Opinion ID: 2598222
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Bickford's IDEA Claims

Text: As an initial matter, Bickford contends that the superior court lacked jurisdiction to hear her administrative appeal. First, she argues that the superior court's jurisdiction was defective because the Department of Education impermissibly removed her complaint from its primary jurisdiction by assigning it to an assistant attorney general, Dahl, who was not under the supervision, direction, or control of the Commissioner of Education, but the Attorney General. Second, Bickford also argues that the superior court's jurisdiction was defective because she never exhausted her administrative remedies and because no complaint investigator ever issued a final decision on the merits of her complaint. We disagree. First, there is no merit to Bickford's primary jurisdiction argument. At base, Bickford appears to be arguing that the Department of Education should not have been allowed to involve lawyers from the attorney general's office in the resolution of her complaint; that assertion is plainly incorrect. Second, Bickford's exhaustion argument is also unpersuasive. Bickford appealed a final agency determination to the superior court. Once the Department of Education had completed its investigation of Bickford's administrative complaint, no additional administrative procedures were available to her. The superior court was therefore properly positioned to hear her appeal. [25]
The core of Bickford's appeal is that the department violated the IDEA by returning her original complaint to her without considering its merits. The department argues that Bickford's original complaint was too ambiguous to even trigger the IDEA and it contends that its ambiguity warranted the department's request for clarification. As already stated, Bickford's administrative complaint was assigned to investigator Barats. As part of her investigation, Barats conducted interviews with Bickford, Assistant Attorney General Dahl, three members of the Department of Education, two special education officers employed by the Anchorage School District, an attorney, another parent named in the complaint, and a secretary of the State Board of Education. She also reviewed the documents and correspondence described in our facts and proceedings section, state court rules, federal regulations, and the department's complaint-intake form. Barats's decision considered six specific IDEA allegations Bickford raised in connection with the rejection of her original complaint and found that the record failed to support any of these claims. The Commissioner of the Department of Education upheld this determination. We must consider whether the law and the record support Barats's decision. First, Barats addressed the contention that no due process hearing was completed within forty-five days of Bickford's written request. Barats found that no violation had occurred both because (a) the Anchorage School District attempted to conduct a due process hearing but Bickford advised it that she no longer wanted the hearing; and (b) the department was not the proper party from which to request a due process hearing. Regarding the school district's efforts, the record confirms that the district did indeed attempt to conduct a due process hearing and that Bickford in fact did tell the district that she no longer wanted a hearing. As to the department's failure to conduct a due process hearing, Bickford fails to establish that it had a legal obligation to do so. Federal law leaves states free to enact laws determining whether due process hearings shall be conducted by the State educational agency or by the local educational agency. [26] Alaska state law squarely assigns the duty to local school districts by recognizing that there are only two parties to a due process hearingschool districts and parentsand by specifying that a hearing may be requested by serving the opposing party: in other words, parents requesting due process hearings must make the request to the district. [27] The second allegation Barats considered involved Bickford's contention that her original complaint had incorporated a complaint for administrative investigation that the department failed to decide within sixty days of its filing, as the IDEA required. [28] Barats noted that federal regulations allow states to delay resolution of identical issues raised in a complaint while those same issues are pending in a due process hearing [29] and concluded that it was proper for the department to take no action on Bickford's complaint, which seemed to be requesting both, pending clarification that Bickford was not pursuing a due process hearing or notification that her hearing had been completed. We find no error in this determination. Barats next considered Bickford's contention that, [i]n spite of numerous calls, Bickford was the only parent of the eight parents her original complaint listed as plaintiffs who received correspondence from the department about the complaint. Barats concluded that no violation of law occurred, both because (a) Bickford was the only party who signed the complaint and (b) the complaint had not been properly served on the department. We agree with the first rationale and need not consider the second. In her original complaint Bickford failed to make clear whether she meant to file a formal civil court claim, a request for an IDEA due process hearing, an administrative complaint, or some combination of the three. Since no other plaintiff signed the original complaint and Bickford would have lacked authority to assert or represent the interests of other parents in either a court case or a formal due process hearing, it was not unreasonable for the state to communicate only with Bickford until she clarified her intentions and made suitable changes to her complaint. Bickford cites no provision of law that would have required the department to respond or send copies of responses to each of the named plaintiffs, and we are aware of no such provision. Accordingly the record discloses no error of law or fact on this point. Fourth, Barats considered Bickford's complaint that Dahl's letter failed to address the merits of her original complaint. Barats found that although the original complaint might have been meant as an administrative complaint, it was also reasonable to interpret the intent [of Bickford's complaint] as either a request for a Due Process Hearing or notification of a legal action. Barats concluded that, given this ambiguity, Dahl could reasonably determine that the appropriateness of the procedures being followed . . . were the only `merits' that could be addressed in that early stage. Barats did find, however, that Dahl's letter to Bickford was misleading to the extent that it directed her to amend her complaint to include only herself and her child if she intended it as a complaint for administrative investigation under 4 AAC 52.500. Barats found the instruction mistaken as a matter of law because unlike requests for due process hearings, administrative complaints under 4 AAC 52.500 need not be restricted to an individual child. Barats nevertheless concluded that, while misleading, this error does not constitute a violation of the law. We need not decide the point: considering the remaining uncertainties in Bickford's original complaint and Bickford's December 7 letter notifying the department that the plaintiffs would be pursuing their case in federal court, we see no reasonable likelihood that Dahl's misstatement on this relatively minor point had any prejudicial effect. Accordingly, even assuming that a misstatement of the law might amount to a violation of the IDEA under some circumstances, any error here was plainly harmless. As we have already determined above in upholding Barats's ruling on Bickford's second allegation, Dahl's decision to call for clarification instead of attempting to guess Bickford's intent was reasonable under the circumstances in all other respects. The fifth point of error Barats considered was Bickford's assertion that Dahl violated the IDEA by failing to reply to the parents' December 7 letter, which responded to Dahl's letter to Bickford and answered his questions seeking clarification of the original complaint's intent. Barats found as an initial matter that [t]here are no requirements in [the] IDEA regarding such a letter, so Dahl's failure to respond could not have amounted to a violation of the law. More important, Barats ruled that [s]ince that letter expressed the complainants['] intent to file in District Court and did not request additional action by the State . . . there was no reason for a response at that time. The latter ruling is dispositive here: the December 7 letter unequivocally notified Dahl and the department that Bickford would be filing an action in federal court, would not be filing an amended complaint, and was not requesting the state to act on her original complaint as clarified in the December 7 letter. In short, the letter left no door open and no reason to respond. The sixth allegation Barats considered was whether the department had established appropriate written policies, practices, and procedures to guide Bickford in attempting to file and pursue her original complaint. Investigator Barats found that the Department of Education had issued a Notice of Procedural Safeguards to parents that met at least the minimum requirements of the law and also indicate[d] the department and address to which a complaint should be submitted. She found that Bickford had been given a copy of this document and had ample time to re-file her complaint in accordance with its instructions. Bickford has not challenged these findings on appeal, and we see no obvious error in them. Assistant Attorney General Dahl's effort to point out the original complaint's ambiguities and to obtain a clarified complaint appears to us to have been a reasonable attempt to provide precisely the guidance that Bickford claims she lacked; and her own abrupt refusal to submit an amended complaint leaves no basis for claiming prejudice from lack of earlier guidance.