Opinion ID: 782921
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Vashon Island School District

Text: 8 In July 1995, with plans to move to Vashon Island, Ms. S contacted the Vashon Island School District (VISD) to inquire about enrolling G in a general third-grade classroom at Chautauqua Elementary School, the VISD's only elementary school. 9 This inquiry began a long series of disputed conversations and letters regarding G's placement in the VISD. The VISD, which was focused on enrolling and assessing G, wanted to place G temporarily in a self-contained special education environment until it could be determined from the assessment whether the temporary placement was appropriate. In contrast, Ms. S was focused on having G placed first in a general education environment, or at the least, having G assessed before she was temporarily placed. Because of stay-put provisions that Ms. S understood to mandate that a child remain in her last placement during any dispute, Ms. S did not want to have G in self-contained special education while disputes regarding G's education were being resolved. 10 On September 18, 1995, Lynda Walls, the VISD's Director of Student Services, formally welcomed Ms. S to the district by mailing a letter to her Vashon address. Walls enclosed a form asking for Ms. S's consent to place G temporarily in a self contained special education classroom, for less than thirty days, to evaluate an appropriate permanent placement. Ms. S did not sign the form. On the same day, Ms. S wrote to Walls that the VISD was refusing to assess G until she was placed in the self-contained special education classroom. Ms. S protested that this placement was inconsistent with G's last IEP, and demanded an independent assessment before any placement. 11 On September 19, Walls sent two letters to Ms. S. The first clarified in writing that the VISD rejected Ms. S's September 1 request for an interdistrict transfer, 5 on the basis that the VISD could not provide the level of service Ms. S was seeking. The second notified Ms. S that even if G had properly been enrolled (presumably as a resident) on September 5, she had since been withdrawn for lack of attendance, and that Ms. S could re enroll G if she planned to send her to Chautauqua Elementary School. 6 The second letter also advised that the psychologist would again attempt to schedule an assessment. 12 Throughout late September, October, and November, there were several unsuccessful attempts to schedule meetings to evaluate G and to discuss an IEP with Ms. S. The meetings never occurred, according to Ms. S, [d]ue to VISD's failure to provide proper notice, VISD's refusal to include a general education teacher in any proposed IEP meeting, and G's illness and/or hearing aid difficulties. Also, no assessment occurred, due in part to the lack of the necessary consent form. 13 On October 20, and again on October 27 and November 3, Walls informed Ms. S that, until G could be assessed for a permanent placement, the VISD would use her last IEP as a guide in developing a temporary IEP. Walls believed that, given the last IEP available and the available options at Chautauqua Elementary School, it was appropriate to place G temporarily in a self-contained special education classroom, with some time in a general education classroom. 7 On October 31, Ms. S again protested the proposed placement, claiming that the district had not explained why it could not accommodate G in an inclusive classroom with general education students and supplemental aids and services, which she claimed reflected G's last IEP. The VISD special education teacher later testified that she would not have had enough information, using only G's 1993-94 IEP and her last assessment, to tailor the VISD's general education third-grade curriculum to suit G's needs in 1995. 14 By October 31, VISD had drafted a proposed interim IEP reflecting four hours per day (1200 minutes per week) of special education and at least one hour per day (300 minutes per week) of general education; this amounted to the same quantity of general education time as in G's 1992-93 IEP. Furthermore, the VISD proposed that this time in general education settings be increased as appropriate and with appropriate support. 15 On November 7, because of G's continuing absence from school, the VISD filed for a due process hearing (Hearing 95-75, described infra ) to show the appropriateness of its proposed placement and program and to overcome [the] refusal to allow [G] to attend. 16 On November 13, the first full IEP meeting was held. Ms. S claimed to be the only person at the meeting who had had contact with G that was more extensive than a brief introduction, and she felt that a lack of knowledge was apparent in the inappropriate goals the team had provisionally devised. Ms. S continued to be adamant in her demand that, given the disagreement regarding proper placement, G be placed in a general education environment as she claimed was reflected in G's last IEP from Seattle. Ms. S offered as an example Chautauqua Elementary School's blended second and third-grade multi-age class of 24 students. 17 At this meeting, it became apparent that the VISD had based its draft IEP on G's 1992-93 IEP, instead of G's 1993-94 IEP. 8 Walls claimed that she had not previously known there was a valid 1993-94 IEP, because it was not included with the materials sent from Seattle. After receiving a copy of the 1993-94 IEP, the VISD altered its proposed plan, including an extra hour per day of special education to more closely match G's 1993-94 IEP. The time spent in general education did not change. The VISD recognized, after being notified by Ms. S, that it was required to implement the 1993-94 IEP, but claimed that Chautauqua Elementary School had no program with the same structure as that in Alternative School # 1, and that the closest available alternative was reflected in the updated draft. On November 22, the VISD invited Ms. S to propose modifications to the altered proposal, and on November 27 Ms. S again communicated her disagreement with the proposed placement. 18 On December 1, the second full IEP meeting was held. Ms. S proposed changes to the IEP, some of which the VISD included. However, Ms. S and the VISD could not come to agreement on the classroom placement. 19 The revised draft IEP placed G in a self-contained special education classroom for five hours per day (1500 minutes per week) with 6-10 special education students G's age. For at least one hour per day (300 minutes per week), to be increased if appropriate after the assessment, G would join children in a general education setting for activities such as music, physical education, and tutoring. Ms. S continued to object. 20 No further draft IEP was prepared. The December 1 plan differed from the October 31 plan in three ways: (1) the number of minutes allotted for special — but not general — education (an additional 300 minutes per week as of December 1); (2) the modification of reading, writing, math, communications, language arts, social, and fine motor skills goals to correspond to those in the 1993-94 IEP; and (3) a few corrections to the summary of G's current skill levels to conform to descriptions in the 1993-94 IEP. 9 21 On December 15, several days into Administrative Hearing 95-75, discussed infra, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ordered VISD to reassess G. Pursuant to the ALJ's order, VISD reassessed G in January 1996, while Hearing 95-75 was progressing. The assessment team consisted of Walls, Christine Hinds, the principal at Chautauqua Elementary School, the VISD school psychologist, a speech and language pathologist, two Chautauqua Elementary School general education teachers, a Chautauqua special education teacher, a physical therapist, and an occupational therapist. Several members of the team had experience in working with children with Down's Syndrome. The psychologist testified that the parent was ... unusually intrusive in the assessment process, but the evaluation team agreed to use several tests based on Ms. S's preferences. 22 After a multifaceted evaluation, the assessment team found that G was mildly mentally retarded, with math, written, and reading comprehension skills approximately three years behind her peers; motor skills, visual perception, and eye-hand coordination at least four years behind her peers; and significant social-emotional problems, including difficulties with impulsivity, attending to task, stress responses, dependence on adults, and interacting with same-age peers. 23 On January 26, 1996, the reassessment team met with Ms. S to report the results of the reassessment. Ms. S disagreed with the results of the assessment, which she alleges were designed to support [the VISD's] proposed interim placement. Given the disagreement and Ms. S's demand that an independent evaluation be conducted at the school district's expense, the VISD on April 29, 1996, filed for another due process hearing. (Hearing 96-34, discussed infra ). 24 On February 9, 1996, Ms. S submitted a declaration of intent to home-school her child for the remainder of the school year. There is no evidence in the record indicating that G has since returned to the VISD.