PENNSYLVANIA
SPECIAL EDUCATION HEARING OFFICER
DECISION
DUE PROCESS HEARING
Name of Child: M.F.
ODR #01531/10-11 KE
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Dates of Hearing: November 5, 2010 November 15, 2010 November 18, 2010 December 13, 2010
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing: Parent[s]
Tredyffrin-Easttown School District 940 West Valley Road Suite 1700 Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087
Representative:
Mark Voigt, Esquire
Plymouth Meeting Executive Campus 600 West Germantown Pike Suite 400 Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania 19462
Lawrence Dodds, Esquire Wisler Pearlstine
484 Norristown Road Suite 100 Blue Bell, Pennsylvania 19422
Date Record Closed: January 8, 2011
Date of Decision: January 20, 2011
Hearing Officer: Linda M. Valentini, Psy.D., CHO Certified Hearing Official
Background
Student1 is an eligible student residing in the Tredyffrin-Easttown School District (District) and attending a private school (Private School) for students with disabilities. The Parents requested this hearing seeking tuition reimbursement, compensatory education for ESY services and reimbursement for a private evaluation. The District maintains that it offered Student appropriate programs, that ESY was neither requested nor required, and that it completed an appropriate re-evaluation.
Issues2
- Did the District offer Student a free appropriate public education in terms of program and placement (FAPE) for the 2008/2009, the 2009/2010, and the 2010/2011 school years?
- If the District did not offer Student FAPE for any or all of these school years, is the placement chosen unilaterally by the Parents appropriate?
- If the District did not offer Student FAPE for any or all of these school years, and if the placement chosen by the Parents is appropriate, are there equitable considerations that reduce or eliminate the District’s responsibility for tuition reimbursement?
- Is Student entitled to compensatory education for extended school year (ESY) services for the 2009/2010 school year, and if so in what form and in what amount?
- Must the District reimburse the Parents for the independent educational evaluation they obtained for Student?