Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Child’s Name: P.S.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
ODR No. 00851-0910 KE
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing: Parent[s]
Northampton Area School District 2014 Laubach Avenue Northampton, PA 18067-0118
Representative:
Pro Se (Absent from Hearing)
Glenna M. Hazeltine, Esquire
King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul,
LLC
One West Broad Street, Suite 700 Bethlehem, PA 18018
Date of Resolution Meeting None Date of Hearing: September 7, 2010
Record Closed: September 7, 2010
Date of Decision: September 17, 2010
Hearing Officer: William F. Culleton, Jr., Esquire
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Student is a teen-aged student of the Northampton Area School District (District), who is in ninth grade at a District School. (NT 13-4 to 8.) The Student is not identified as a child with a disability under either the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1401 et seq. (IDEA), or the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, section 504, 29 U.S.C. §794 (section 504). Ibid. In May 2010, Parents withdrew their signed Permission to Evaluate, which had been requested by the District. Thereupon, the District requested due process, seeking an order to evaluate. (NT 13-14 to 14-1.) The District attempted to convene a resolution meeting, but the Parents did not respond to repeated communications. (NT 14-2 to 6.)
The hearing was conducted and concluded in one session on September 7, 2010. The Parents did not attend the due process hearing, despite repeated communications. (NT 6-12 to 8-17.) The record closed on the day of the hearing.
ISSUES
- Did the District give adequate written prior notice to Parents of its intention to evaluate the Student, including procedural safeguards, and did it request that the Parents provide informed consent to an initial evaluation?
- DidtheParentsrefusetoprovideconsenttoevaluate?
- Should the hearing officer order that the District is permitted to evaluate the Student in accordance with its requested Permission to Evaluate dated February 5, 2010?