Opinion ID: 560370
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 2 Kimberly Day Weil is a severely mentally retarded child. This litigation involves her educational placement from August 1985 to February 1986 while she was within the jurisdiction of OPSB which, through the State of Louisiana, participated in the program established by the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA), 20 U.S.C. Secs. 1401, et seq. The EHA makes federal funding available to public schools for the education of handicapped children provided that the State has in effect a policy that assures all handicapped children the right to a free appropriate public education. 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412. The EHA, its concomitant regulations, and the pertinent Louisiana statutes establish various substantive and procedural requirements designed to achieve this end. 3 The Weils were discontented with the educational program OPSB provided Kimberly, particularly her abrupt transfer, in August 1985, from the G.B. Cooley School to the Kiroli Elementary School. They voiced dissatisfaction with the quality of the educational program at Kiroli and withdrew their daughter from Kiroli, placing her in the Institute of Logopedics, a private residential facility. 4 The Weils first initiated an administrative claim, asserting that OPSB had failed to provide Kimberly with a free appropriate public education as required by EHA. Following an administrative hearing, the hearing officer ordered that the Weils should be reimbursed the cost of placing Kimberly in the Institute of Logopedics. The ruling, however, was in favor of OPSB as to future placement. Both parties appealed to BESE which reversed that portion of the administrative decision in favor of the Weils and affirmed the ruling in favor of OPSB. 5 The Weils filed the instant suit against BESE in the Middle District of Louisiana, the district of BESE's domicile, asserting claims under the EHA and 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, maintaining, under the latter, that the BESE administrative review process denied them both substantive and procedural due process. They also sought judicial review of the administrative decision in favor of OPSB. 6 BESE successfully moved for dismissal of the claims against it, raising an eleventh amendment defense. 1 OPSB successfully sought a change of venue to the Western District of Louisiana, the district of its domicile. Following a bench trial, the district court in the Western District entered judgment in favor of OPSB. The Weils timely appealed the judgments of both the Middle and Western Districts.