PENNSYLVANIA
SPECIAL EDUCATION HEARING OFFICER
DECISION
DUE PROCESS HEARING
Name of Child: Student
ODR #7940/07-08 KE
Date of Birth: Xx/xx/xx
Dates of Hearing:
October 22, 2007 November 30, 2007 December 18, 2007 February 8, 2008
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing:
Morrisville Borough School District 550 W. Palmer Street
Morrisville, Pennsylvania 19067
Representative:
Charles Weiner, Esquire
179 North Broad Street Doylestown, Pennsylvania 18901
Jane Williams, Esquire
Michael Connolly, Esquire
Sweet, Stevens, Katz and Williams 331 Butler Avenue
New Britain, Pennsylvania 18901
Date Final Transcript Received: February 13, 2008
Date Closing Arguments Received: March 5, 2008
Date of Decision: March 18 2008
Hearing Officer: Linda M. Valentini, Psy.D.
Background
Student is a teen-aged eligible student residing in the Morrisville Borough School District (hereinafter District). Student was enrolled in the District from the beginning of the 2003-2004 school year until the end of the 2005-2006 school year. At the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year Student’s mother, (hereinafter Parent) removed Student from the District and placed Student in [redacted] Academy (hereinafter Academy) because she believed that Student’s special education program in the District was inappropriate. In an attempt to improve Student’s reading and mathematics skills the Parent enrolled Student in tutoring, and this tutoring was continued as a condition for admission to Academy because of Student’s previous academic record and because Student achieved low scores on an admission test.
The Parent requested this hearing, asserting denial of FAPE and requesting compensatory education, tuition reimbursement and reimbursement for tutoring services.
Issues
- Did the Morrisville Borough School District deny Student a free, appropriate public education during the 2005-2006 school year, including summers 2005 and 2006?
- Should the Morrisville Borough School District be required to reimburse [Parent] for Student’s tuition to Academy for the 2006-2007 and the 2007-2008 school years?
- Should the Morrisville Borough School District be required to reimburse [Parent] for Student’s tutoring at the [redacted] Center, beginning in the summer of 2006 and continuing to the fall of 2007?