PENNSYLVANIA
SPECIAL EDUCATION HEARING OFFICER
DECISION
DUE PROCESS HEARING
Name of Child: P.C.
ODR #17101 / 15-16 KE
Date of Birth:
[redacted]
Dates of Hearing: January 19, 2016 March 1, 2016 March 23, 2016 April 29, 20016
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing: Parent[s]
West Chester Area School District 829 Paoli Pike
West Chester, PA 19380
Representative:
Michael Connelly, Esquire McAndrews Law Offices 30 Cassatt Avenue Berwyn, PA 19380
David Painter, Esquire
Sweet, Stevens, Katz & Williams 331 Butler Avenue PO Box 5069 New Britain, PA 18901
Date Record Closed: May 24, 2016
Date of Decision: June 10. 2016
Hearing Officer: Linda M. Valentini, Psy.D., CHO Certified Hearing Official
Background
Student1 is a pre-teen-aged eligible student who has been enrolled in the District since the beginning of 1st grade. Student receives special education programming under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA]2 and Pennsylvania Chapter 14. Student’s current eligibility classifications are Visual Impairment (amblyopia, estrophia, retinopathy, nystagmus and strabismus) and Other Health Impairment (ADHD). Student is also a qualified handicapped person / protected handicapped student under §504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Chapter 15 of the Pennsylvania Code3.
The Parents asked for this hearing, alleging that the District failed to offer Student a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) from December 1, 2013 to the present, and are seeking compensatory education, reimbursement for an independent educational evaluation (IEE), and an appropriate program going forward.
The testimony of every witness, the content of each exhibit, as well as the parties’ written closing statements, were reviewed and considered in issuing this decision, regardless of whether there is a citation to particular testimony of a witness or to an exhibit. For the reasons set forth below, I find in favor of the District.
Issues
- Did the District deny Student a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) from December 2013 to the present?
- If the District denied Student FAPE, is Student entitled to compensatory education and if so in what form and amount?
- Should the District be required to reimburse the Parents for the IEE they obtained for Student?