Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Child’s Name: N.G.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Date of Hearing: June 3, 2010
CLOSED HEARING
ODR Case # 00986-0910KE
Parties to the Hearing: Mother
Father
Dr. Ron VanLangeveld Wallingford-Swarthmore School District 101 Plush Mill Road
Wallingford, PA 19086
Representative:
Mark Voigt, Esquire
Plymouth Meeting Executive Campus 600 W. Germantown Pike
Suite 400
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
Pro Se
Timothy Gilsbach, Esq. 10 Sentry Parkway Suite 200
P.O. Box 3001
Blue Bell, PA 19422
Date Record Closed: June 23, 2010
Date of Decision: July 8, 2010
Hearing Officer: Jake McElligott, Esquire
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Student is an early teen-aged student residing in the Wallingford- Swarthmore School District (“District”). The parties dispute whether the student is a student with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Improvement Act of 2004 (“IDEIA”)1. The District’s evaluation found that the student was not eligible under IDEIA. The student’s mother filed a complaint requesting, among other things, an independent education evaluation (“IEE”) at public expense. The student’s father participated in the proceedings in his own interest, supporting the claims brought by mother. Subsequent to the filing of the complaint, the student’s mother withdrew all claims except the claim for an IEE. The District defended the appropriateness of its evaluation and denied that the student is entitled to an IEE at public expense. For the reasons set forth below, the student’s parents will prevail, and the District will be ordered to provide an IEE at public expense.
ISSUE
Must the District fund an IEE?
N-G-Wallingford-Swarthmore-ODRNo-00986-0910KE