Opinion ID: 200923
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether the Proposed IEP Provided FAPE

Text: 18 A major theme of the plaintiffs' oral argument was that the IEP proposed by Warwick was not significantly different from a pre-school program that N.B. had attended in Georgia (a multi-modality eclectic classroom, according to Mrs. B.), which had not worked. That experience, they say, taught N.B.'s parents that he needs constant one-on-one attention. As a result, they argue, only Pathways comes close to meeting his needs. At the administrative hearing, they provided expert evidence, in the form of an affidavit from Dr. Mozingo, of Pathways, that Warwick's proposed IEP was inadequate. They argue that the district court improperly rejected this expert evidence, on credibility grounds, in favor of evidence presented by Warwick's expert, despite reviewing only the administrative record and not hearing the competing expert witnesses for itself. 19 Warwick replies that its proposed IEP was different from the failed program in Georgia. Furthermore, if the proposed IEP did not work, Warwick says, it would have made adjustments, had it been given the opportunity to do so. 20 Neither the hearing officer nor the district court addressed the contention that the proposed IEP was no different than the failed program in Georgia. From the materials available to us, it is far from clear that the programs were the same. The Georgia class was twice as large as the class in Warwick's proposed IEP. In addition, unlike Warwick's program, the Georgia class was not specifically structured to address the needs of autistic children. Moreover, there is no evidence that the teachers in the failed Georgia program had the same extensive experience and training in working with autistic children that the Warwick teachers have. 21 The hearing officer's opinion devoted roughly one page to the substantive issue of whether the IEP provided FAPE. She rejected the testimony of Warwick's expert, Dr. Mesibov, on the grounds that he had not met personally with N.B. and that he did not observe one of Ms. Brennan's classes until several months after the IEP was proposed. Neither of those grounds was a reasonable basis on which to find the IEP inadequate. Dr. Mesibov, whose credentials were considerable, testified based on his review of N.B.'s prior educational history in Georgia, the progress reports from Pathways (where N.B. had started school), the testimony of others, and his observations of Ms. Brennan's class for autistic children. 5 The district court reasonably relied on Dr. Mesibov's testimony and on Warwick's well-trained teaching staff and track record of success with autistic children. 22 As for the plaintiffs' expert, Dr. Mozingo, the district court's opinion simply said that Warwick's expert, Dr. Mesibov, had considerably more expertise in the field and so his views would be afforded more weight. The record is clearly sufficient to support that conclusion. 23 The district court also found that many elements of DTT, the method that the B.'s advocated, would be available through the Warwick program's use of the TEACCH techniques, including a considerable amount of one-on-one instruction. There was no clear error in the district court's finding that the IEP was adequate. 24 Once the determination is made that the IEP was adequate, that ends the inquiry. We need not consider whether other programs would be better. G.D. v. Westmoreland Sch. Dist., 930 F.2d 942, 948-49 (1st Cir.1991).