Opinion ID: 3029410
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Count I: Compensatory Education and Related

Text: Services Appellants appeal from the district court’s order denying their request for reversal of the administrative decision holding that Lauren was not entitled to compensatory education while she was at Hill Top during the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years.15 Specifically, appellants seek compensatory education under both the IDEA and the Rehabilitation Act for the District’s failure to provide Lauren with related services, including social skills training, psychology services, and disposition testimony that the light was green for him and red for the other party and there is no contrary evidence, and there is nothing implausible about the deposition, in considering the motion the court should accept the deposition testimony as true. If it does not do so then, contrary to all precedent, it would allow the nonmoving party to defeat the motion with mere allegations. 14 The District as such and Drs. DeFalminis and Luger, respectively, claim municipal and qualified immunity on appellants’ retaliation claims. In view of our disposition of the causation issue we do not consider the immunity defenses. 15 In the district court appellants also sought compensatory education for the District’s failure to provide related services in years prior to the 2000-2001 school year. The district court denied this claim but appellants do not appeal that decision. 19 psychiatric services, while she was at Hill Top, as well as reimbursement for independent evaluations for which they paid.
Under the IDEA a disabled student is entitled to a FAPE until age 21. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(A). However, “[a]n award of compensatory education allows a disabled student to continue beyond age twenty-one in order to make up for the earlier deprivation of [a FAPE].” Ridgewood Bd. of Educ. v. N.E. ex rel. M.E., 172 F.3d 238, 249 (3d Cir. 1999). “[A] disabled student’s right to compensatory education accrues when the school knows or should know that the student is receiving an inappropriate education.” Id. at 250. Under the IDEA a student is receiving an inappropriate education if the program is not providing “significant learning” and conferring a “meaningful benefit.”16 Id. at 247. In determining whether Lauren received an “appropriate education” at Hill Top during the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years, we review the district court’s findings for clear error recognizing that the district court gave “due weight” to the hearing officer’s factual findings which it deemed “prima facie correct.” In this case, the hearing officer determined that Hill Top provided Lauren with appropriate social and psychological services and that she continued making gains in those areas. Joanne Waber, a teacher at Hill Top, testified that Lauren received “constant feedback and monitoring” with respect to her social-skill needs and Lauren attended group counseling twice a week with a psychologist or a social worker. Lauren W., 2005 WL 1353643, at . In addition, Hill Top has a clinical 16 For clarity we point out that 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(10)(C)(ii), dealing with reimbursement for private school placement, is not involved here because appellants are not seeking reimbursement for related services for which they paid, except with respect to the private evaluation which we will address later. Rather, appellants contend that Lauren is entitled to compensatory education by reason of the District’s failure to provide related services while Lauren attended Hill Top. Thus, appellants are seeking prospective injunctive relief rather than reimbursement for the education Lauren already has received. 20 psychologist on staff and every student has a counselor or clinician available to her whenever she needs extra support. Not surprisingly, Lauren progressed under these conditions. According to Ms. Waber, Lauren “made quite a bit of progress” while at Hill Top, specifically with respect to her social skills. Additionally, the District school psychologist, Richard Doolan, produced a Comprehensive Evaluation Report on July 24, 2000, indicating that Lauren’s social and emotional well-being improved dramatically while she was at Hill Top. Likewise, the proposed IEP for the 2002-2003 school year indicates that “[s]ince entering Hill Top, Lauren’s experience has been ‘extremely positive’ with improved grades, self-esteem and friendships, according to her teachers.” App. at 286. Moreover, appellants engaged a private psychologist whose report indicated that Lauren was “doing very well at Hill Top.” App. at 179. Based on these evaluations the hearing officer concluded that Lauren was “a successful student making progress each year and demonstrating good relationships with her peers.” District’s br. at 42. Lauren’s parents in their deposition testimony corroborated this assessment of Lauren’s progress. While the district court concluded that Lauren’s work habits and behavior were inconsistent, the record requires that a court examining it nevertheless conclude that Hill Top provided “significant learning” and conferred a “meaningful benefit” on Lauren. Thus, compensatory education for the related services allegedly not provided at Hill Top is not warranted. Appellants have failed to offer evidence that demonstrates that the district court committed clear error.17
Appellants next argue that even if Lauren was not 17 We also are troubled by the fact that appellants unilaterally selected Hill Top for Lauren’s placement. Thus, appellants obtained exactly what they sought and now the essence of their argument is that they should have asked for more. We do not find this argument compelling. 21 entitled to compensatory education under the IDEA, she is entitled to that relief under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Appellants rely on Lower Merion School District v. Doe, 878 A.2d 925 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2005), appeal granted, 899 A.2d 1125 (Pa. 2006), in advancing this argument. In Lower Merion, the court decided that the Rehabilitation Act entitled a disabled student attending private school to related services at the public school so long as the student was enrolled dually in the public school district and the related services were needed to provide the disabled student with a FAPE.18 Id. at 927. Our case, however, differs factually in two important ways from Lower Merion. First, the court premised Lower Merion on the fact that the private school student was enrolled dually in the public school district. In contrast, in our case, although dual enrollment is permissible under section 502 of the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949, as amended, 24 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 5-502 (West 1992), there is no evidence of which we are aware that Lauren continued her enrollment in District schools after beginning at Hill Top.19 18 The relevant facts of Lower Merion are as follows. The school district determined after an evaluation of the student that the student suffered from spastic diplegia, difficulties with fine motor skills, and visual motor delays, and thus was eligible to receive occupational therapy services under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act which requires the district to provide a FAPE to “each qualified handicapped person,” 34 C.F.R. § 104.33(a). Lower Merion, 878 A.2d at 926-28 & n.2. The student’s parents decided to enroll their child in an independent private school outside of the district (for which they paid and for which they did not seek tuition reimbursement) and then requested that the district provide additional occupational services at the public school where the child was enrolled dually. Id. at 926. Thus, the only issue before the court was whether the handicapped child by enrolling in the private school forfeited his right to the occupational services, which the parties agreed were necessary for a FAPE. The majority determined that the child’s rights to related services were not waived in those circumstances. Id. at 933. 19 In appellants’ brief they recite, without reference to the record, that “Lauren was dually enrolled at Radnor, a public school, and Hill Top, a private school.” Appellants’ br. at 40. The District answered in 22 Second, and quite independently it was undisputed in Lower Merion that occupational services were necessary to provide the disabled child with a FAPE as required under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Lower Merion, 878 A.2d at 926 & n.2. The only issue was whether the student forfeited those services at the public school by enrolling in the private school, where the student was not offered occupational therapy. In contrast, in this case the Hill Top curriculum (without additional related services) provided Lauren with a FAPE and thus satisfied the District’s obligations. Compliance with federal law did not require that the District offer related services to Lauren. Thus, the principles in Lower Merion would not be implicated in this case even if Lauren had been dually enrolled in Hill Top and District schools.
Appellants contend that they are entitled to reimbursement for the cost of an independent educational evaluation they obtained from Dr. Margaret Kay after appellants expressed their agreement with the District’s evaluation. Under 34 C.F.R. § 300.502(b)(1), “[a] parent has the right to an independent educational evaluation at public expense if the parent disagrees with an evaluation by the public agency.” We have applied the regulation broadly to permit reimbursement not only when the parents expressly disagree with the evaluation but also when “the parents[] fail[] to express disagreement with the District’s evaluations prior to obtaining their own” evaluation because unless the regulation is so applied “the regulation [would be] pointless because the object of parents’ obtaining their own evaluation is to determine whether grounds exist to challenge the District’s.” Warren G. ex rel. Tom G. v. Cumberland County Sch. Dist., 190 F.3d 80, 87 (3d Cir. 1999). Consequently, we have held that reimbursement may be warranted where a parent does not take a position with respect to the district’s evaluation or otherwise “fails to express discussing Lower Merion, that in that case “the child was enrolled in the public school to receive the related services [but] [t]here is no evidence that Lauren did the same.” District’s br. at 44 n.9. 23 disagreement.” We, however, never have held that parents who expressly agree with a district’s evaluation but obtain an independent evaluation are entitled to reimbursement for the evaluation and we cannot imagine how we could do so. Indeed, if we reached that conclusion our process would be judicial alchemy because 34 C.F.R. § 300.502(b)(1) is applicable when a parent “disagrees” with the public agency’s evaluation. A holding that “disagrees” includes “agrees” surely would be noted far and wide and justifiably would subject us to derisive comments. Of course, in this case inasmuch as Lauren’s parents both checked “yes” and signed the District’s evaluation they indisputably agreed with it. Though no doubt their agreement did not preclude them from obtaining their own evaluation they could not make a claim on the District to pay for it.