Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer

DECISION

Child’s Name: LH

Date of Birth: XX-XX-XXXX

Dates of Hearing: November 16, 2009 November 17, 2009 December 7, 2009 December 8, 2009 January 4, 2010

CLOSED HEARING

ODR Case # 00265-09-10-AS

Parties to the Hearing: Mr. & Mrs.

Ms. Joanne Wells Montour School District 223 Clever Road
McKees Rocks, PA 15136

Representative:

Pamela Berger, Esquire 434 Grace Street Pittsburgh, PA 15211

Aimee Rankin, Esquire Law Offices of Ira Weiss 445 Fort Pitt Boulevard Suite 503

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Date Record Closed: January 18, 2010

Date of Decision: February 2, 2010

Hearing Officer: Jake McElligott, Esquire

INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

“Student” (“student”) is a 13-year old student residing in the Montour 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”)1. Parents filed a complaint in September 2009, alleging that the District’s evaluation of the student and the individualized education plan (“IEP”) proposed by the District for the 2009-2010 school year are both inappropriate. Parents requested tuition reimbursement for a unilateral private placement made by the parents for the 2009-2010 school year. The District counters that the evaluation report (“ER”) is appropriate, given the information that was provided about the student and its testing of the student, and the IEP was appropriately designed based on that information. For the reasons set forth below, the parents will prevail on their tuition reimbursement claim, but certain factors support an award of less than 100% of the private placement tuition. The District will also be ordered to undertake a re-evaluation.

ISSUE

Is tuition reimbursement owed to the parents for the student’s private placement in the 2009-2010 school year?

LH-Montour-ODRNo-00265-09-10-AS

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