PENNSYLVANIA
SPECIAL EDUCATION HEARING OFFICER
DECISION
Child’s Name: VN
Date of Birth: xx/xx/xx Date(s) of Hearing: April 20, 2007
CLOSED HEARING
ODR NO. 7458/06-07 LS
Parents Mr.
School District:
Seneca Valley School District 126 Seneca School Road Harmony, PA 16037-9101
Parents’ Representative: N/A
District Representative: N/A
Date Final Transcript Received: May 2, 2007
Date Record Closed: May 2, 2007
Date of Decision: May 15, 2007
Hearing Officer: Margaret Drayden, Esq.
Précis
Student was placed in a private residential facility by Parent, as a regular education student. Shortly thereafter, Parent requested an evaluation and a due process hearing. Before the District received the either the signed Permission to Evaluate or the Request for a Due Process Hearing, Student was removed from the residential facility. Five days after receiving the Permission to Evaluate, Parent withdrew Student from the private residential facility, at which time Student no longer resided in the District or attended any school within the District.
Jurisdiction
A due process hearing is a hearing authorized through special education laws of both federal and state legislation. The jurisdiction of such a hearing is highly circumscribed. A hearing officer cannot decide any issue – no matter how significant – which is outside those narrowly defined parameters. Thus, any concerns parents may have regarding education services which concern matters beyond those parameters are beyond the purview of this process and this Hearing Officer.
VN-Seneca-Valley-ODRNo-7458-06-07LS