Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Child’s Name: L.P.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
ODR No. 1698-1011 KE
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing: Parent[s]
Lower Merion School District 301 East Montgomery Avenue Ardmore, PA 19003-3338
Representative: Pro Se
Gail A. Weilheimer, Esquire Wisler Pearlstine, LLP
Blue Bell Executive Campus 460 Norristown Road, Suite 110 Blue Bell, PA 19422
Date of Mediation April 29, 2011
Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011
Record Closed: May 7, 2011
Date of Decision: May 12, 2011
Hearing Officer: William F. Culleton, Jr., Esquire
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Student is an eligible elementary school student; Student at all relevant times resided within the Lower Merion School District (District). (NT 80-84.) Student is identified with Specific Learning Disability and Speech and Language Impairment under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1401 et seq. (IDEA). Ibid. Parents requested due process to challenge the District’s offer and delivery of special education services and Extended School Year Services (ESY).1 The District asserts that it has offered a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) as required by the IDEA.
This matter is bifurcated; I will address only the Parents’ challenge to the offered ESY services in my decision today. All other issues raised by parents’ Complaint and request for due process will be addressed at a subsequent hearing, which is scheduled for June 7, 2011. In addition, the District has filed a Complaint seeking to defend its evaluation of Student in response to Parents’ request for an independent educational evaluation. This issue also will be heard on June 7.
The hearing was conducted on an expedited basis and concluded in one session. The record closed upon receipt of transcripts. I conclude that the District has offered appropriate ESY services and that its offer is not a denial of a FAPE.
ISSUE
1. Was the District’s offer of ESY services inappropriate so as to deny a FAPE to the Student?
L-P-Lower-Merion-ODRNo-1698-1011-KE