PENNSYLVANIA
SPECIAL EDUCATION HEARING OFFICER
FINAL DISPOSITION
Child’s Name: R. B.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Date of Hearing: October 28, 2014
OPEN HEARING
ODR File No. 15278-1415AS
Parties to the Hearing: Parent[s]
Rose Tree Media School District 308 North Olive Street
Media, PA 19063
Representative: Pro Se
Craig D. Ginsburg, Esquire Levin Legal Group, P.C.
1301 Masons Mill Business Park 1800 Byberry Road
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
Date Record Closed: November 12, 2014
Date of Disposition: November 25, 2014
Hearing Officer: Cathy A. Skidmore, M.Ed., J.D.
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The student (hereafter Student)1 is beyond teenaged and previously was enrolled as a student in the Rose Tree Media School District (District). Student is eligible for special education pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1401 et seq. Student’s Parent filed a due process complaint against the District2 raising claims under the IDEA; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), 29 U.S.C. § 794; and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq.
By way of further background and to provide context for the instant proceeding and disposition, the Parent and Student originally filed an action against the District and various other defendants in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. That Court dismissed the Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction for a failure to exhaust administrative remedies, and the Third Circuit affirmed. Following that affirmance, the Parent filed the current Due Process Complaint, which was amended twice pursuant to this hearing officer’s Interim Rulings. Pending before the hearing officer is the District’s Motion to Dismiss the Complaint in its entirety, on a number of grounds, one of which required development of a factual record.3
For the reasons set forth below, I will grant the District’s Motion and dismiss the Due Process Complaint. In doing so, I will make formal findings of fact that are necessary to rule on the pending Motion based on the record that was developed.
ISSUE
Whether the District is entitled to dismissal of the Parent and Student’s Due Process Complaint.
R-B-Rose-Tree-Media-ODRNo-15278-1415AS