Source: http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2008Meetings/June2008/0608brd1.htm
Timestamp: 2020-08-14 14:43:17
Document Index: 579552158

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 279', 'art 279', 'art 279', '§279', '§ 279', '§279', '§279', '§ 279', '§279', '§279', '§279', '§279', '§279', '§279', '§279', '§279', '§279']

Proposed Amendment of Part 279 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to State level review of impartial hearing officer determinations for students with disabilities.
Should the Board of Regents amend Part 279 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, to provide clarification of the procedures concerning appeals of impartial hearing officer decisions to a State Review Officer, correct citations and references and expedite and otherwise facilitate the processing of petitions for review to State Review Officers?
The proposed amendment is before the board for discussion at the June Regents meeting and will be submitted for action at the July meeting.
The proposed amendment is needed to correct citations and references, provide clarification of the procedures concerning appeals of impartial hearing officer decisions to a State Review Officer, and to expedite and otherwise facilitate the processing of petitions for review to State Review Officers. The amendments include:
directing that true copies of decisions of the impartial hearing officer and the impartial hearing record be filed with the Office of State Review (OSR); .
clarifying that both a notice of intention to seek review and a petition for review must be personally served upon the opposing party to initiate a review; and that a petition for review be filed with the Office of State Review;
clarifying timelines for serving and filing a reply, cross appeal, and hearing record to reduce confusion experienced by parties;
clarify that filing papers with the Office of State Review cannot be achieved through electronic means such as electronic mail;
provide greater specificity with regard to the current format requirements for pleadings and memoranda; and
clarify requirements for hearing records consistent with the notice provisions currently set forth in section 279.2.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the State Register on May 14, 2008. Public hearings will be held in Albany and Rochester on June 11, 2008 and in Albany and Brooklyn on June 12, 2008. The last day for receipt of public comment is June 30, 2008. A copy of the express terms is attached. Supporting materials for the proposed regulation are available upon request from the Secretary to the Board of Regents.
The proposed regulation is before the board for discussion in June and, following the receipt of public comment, will be submitted for action at the July meeting.
Pursuant to Education Law sections 101, 207, 301, 311, 4403, 4404 and 4410
Part 279 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective August 21, 2008, as follows:
PRACTICE ON REVIEW OF HEARINGS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
§279.1 Scope of Part.
(b) As used in this Part, State Review Officer means an employee of the State Education Department designated by the commissioner to conduct impartial State-level review pursuant to Education Law, section [4402(2)] 4404(2) of the determination of an impartial hearing officer in a hearing related to the identification, evaluation, program or placement of a student with a disability.
§ 279.2 Notice of intention to seek review.
(a) The parent or person in parental relationship of a student with a disability who intends to seek review by a State Review Officer of the State Education Department of the decision of an impartial hearing officer shall personally serve upon the school district, in the manner prescribed for the service of a petition pursuant to section 275.8(a) of this Title, a notice of intention to seek review in the following form:
The undersigned intends to seek review of the determination of the impartial hearing officer concerning the identification, evaluation, program or placement of (name of student with a disability). Upon receipt of this notice, you are required to have prepared a written transcript of the proceedings before the impartial hearing officer in this matter. A copy of any interim and the final decision of the impartial hearing officer, a bound copy of the written transcript, including a word index for the written transcript, as well [ad] as an electronic transcript, and a true copy of the original exhibits accepted into evidence at the hearing and an index to the exhibits must be filed by the Board of Education, together with certification of the completed record, with the Office of State Review of the New York State Education Department within 10 days after service of this notice.
(b) The notice of intention to seek review shall be personally served upon the school district not less than 10 days before service of a copy of the petition for review upon such school district, and within 25 days from the date of the decision sought to be reviewed. The petition for review shall be personally served upon the school district within 35 days from the date of the decision sought to be reviewed. If the decision has been served by mail upon petitioner, the date of mailing and the four days subsequent thereto shall be excluded in computing the 25- or 35-day period.
(c) A notice of intention to seek review shall not be required when the board of education initiates an appeal from an impartial hearing officer's decision. A copy of the board's notice of petition, petition, memorandum of law and any additional documentary evidence shall be personally served upon the parent within 35 days from the date of the impartial hearing officer's decision. If the decision has been served by mail upon the board, the date of mailing and the four days subsequent thereto shall be excluded in computing the 35-day period.
§279.3 Notice with petition.
Each petition must contain the following notice:
You are hereby required to appear in this review and to answer the allegations contained in this petition. Your answer must conform with the provisions of the regulations of the Commissioner of Education relating to reviews of this nature, copies of which are available from the Office of State Review of the New York State Education Department, [1450 Western Avenue] 80 Wolf Road, Suite 203, Albany, NY [12203] 12205.
Please take notice that such regulations require that an answer to the petition must be served upon the petitioner, or if petitioner is represented by counsel, upon such counsel, within 10 days after the service of the petition for review, and that a copy of such answer must, within two days after such service, be filed with the Office of State Review of the New York State Education Department, [1450 Western Avenue] 80 Wolf Road, Suite 203, Albany, NY [12203] 12205.
The decision of the State Review Officer shall be based solely on the record before the State Review Officer and shall be final, unless an aggrieved party seeks judicial review.
§279.4 Initiation of review.
(a) Petition for review. The party seeking review shall file with the Office of State Review of the State Education Department the petition for review, [including any written argument, memorandum of law, and additional documentary evidence,] and the notice of intention to seek review where required, [together with proof of service of a copy of such documents upon the other party to the hearing] together with proof of service upon the other party to the hearing, within three days after service is complete. No filing by facsimile or electronic transmission shall be permitted. The petition for review shall clearly indicate the reasons for challenging the impartial hearing officer's decision, identifying the findings, conclusions and orders to which exceptions are taken, and shall [briefly] indicate what relief should be granted by the State Review Officer to the petitioner.
(b) Cross-appeals. A respondent who wishes to seek review of an impartial hearing officer's decision may cross-appeal from all or a portion of the decision by setting forth the cross-appeal in respondent's answer. A cross-appeal shall be deemed to be timely if it is included in an answer which is served within the time permitted by section 279.5 of this Part. The petitioner shall answer respondent's cross-appeal within 10 days after service of a copy of the answer and cross-appeal upon petitioner, and shall file the answer to the cross-appeal, together with proof of service, with the Office of State Review of the State Education Department, within two days after service is complete. No filing by facsimile or electronic transmission shall be permitted.
§ 279.5 Service of answer.
The respondent shall, within 10 days after the date of service of a copy of the petition, answer the same, either by concurring in a statement of facts with petitioner or by service of an answer, with any written argument, memorandum of law, and additional documentary evidence. Such answer or agreed statement of facts, together with proof of service of a copy of such documents upon the petitioner, shall be filed with the Office of State Review of the State Education Department, within two days after such service. No filing by facsimile or electronic transmission shall be permitted.
§279.6 Additional pleadings.
No pleading other than the petition or answer will be accepted or considered by a State Review Officer of the State Education Department, except a reply by the petitioner to any procedural defenses interposed by respondent or to any additional documentary evidence served with the answer. Such reply shall be served [and filed] upon the opposing party within three days after service of the answer is complete. Such reply, together with proof of service, shall be filed with the Office of State Review within two days after service of the reply is complete. No filing by facsimile or electronic transmission shall be permitted.
§279.7 . . .
§279.8 Pleadings and memoranda of law.
(a) Form of pleadings and memoranda of law. Documents that do not comply with the requirements listed in this subdivision may be rejected in the sole discretion of the State Review Officer. All pleadings and memoranda of law shall be in the following form:
(2) typewritten in black ink, single sided, and text double-spaced (block quotation and footnotes may be single-spaced) [with typed material in]. All text, with the exception of page numbering, shall appear on pages containing margins of at least one inch. Text shall appear as minimum 12-point type in the Times New Roman font (footnotes may appear as minimum 10-point type in the Times New Roman font) [and not exceeding 6 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches on each page]. Compacted or other compressed printing features are prohibited;
(5) the petition, answer, or memorandum of law shall not exceed 20 pages in length; [the] a reply shall not exceed 10 pages in length. A party shall not circumvent page limitations through incorporation by reference. Extensive footnotes may not be used to circumvent page limitations; and
(b) The petition, answer, reply and memorandum of law shall each [reference] set forth citations to the record on appeal, [identifying] and shall identify the relevant page [number] number(s) in the hearing decision, [and] transcript, [the ]exhibit number or letter and, if the exhibit consists of multiple pages, the exhibit page number.
§279.9 Record of the proceeding before the impartial hearing officer.
(a) [It shall be the responsibility of the] The board of education shall, whether it is the petitioner or the respondent, [to] file with the Office of State Review of the State Education Department[,] a copy of the decision of the impartial hearing officer, a bound copy of the written hearing transcript before the impartial hearing officer [, including a] that includes a word index for the written transcript, [as well as] an electronic copy of the written transcript, copies of prehearing conference summaries or transcripts, [and] a copy of the original exhibits accepted into evidence at the hearing and an index to the exhibits[, together with the petition or answer submitted on behalf of such board]. The board of education shall submit a signed certification with the record, that the record submitted is a true and [is the]complete copy of the hearing record before the impartial hearing officer.
(b) Where the petitioner is a party other than the board of education, the board of education shall file the completed and certified record with the Office of State Review within 10 days after service of the notice of the intention to seek review.
(c) Where the board of education is the petitioner, such board shall file the record before the hearing officer together with the petition for review. [Where the board of education is the respondent, such board shall file the record before the hearing officer within 10 days after the date of service of the notice of intention to seek review.] A State Review Officer may, at his or her discretion, dismiss [, at his or her discretion,] an appeal by the board of education when a [complete] completed and certified hearing record is not filed [within such timelines] with the petition for review.
§279.10 Rules of practice.
(b) Additional evidence. The State Review Officer may seek additional oral testimony or documentary evidence if the State Review Officer determines that such additional evidence is necessary. Hearings for the purpose of taking additional evidence will be conducted before the State Review Officer at a time and place which is reasonably convenient to the parties, and procedures at such hearings shall be consistent with the requirements of section [200.5(i)(3)] 200.5(j)(3) of this Title.
(c) Stay of proceedings. The provisions of section 276.1 of this Title regarding stay of proceedings shall not apply to appeals brought pursuant to section 4404 of the Education Law seeking review of a determination of an impartial hearing officer. The provisions of subdivision 4 of section 4404 of the Education Law and section [200.5(l)] 200.5(m) (regarding a student's status during proceedings) of this Title shall apply exclusively in such appeals. A determination of pendency pursuant to subdivision 4 of section 4404 of the Education Law ­and section 200.5(m) of this Title shall be made in writing, in the first instance, by the impartial hearing officer and may be reviewed by a State Review Officer.
(e) Extensions of time to answer or reply. No extension of time to answer the petition for review, interpose a cross-appeal, or to reply to an answer will be granted by the State Review Officer unless timely application is made therefor, upon written notice to all parties. Such application shall be in writing, addressed to the Office of State Review, must be postmarked not later than the date on which the time to answer or reply will expire, [and ]shall set forth in full the reasons for the request, and shall briefly state whether the other party consents to or opposes the application for extension. The time to [answer] respond to a pleading may not be extended solely by stipulation of the parties or their counsel.
§279.11 Computation of days within which service must be made.
The date upon which personal service of the petition was made upon the respondent shall be excluded in the computation of the 10-day period in which service of the answer and cross-appeal must be made. If the answer has been served by mail upon petitioner or petitioner's counsel, the date of mailing and the two days subsequent thereto shall be excluded in the computation of the three-day period in which a reply to procedural defenses or a response to additional documentary evidence served with the answer may be served and filed by the petitioner. If the last day for service of a notice of intention to seek review, a petition for review, an answer or a response to an answer falls on a Saturday or Sunday, service may be made on the following Monday; and if the last day for such service falls on a legal holiday, service may be made on the following business day.
§279.12 . . .
§279.13 Limitation of time for initiation of appeal.
A petition for review to [the] a State Review Officer must be [filed] served and filed within the timelines specified in section 279.2 of this Part. [The] A State Review Officer may dismiss sua sponte a late petition for review. [The] A State Review Officer, in his or her sole discretion, may excuse a failure to timely serve or file a petition for review within the time specified for good cause shown. The reasons for such failure shall be set forth in the petition for review.
§279.14 . . .