Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
FINAL DECISION AND ORDER
Student’s Name: L.R.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
ODR No. 15236-1415KE
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing: Parent[s]
Penn Manor School District 2950 Charlestown Road Lancaster, PA 17603
Representative:
Vivian Narehood, Esq. Gibbel, Kraybill & Hess, LLP 41 East Orange Street Lancaster, PA 17602
Kimberly Colonna, Esq. McNees, Wallace & Nurick, LLC 100 Pine Street, PO Box 1166 Harrisburg, PA 17108-1166
Dates of Hearing: 09/09/2014, 09/23/2014, 10/24/2014, 11/26/2014
Record Closed: 12/19/2014
Date of Decision: 01/05/2015
Hearing Officer: Brian Jason Ford
Introduction
This matter concerns the educational rights of a student with disabilities (Student). The Student’s parents (Parents) requested a due process hearing, alleging that the Penn Manor School District (District) did not give the Student a free appropriate public education (FAPE) during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. The Parents demand compensatory education to remedy that denial. The Parents also allege that the District did not offer a FAPE to the Student for the 2014-15 school year. The Parents enrolled the Student in a private school for the 2014-15 school year, and seek tuition reimbursement from the District. Further, the Parents seek an order that would allow them to use any award of compensatory education to pay for the private school, in addition to the tuition reimbursement that they demand. This would enable the Parents to continue the Student’s enrollment in the private school at the District’s expense after any award of tuition reimbursement expired.
Conclusion
The District denied the Student a FAPE for the entirety of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. The District knew or had reason to know that the Student was not receiving a FAPE from the start of the 2012-13 school year. Full days of compensatory education are awarded to remedy that denial, but that compensatory education may not be applied to the cost of private school tuition except as ordered below.
Further, the District’s offered program and placement for the 2014-15 school year is not appropriate, [Private School] is appropriate, and equities do not mitigate against tuition reimbursement. Consequently, the Parents are entitled to tuition reimbursement for [Private School] during the 2014-15 school year.
L-R-Penn-Manor-ODRNo-15236-1415KE