Opinion ID: 3205817
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Paso Robles Failed to Conduct an Assessment for

Text: Autism, as Required by the IDEA Under the IDEA, the school district must conduct a “full and individual initial evaluation,” one which ensures that the child is assessed in “all areas of suspected disability,” before providing that child with any special education services. 20 U.S.C. §§ 1414(a)(1)(A), 1414(b)(3)(B). The California Education Code, which incorporates the requirements of the IDEA into state law, similarly requires that the child be assessed “in all areas related to the suspected disability.” See Cal. Educ. Code § 56320(f). As described earlier, this requirement serves a critical purpose: it allows the child’s IEP Team to have a complete picture of the child’s functional, developmental, and academic needs, which in turn allows the team to design an individualized and appropriate educational plan tailored to the needs of the individual child. Our precedent establishes that a disability is “suspected,” and therefore must be assessed by a school district, when the district has notice that the child has displayed symptoms of that disability. In Pasatiempo by Pasatiempo v. Aizawa, 103 F.3d 796 (9th Cir. 1996), for example, we held that the “informed suspicions of parents, who may have consulted outside experts,” trigger the requirement to assess, even if the school district disagrees with the parent’s suspicions because “[t]he identification [and assessment] of children who have disabilities should be a cooperative and consultative process.” Id. at 802. Once either the school district or the parents suspect disability, we held, a test must be performed so that parents can “receive notification of, and have the opportunity to contest, conclusions regarding their children.” Id. 28 TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD Similarly, in N.B. v. Hellgate Elementary School District, 541 F.3d 1202 (9th Cir. 2008), we held that the requirement to assess may be triggered by the informed suspicions of outside experts. There, a young child was assessed by a professional for speech and language problems before the child began school. Id. at 1205–06. The professional concluded that an “autistic component” was complicating the child’s performance, although the professional did not diagnose the child with a disorder on the autism spectrum. Id. at 1209. The child’s parents delivered these records to the school district’s special education director and discussed the evaluation with him, but the school district never arranged for the child to be assessed for autism. Id. at 1205–06. Instead, it referred the child’s parents to a third party which would perform a free autism test for the parents. Id. at 1206. The school district, like Paso Robles, later claimed that it did not arrange for the child to be tested because it did not suspect that the child had autism. Id. at 1209. We held that the district’s assertion of ignorance was plainly contradicted by the record because the school was aware (due to the prior evaluation) that autism was a possibility. Id. at 1209–10. Here, the record shows that Paso Robles had notice that Luke displayed symptoms of autism. Both the ALJ and the district court found that Paso Robles was aware, before its initial evaluation of Luke in October 2009, that Tri-Counties believed that he might have a disorder on the autism spectrum.18 Indeed, Peck admitted at the administrative 18 Paso Robles now asserts that there is no basis to conclude that TriCounties told the District that it suspected Luke had autism. While the notes from the June 2009 meeting between Luke’s parents, Tri-Counties, and Paso Robles do not specifically mention “autism,”they do establish that Tri-Counties wanted to give Luke a psychological examination to see TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD 29 hearing that autism was a suspected disability when he stated that he had been called to informally observe Luke’s initial evaluation because there was a possibility of looking at autism as a disabling condition. Despite this knowledge, when creating a plan for Luke’s initial assessment, Paso Robles did not include any of the standard assessments for autism. Rather, the notice sent to Luke’s parents reflected that he would not be given any assessment for social/adaptive behavior, which would be necessary in order to determine whether Luke had autisticlike symptoms. Instead, during the October 2009 initial assessment, Paso Robles attempted to assess Luke for several other disorders, but was unable to complete its tests of him because of Luke’s “compliance” issues. At no point during its examination did Paso Robles conduct or attempt to conduct any form of standard or reliable assessment for autism or autistic-like behavior. Moreover, even if Paso Robles had not had notice of Luke’s autistic symptoms at the time of the October 30, 2009 initial assessment, it obtained such notice when it received the Griffin Report, which “provisionally” diagnosed Luke with a disorder on the autism spectrum and noted that he displayed troubling autistic behavior. Peck testified that he did not give much weight to Dr. Griffin’s assessment because it was only a “provisional” diagnosis. Regardless of Paso if he qualified for further regional center services, which he would qualify for only if he had mental retardation, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, or autism. The only plausible such disorder in Luke’s case was autism. In any event, Paso Robles conceded in the district court that it was aware that TriCounties suspected Luke was autistic before it conducted its own assessment. 30 TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD Robles’ subjective opinion about the validity of Dr. Griffin’s diagnosis, however, the “informed suspicions of . . . [a] consulted outside expert[]”—here, Dr. Griffin, whose report stated that Luke displayed troubling autistic behavior—establishes the statutory requirement of suspicion thus necessitating a full assessment for autism. See Pasatiempo, 103 F.3d at 802. Paso Robles still did not do so, and instead, two days later, held an IEP meeting during which neither autism nor the Griffin Report were ever discussed. Further, neither the possibility of autism nor the recommendations of the Griffin Report were incorporated into Luke’s IEP. Even more troubling, by the time of the December 2010 IEP, it was clear from parent and teacher complaints that Luke displayed autistic-like behavior at home and at school. Even then, Paso Robles did not suggest that Luke should be provided services to address his autistic-like behavior or even that Luke should be assessed for autism. This complete failure to assess Luke for all areas of suspected disability clearly and substantially violated the IDEA’s procedural requirements.
Satisfy Paso Robles’ Obligation to Assess for Autism Despite its clear notice of Luke’s autistic-like behavior, Paso Robles argues that autism was not a “suspected disability” either at the time of its October 2009 initial assessment or after it received Dr. Griffin’s assessment. The district court agreed, and held that while Paso Robles “knew that [Tri-Counties] suspected that [Luke] may be autistic,” it did not need to formally assess Luke because it had requested that its staff member, Peck, observe informally Luke’s TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD 31 assessment for other disorders and determine whether additional testing was needed. According to Peck, he saw Luke display behavior that was not characteristic of a child with autism, and therefore advised the district that no additional assessment was necessary. Specifically, the district court wrote, it was “not aware of any authority that supports that where the school district is on notice that a student may be on the autism spectrum, observes the student, and determines that he did not exhibit any characteristics of autism, that the district is still required to complete additional testing.” That conclusion, however, is directly contrary to the provisions of the IDEA and our precedent, which establish that if a school district is on notice that a child may have a particular disorder, it must assess that child for that disorder, regardless of the subjective views of its staff members concerning the likely outcome of such an assessment. That notice may come in the form of expressed parental concerns about a child’s symptoms, as in Pasatiempo, of expressed opinions by informed professionals, as in Hellgate, or even by other less formal indicators, such as the child’s behavior in or out of the classroom. A school district cannot disregard a non-frivolous suspicion of which it becomes aware simply because of the subjective views of its staff, nor can it dispel this suspicion through informal observation. Rather, such notice automatically triggers mandatory statutory procedures: the school district must conduct an assessment for all areas of the suspected disability using the comprehensive and reliable methods that the IDEA requires. In this case, it is particularly egregious that in conducting Luke’s initial evaluation which assessed him for other possible disorders, Paso Robles deliberately refused to include an assessment of the one suspected disability of which it had clear notice—autism. 32 TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD Peck, of course, did not conduct an assessment for autism, let alone one that complied with the IDEA. Not only was his involvement in Luke’s initial evaluation not included within the original notice provided to Luke’s parents, but he did not use a variety of standard or reliable methods. 20 U.S.C. § 1414(b)(3)(A). Rather, he used only one, generally unreliable method—informal observation—or to use a phrase later employed by him, observation “off the top of my head.” While the record reflects that a complex form of structured observation may be used as a tool to identify autistic-like behavior, Peck was not certified at that time to perform that kind of testing, and in fact did not do so or even purport to have attempted to do so. To hold that Peck’s informal observation could overcome Paso Robles’ statutory obligation to formally assess Luke for a suspected disability would allow school districts to disregard expressed and informed concerns about a child’s disabilities on the basis of prejudicial stereotypes about what certain disabilities look like, rather than on the objective evidence and the thorough and reliable standardized testing that the IDEA requires. This result would be particularly devastating for children with autism because, as Dr. Freeman explained at the administrative hearing, the condition “can be very subtle” and manifest itself in many different ways. It would likely be missed by an informal observation, resulting in many children remaining undiagnosed, untreated, and unable to reach their full educational potential. The effect, moreover, would be felt most heavily by children from disadvantaged families without the sophistication or resources to obtain outside professional opinions. TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD 33 B. The Griffin Report Cannot Qualify as an Assessment that Satisfies Paso Robles’ Obligations Under the IDEA Although Paso Robles does not advance the argument on appeal, the ALJ equivocally expressed an alternate theory as to why Paso Robles did not need to assess Luke for autism. Without citing any legal or factual support, the ALJ said that “[t]he District knew that [Luke] was to be formally assessed by a psychologist through Tri-Counties,” and the Griffin Report “was so thorough, the District saw no need to conduct further assessments of [Luke].” There is no support in the record for this finding. The Griffin Report was conducted explicitly for the purpose of assisting Tri-Counties in determining whether Luke qualified for continued regional center services, not to gather information about him that could be used to determine his individual educational needs or to determine whether he qualified for special education under the IDEA. Further, Paso Robles took absolutely no steps to ensure that this assessment would occur or that it would be conducted and considered in a manner that complies with the IDEA. It also did not inform Luke’s parents that it intended to rely, or did in fact rely, on the Griffin Report in creating Luke’s IEP. Accordingly, the Griffin Report cannot qualify as an assessment that satisfies Paso Robles’ obligations under the IDEA.19 19 Amicus Curiae Learning Rights Law Center asks that we hold that school districts are never allowed to rely on the assessments performed by regional centers as a substitute for conducting their own. According to the amicus, the regional center’s assessment is performed strictly for the purpose of diagnosing a child to determine eligibility to receive continued regional center services, whereas, in contrast, school districts must perform assessments not only to diagnose children’s medical disability, but also to assess the child’s strengths and needs for educational planning, 34 TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD As an initial matter, there is no support for the ALJ’s suggestion that Paso Robles did not assess Luke for autism because it “knew” that he was going to be assessed by TriCounties or for the finding that Paso Robles believed the Griffin Report to be comprehensive and thorough. To the contrary, the record clearly establishes that the reason Paso Robles did not assess Luke for autism was because it did not subjectively believe that he was autistic and because Peck had not observed any autistic-like behavior during his informal observation of Luke. Had Paso Robles truly intended to rely on Tri-Counties’ assessment of Luke, it surely would have taken steps to ensure that the assessment occurred when, on November 10, 2009, it learned that Tri-Counties had not yet received parental consent to conduct an assessment. Instead, Paso Robles sent invitations to Luke’s December IEP meeting that same day, signaling its intent to proceed without any assessment for autism by Tri-Counties or otherwise. Testimony from the administrative hearing, moreover, reveals that Paso Robles’ staff believed the Griffin Report to be unreliable and inaccurate and that the District therefore disregarded it entirely. Peck criticized Dr. Griffin’s methodology, and explained that he understood the “provisional” diagnosis to mean the results of the test were non-conclusive. Similarly, Stinson testified that she believed that Paso Robles could ignore the provisional diagnosis because the school district received a lot of reports of PDDNOS when the child had only a severe language impairment. Moreover, even were we to accept the ALJ’s clearly erroneous factual findings, we would still be compelled to conclude that Paso Robles violated the IDEA because it took including helping in the creation of an IEP. We express no view on this question. TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD 35 absolutely no steps to “ensure” that the Tri-Counties assessment occurred or was conducted and considered in a manner that complies with the Act. See Hellgate, 541 F.3d at 1209 (holding that a school district may not “abdicate” its responsibilities under the IDEA and that merely referring a child’s parents to a third party for testing violates the statutory requirement that the school district “ensure” that the child is assessed). Paso Robles did not explain to Luke’s parents that it intended to rely on Tri-Counties to assess Luke for autism or include an assessment for autism in Luke’s initial evaluation plan. See 20 U.S.C. § 1414(b)(1) & (c)(1). It also did not take any steps to ensure that the Tri-Counties assessment actually took place, nor did it give Luke’s parents notice that the Griffin Report would be considered in creating Luke’s IEP, as it would be required to do if it were part of Paso Robles’ initial evaluation. See 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(3)(A)(iii) (requiring that the IEP Team consider “the results of the initial evaluation”); 34 C.F.R. § 300.503 (prior notice requirement). Finally, as described below in Part II, the report was never discussed or considered by Luke’s IEP Team when creating his initial IEP. In short, the record clearly reflects that Paso Robles was on notice that Luke might have a disorder on the autism spectrum before it developed and provided him with special educational services. It was therefore required by the IDEA to ensure that an assessment for that disability was conducted using the sound and reliable methods that the Act demands and to consider the results of that assessment when creating Luke’s IEP and providing him special education services. It failed to do so, which in itself constituted a substantial procedural violation of the IDEA. 36 TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD II. Paso Robles’ Violation of the IDEA’s Procedural Requirements Denied Luke a Free Appropriate Education Having concluded that Paso Robles violated the procedural requirements of the IDEA, we must determine whether the violations are “sufficient to support a finding that [Luke] was denied a [free appropriate public education].” Amanda J., 267 F.3d at 892. While some procedural violations of the IDEA may be harmless, such errors constitute a denial of a free appropriate public education if they seriously impair the parents’ opportunity to participate in the IEP formulation process, result in the loss of educational opportunity for the child, or cause a deprivation of the child’s educational benefits. Id.; see also M.L. v. Fed. Way Sch. Dist., 394 F.3d 634, 652 (9th Cir. 2005) (Gould, J., concurring). A loss of an educational opportunity occurs, for example, when there is a “strong likelihood” that, but for the procedural error, an alternative placement “would have been better considered.” Doug C., 720 F.3d at 1047 (quoting M.L., 394 F.3d at 657 (Gould, J., concurring)). As we have previously held, to succeed on a claim that a child was denied a free appropriate public education because of a procedural error, the individual need not definitively show that his educational placement would have been different without the error. Id. On more than one occasion, we have held that the provision of a free appropriate public education is “impossible” when the IEP Team fails to obtain information that might show that the child is autistic. See, e.g., Hellgate, 541 F.3d at 1210 (“The failure to obtain critical medical information about whether a child has autism ‘render[s] the accomplishment of the IDEA’s goals—and the achievement TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD 37 of a free appropriate public education—impossible.’”); Amanda J., 267 F.3d at 894 (“The IEP team could not create an IEP that addressed Amanda’s special needs as an autistic child without knowing that Amanda was autistic.”).20 We reaffirm that holding today. As in Hellgate and Amanda J., any goals set forth in Luke’s IEP were likely inappropriate because they were made without sufficient evaluative information about Luke’s individual capabilities as an autistic child. Indeed, testimony from Paso Robles’ staff indicates that any ostensible progress that Luke made was likely attributable to an “underestimation of his abilities” at the outset.21 Further, this lack of information denied Luke 20 Weissburg v. Lancaster School District, 591 F.3d 1255 (9th Cir. 2010), cited by the amicus in support of the school district, does not undermine these cases. There, we noted that the IDEA does not give a student the legal right to a proper disability classification. Whether Luke should have been given a different eligibility classification, however, is not the basis of the plaintiffs’ appeal. Instead, the question is whether the IEP Team could have properly created an individualized education plan tailored to Luke’s particular needs without having before it the statutorily required assessment of him for autism. 21 Although not essential to our holding that Luke was denied a FAPE, some evidence in the record suggests that Luke did not actually make meaningful progress toward even the limited goals in his IEP. There were conversations between Luke’s parents and teachers during the 2009–2010 school year to the effect that Luke was not making adequate progress toward his goals and required a more intensive program. Further, Luke’s assessment score dropped significantly between November 2009—when he was assessed by Dr. Griffin before he received any special education from Paso Robles—and January 2012—when he was assessed by Dr. Freeman. As Dr. Freeman explained, if Luke had made “meaningful progress,” the score would have remained the same or increased. A significant drop suggested that Luke was “not keeping pace.” 38 TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD educational opportunities and substantially hindered his parents’ ability to participate in the IEP process. Here, there is strong reason to believe that alternative services would have at least been more seriously considered during the collaborative IEP process if the school district had formally assessed Luke for autism. See Doug C., 720 F.3d at 1047. Because Luke was never formally so assessed, several members of Paso Robles’ staff treated him as if he had selective mutism, an anxiety disorder. Rather than engaging in positive interventions to encourage Luke to talk, the staff strove to create an environment that would minimize his supposed anxiety. As Luke’s private behaviorist explained, these actions should not have been taken in the case of an autistic child and may actually have reinforced Luke’s refusal to speak. Similarly, as Erika Castro, a Paso Robles speech therapist, testified, had she been aware that Luke had been diagnosed by Dr. Griffin as having a disorder on the autism spectrum, she would not have suggested that he was selectively mute. Indeed, because she was under the misperception that Luke’s refusal to speak was due to an anxiety disorder, she never suggested to Luke’s teacher that he needed to be seen and possibly be treated by a behaviorist—a recommendation that she might have otherwise made. Such a referral would likely have been of immense benefit with respect to Luke’s education, as evidenced by the tremendous improvement in his speech once he began receiving such services. Further, by failing to assess Luke for autism, Paso Robles deprived Luke’s parents of vital information necessary for them to meaningfully participate in the IEP process. It is clear from the record that Paso Robles considered assessing Luke for autism but decided not to do so after Peck’s TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD 39 informal and procedurally inadequate observation. It did not, however, explain this to Luke’s parents. Without this information, his parents—who were not represented by counsel at the time—had no reason to question the initial evaluation report and had no basis to request an independent educational evaluation. Paso Robles argues that it provided Luke with a free appropriate public education because its staff would have made the same recommendations as to the specialized services Luke required regardless whether he had been diagnosed as autistic. Peck, for example, testified that he would have made the same recommendations during the December 2009 IEP.22 This argument is plainly contradicted by the fact that Paso Robles’ staff treated Luke as if he were selectively mute, which they certainly would not have done if they had an assessment for autism. Even if true, however, this argument misses a central concern of our inquiry. The creation of an IEP is not a unilateral enterprise by the school district, but rather, a collaborative process that necessitates parents’ input. Regardless whether Paso Robles staff might have made identical recommendations in the absence of informed parental participation in the collaborative process, the failure to obtain necessary information about Luke’s disorder prevented an informed discussion with his parents 22 Regardless of the veracity of this statement, the record strongly suggests that Peck would at least have made different recommendations at the December 2010 IEP. As he admitted during the administrative hearing, he did not suggest that Luke had autism or needed treatment for autistic behavior during that meeting because he had not yet “done an assessment” for autism. We need not further comment on how his testimony that he would not do so “off the top of [his] head” comports with the role he played in 2009 when he ruled out the need for an autism assessment on the basis of a casual observation. 40 TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD about his specific needs as an autistic child. Thus, Paso Robles’ violation of the statutory requirement deprived Luke of educational opportunities and substantially hindered his parents’ participation in the process. So that there may be no similar misunderstanding in the future, we will say it once again: the failure to obtain critical and statutorily mandated medical information about an autistic child and about his particular educational needs “‘render[s] the accomplishment of the IDEA’s goals—and the achievement of a FAPE—impossible.’” Hellgate, 541 F.3d at 1210 (emphasis added) (quoting Amanda J., 267 F.3d at 894). Because the school district failed to conduct the statutorily mandated assessment of “all areas of suspected disability” it necessarily deprived Luke of a free appropriate public education. Finally, in so holding, we reject the argument of the ALJ and the district court that any failure by Paso Robles to assess Luke for autism was harmless because Paso Robles relied heavily on the Griffin Report when creating Luke’s IEP. There are three substantial problems with this argument: (1) there is no evidence that Paso Robles took any steps to ensure that the Griffin Report was conducted in a manner that complied with the IDEA’s procedural requirements, (2) the determination that Paso Robles relied on the Griffin Report is entirely unsupported by, indeed is contrary to, the evidence in the record, and (3) any reliance on the Griffin Report was without notice to or discussion with Luke’s parents, which would have substantially hindered their ability to fully and fairly participate in the IEP process, thus exacerbating the denial to Luke of a free appropriate public education. First, as discussed supra Section I.B, Paso Robles took absolutely no steps to “ensure” that the Tri-Counties assessment occurred or that it was conducted in a manner that TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD 41 complies with the procedural requirements of the Act. See Hellgate, 541 F.3d at 1209. Second, there is absolutely no evidence that the Griffin Report was actually discussed at Luke’s December 2009 IEP meeting or that it was relied on at any point during the development of the IEP. The only evidence that it was considered at all is a single statement made by Peck at the administrative hearing that he considered it during the initial IEP meeting. When asked “So did you consider that assessment at the 12/4/2009 IEP meeting?” he responded “Yes.” The fact that Peck “considered” the Griffin Assessment, however, does not suggest that it was relied upon when creating Luke’s IEP or that it was carefully considered by the entire IEP Team. Rather, the argument is directly contrary to the unrefuted evidence that Paso Robles considered the report to be unreliable: Peck read the report, believed the “provisional” diagnosis meant that the results were non-conclusive, disregarded it, and did not even mention it during the IEP meeting. Similarly, none of Paso Robles’ other staff members mentioned the Griffin Report when describing what the IEP Team discussed at the IEP meeting, and indeed, Luke’s mother testified that she did not even know that the school district had received a copy of the report because it was never mentioned. The IEP, of course, makes absolutely no mention of the report. Finally, Paso Robles has maintained throughout these proceedings that the Griffin Reportmobook was of so little significance as not even to warrant a suspicion of autism. Third, even if we were to accept the clearly erroneous factual finding that the report was “considered,” that consideration would have constituted a further procedural violation that would only have exacerbated the denial of a free appropriate public education to Luke. That is because any purported reliance on the Griffin Report would have 42 TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD occurred without notice to Luke’s parents that the assessment was being considered in creating the IEP, as required by 34 C.F.R. § 300.503(a) & (b). The notice requirement provides parents with information necessary to an understanding of the rationale behind the school district’s proposal, thus ensuring the “meaningful participation by parents and informed parental consent” that the IDEA was designed to afford. M.M., 767 F.3d at 851. If Paso Robles had given Luke’s parents written notice that the Griffin Report would be considered in drafting the IEP, it would have been required to explain to them why it disagreed with Dr. Griffin’s diagnosis and to state whether it was making any recommendations for Luke’s education based on her report. In the absence of such notice, however, Luke’s parents were left without critical information. Because they did not have Paso Robles’ relative sophistication, they could not be expected to understand how Tri-Counties’ test results could affect Luke’s special education eligibility or what services needed to be provided in light of Dr. Griffin’s diagnosis. Accordingly, they could not give informed consent or participate meaningfully in the creation of the IEP, a separate statutory violation in itself. Because we hold that the failure to assess Luke for autism constituted a substantial procedural violation of the IDEA that denied him a free appropriate public education during the 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 school years, we need not address the separate question raised by him on this appeal: whether the school district’s failure to take appropriate steps to address his refusal to speak denied him a free appropriate education during those same years. TIMOTHY O. V. PASO ROBLES USD 43