PENNSYLVANIA
SPECIAL EDUCATION HEARING OFFICER
DECISION
Child’s Name: N. M.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
CLOSED HEARING
ODR File No. 17747-15-16 AS
Parties to the Hearing:
Parents Parent[s]
Local Education Agency Upper Dublin School District 1580 Fort Washington Avenue Maple Glen, PA 19002
Representative:
Parent Attorney None
LEA Attorney
Claudia L. Huot, Esquire Wisler, Pearlstine LLP
Blue Bell Executive Campus 460 Norristown Road, Suite 110 Blue Bell, PA 19422
Date of Hearing: June 8, 2016
Date Record Closed: June 10, 2016
Date of Decision: June 25, 2016
Hearing Officer: Cathy A. Skidmore, M.Ed., J.D. NAHO Certified Hearing Official
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The student (hereafter Student)1 is a late elementary school-aged, regular education student in the Upper Dublin School District (District). The District filed a Due Process Complaint pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)2 after it sought unsuccessfully to obtain parental consent to conduct an initial evaluation of whether Student may be eligible for special education. The case proceeded to a very efficient single-session due process hearing, at which the parties presented evidence in support of and against the requested relief. For the reasons set forth below, the District will be permitted to conduct the requested evaluation.
ISSUE
Whether the District should be granted permission to conduct a special education evaluation of Student in the absence of consent by the Parents?
N-M-Upper-Dublin-ODRNo-17747-15-16-AS