B.P. v. New York City Department of Education

841 F. Supp. 2d 605, 2012 WL 33984, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1736
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 6, 2012
DocketNo. 11-CV-2141 (WFK)(MDG)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 841 F. Supp. 2d 605 (B.P. v. New York City Department of Education) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
B.P. v. New York City Department of Education, 841 F. Supp. 2d 605, 2012 WL 33984, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1736 (E.D.N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

WILLIAM F. KUNTZ, II, District Judge.

DECISION

B.P. and A.P., individually and on behalf of D.P. (the “Plaintiffs”) seek relief against Defendant the New York City Department of Education (the “Defendant”) pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 et seq. (the “IDEA”).

[608]*608Plaintiffs contend Defendant failed to offer infant D.P. a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”) within the meaning of the IDEA. Plaintiffs contend the Individualized Education Program (“IEP”) Defendant proposed for D.P. for the 2009-2010 school year was inappropriate, the private placement parents A.P. and B.P. selected for D.P. was appropriate and the equities favor private tuition reimbursement. Plaintiffs seek reversal of the decisions of the New York State Impartial Hearing Officer (“IHO”) and The State Education Department State Review Officer (“SRO”) denying tuition reimbursement.

For the reasons stated below, this Court finds the education Defendant offered to D.P. for the 2009-2010 school year to be appropriate under the IDEA. Therefore, Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is denied and Defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment is granted.

I. The IDEA

The IDEA “offers federal funds to states that develop plans to assure ‘all children with disabilities’ ” a FAPE. Grim v. Rhinebeck Cent. Sch. Dist., 346 F.3d 377, 379 (2d Cir.2003); 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a). The FAPE must include “special education and related services tailored to meet the unique needs of a particular child, and be reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits.” Walczak v. Florida Union Free Sch. Dist., 142 F.3d 119, 122 (2d Cir.1998) (internal quotations omitted).

The IDEA mandates each child’s FAPE be administered pursuant to an individualized education program ("IEP"). 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d). To provide a FAPE the IEP need not furnish "every special service necessary to maximize each handicapped child’s potential." Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 199, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982). "Rather, a school district fulfills its substantive obligations under the IDEA if it provides an IEP that is likely to produce progress, not regression, and if the IEP affords the student with an opportunity greater than mere trivial advancement." Cerra v. Pawling Cent. Sch. Dist., 427 F.3d 186, 195 (2d Cir.2005) (internal quotations omitted).

The IDEA permits parents unilaterally to place their child in private school and to seek tuition reimbursement where the local school district IEP placement does not provide the child with a FAPE. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(10)(C). The court held in P.K. and T.K. ex rel. S.K v. New York City Dep’t of Educ. tuition reimbursement is warranted where "(1) the school district has provided an inadequate or inappropriate placement; (2) the parents’ selected program is appropriate, such that the private program meets the student’s special educational needs; and (3) the equities favor the parents." No. 09-cv-1472, 819 F.Supp.2d 90, 98, 2011 WL 3625317, at *3 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 15, 2011) (Johnson, J), citing Sch. Comm. of Burlington v. Dep’t of Educ., 477 U.S. 359, 369-70, 105 S.Ct. 1996, 85 L.Ed.2d 385 (1985); Florence Cnty. Sch. Dist. Four v. Carter, 510 U.S. 7, 12-13, 114 S.Ct. 361, 126 L.Ed.2d 284 (1993) (the "Burlington-Carter Test").

Parents who wish to challenge an IEP may do so through a hearing before an IHO appointed by the local school district. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(f). The "decision of an IHO may be appealed to an SRO ... [which] may in turn be challenged in either state or federal court." Grim, 346 F.3d at 380; 20 U.S.C. § 1415(g), (i); N.Y. Educ. Law § 4404(1). The "pendency" provisions of both the IDEA and New York State Education law require that a student shall remain in his or her then current educational placement pending final disposition of, inter alia, a challenge to a child’s [609]*609IEP. 20 U.S.C. § 14150); N.Y. Educ. Law § 4404(4); Mackey v. Bd. Of Educ. for the Arlington Cent. Sch. Dist., 386 F.3d 158 (2d Cir.2004).

In an IDEA case the test on a motion for summary judgment is not whether there are “disputed issues of fact, but rather, whether the administrative record, together with any additional evidence, establishes that there has been compliance with the IDEA’S processes and that the child’s education needs have been appropriately addressed.” R.W. v. New York City Dep’t of Educ., 646 F.Supp.2d 346, 352 (S.D.N.Y.2009) (Koeltl, J). The Court is to accord the administrative proceedings “due weight” and not to “substitute [its] notions of sound educational policy for those of the school authorities which [it reviews].” Rowley, 458 U.S. at 206, 102 S.Ct. 3034. The United States Supreme Court has “previously cautioned that courts lack the specialized knowledge and experience necessary to resolve persistent and difficult questions of educational policy.” Id. at 208, 102 S.Ct. 3034 (internal quotations omitted).

II. Facts and Procedural Posture

D.P. attended the Mary McDowell Center for Learning (“Mary McDowell”), a private school for children with learning disabilities, from 2005 through the 2009-2010 school year. Dr. Buffy Smith (“Dr. Smith”), a clinical psychologist, evaluated D.P. over the course of seven days in 2008. Dr. Smith diagnosed D.P. with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (“ADHD”) and a Learning Disorder. D.P. further encountered difficulty in “decoding, comprehension, spelling, writing, math computation ... word problems ... organization, stamina, frustration tolerance, stress and anxiety.” Findings of Fact and Decision of the IHO (“IHO Decision”), at 8.

The Committee on Special Education (“CSE”) convened on May 6, 2009 to evaluate D.P.’s educational needs and to develop an IEP for D.P. for the 2009-2010 academic year.

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841 F. Supp. 2d 605, 2012 WL 33984, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1736, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bp-v-new-york-city-department-of-education-nyed-2012.