Opinion ID: 6986365
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The IDEA Evaluation

Text: During the summer of 1996, between J.D.’s ninth and tenth grade years, J.D.’s parents requested that he be evaluated for special education because they were concerned that PHS was not meeting their son’s intellectual or emotional needs. In response, the School District convened an Evaluation and Planning Team (the “EPT”) to determine J.D.’s eligibility for special education. The EPT considered J.D.’s results on standardized academic achievement tests, his cumulative school file consisting of grades, progress reports, and teacher comments, and a psychological evaluation conducted by Dr. Roger Meis-enhelder, a psychologist selected by J.D.’s parents. According to Dr. Meisenhelder, J.D. had “superior” verbal and language skills, together with good concentration and “highly developed” conceptual and abstract thinking skills. These conclusions were largely consistent with J.D.’s academic record from kindergarten through the ninth grade. However, Dr. Meisenhelder also observed that J.D. experienced “frustration, boredom, alienation, apathy, and hopelessness” because of an absence of intellectual peers at PHS, and that these feelings persisted despite a “somewhat differentiated curriculum at school,” leading to passive resistance as well as aggressive behavior at scho'ol. Dr. Meisenhelder recommended that J.D. be: (1) classified as a student with an “emotional and behavioral” disability; (2) placed in a school environment in which he has academically challenging courses and intellectual peers; and (3) given individual and family counseling. Based on Dr. Meisenhelder’s report, the EPT concluded that J.D. had an emotional-behavioral disability within the meaning of Rule 2362.1(h) of the VSER, as further explained below. When the EPT members were unable to reach consensus on whether J.D.’s disability adversely affected his educational performance, the School District, pursuant to Rule 2364.1, offered its decision that J.D. did not meet this criterion and notified J.D.’s parents of their right to challenge this decision. 2. The 50Jp Evaluation Having decided that J.D. was ineligible for special education under the IDEA, the EPT referred his request to an evaluation team (the “504 Team”) to determine whether he qualified for protection under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794; see also 34 C.F.R. § 104.35 (entitled “Evaluation and placement”). In December 1996, the 504 Team informed J.D.’s parents that J.D. was a “qualified individual with a disability” and was eligible for accommodations. On January 10, 1997, the 504 Team offered J.D. a two-part program of support which was to include (1) individual counseling, and (2) training in peer relationship skills in the academic setting. In the same letter, the 504 Team stated that another meeting would be held on January 21,1997 to determine academic accommodations, if any. Rather than await the outcome of that meeting, J.D.’s parents notified the School District on January 15 that they had unilaterally enrolled their son in Simon’s Rock College, an out-of-state boarding school for the academically gifted, and requested funding for his tuition and costs. Notwithstanding the parents’ decision, the 504 Team proceeded with the January 21 meeting and subsequently informed J.D.’s parents that the Team considered three placements: at PHS, which J.D. had been attending since the seventh grade; at Troy Academy, an approved independent local secondary school which is affiliated with PHS; and at Simon’s Rock College. The School District recommended PHS, noting that it offered courses in advanced placement biology, chemistry, United States history, and Pacesetter mathematics, with additional access to literature and English courses at a nearby college. The Team specifically rejected Simon’s Rock because it is a post-secondary institution, explaining, among other things, that the School District had no duty to provide post-secondary education. The School District did not expressly offer or reject Troy Academy. 3. The Proceedings Below Not satisfied with the offered program, J.D.’s parents requested an administrative due process hearing on or about March 6, 1997, seeking reimbursement for J.D.’s tuition and costs at Simon’s Rock. On April 21, 1997, J.D.’s attorney informed the State hearing officer that J.D. intended to proceed pro se and had authorized him to waive up to that date the regulatory requirement that a decision be issued within 45 days of the receipt of a request for a hearing. The parties dispute as to whether J.D., by his father or other representative, consented to any further delay after April 21. The State Defendants allege, and J.D. does not dispute, that J.D. asserted a 45-day violation for the first time in a reply brief submitted to the hearing officer on June 16. On June 18, the hearing officer rendered an oral decision granting partial summary judgment for the School District on the substantive IDEA claim. The oral decision was confirmed by a thorough written opinion dated July 8,1997, which held that: (1) J.D. was ineligible for special education under the IDEA because he was performing at or above age and grade norms in each of eight basic skill areas; (2) the School District had provided J.D. with a free appropriate public education under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and was not further obligated to place him among his intellectual peers outside his residential community; and (3) summary disposition of the complaint was proper and the failure to decide the complaint within 45 days was harmless error. See In re J.D., 26 IDELR 501 (Vt. July 8, 1997) (“J.D. /”). Pursuant to 20 U.S.U § 1415(e)(2), J.D. appealed to the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, which affirmed for substantially the reasons stated in the administrative decision. See J.D. v. Pawlet Sch. Dist., No. 97-CV-290, slip op. (D.Vt. Sept. 17, 1999) (“J.D. II”).