.) Student has not attended any District transitional services.
Parent asserts that the District failed to offer or provide Student with appropriate post- secondary transition services, as required by the IDEA. Parent seeks compensatory education for the period during which the parties agree that the District was responsible for providing special education services, from the day after the last offer of an Individualized Education program (IEP), March 14, 2014, to the last day of the hearings in this matter. (NT 11, 59-60.) Parent also seeks a prospective order, in the event that the hearing officer concludes that the District failed to offer or provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to Student.
The District denies the Parent’s allegations and seeks dismissal of the complaint. The hearing was completed in four sessions; the last session was devoted exclusively to argument about and admission of exhibits.
I conclude that the District offered an appropriate placement, reasonably calculated to provide Student with appropriate post-secondary transitional services.
ISSUES
- In March 2014, did the District offer Student an appropriate placement for purposes of post-secondary transitional education?
- Should the hearing officer order the District to provide any program or placement to Student on or after the date of the decision in this matter?
- Should the hearing officer order the District to provide Student with compensatory educational services for or on account of all or any part of the period from March 14, 2014 to the last day of hearings in this matter?