Escondido Union High School District v. Aloy

• Court: District Court, S.D. California
• Decided: February 13, 2025
• Docket: 3:24-cv-01653
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ESCONDIDO UNION HIGH SCHOOL Case No.: 24-cv-1653-RSH-JLB DISTRICT, 12

Plaintiff, 13 ORDER GRANTING JOINT v. MOTION TO FILE DOCUMENTS 14 UNDER SEAL TONY ALOY and ASHLEY WENDEL, 15 Parents on behalf of C.A., a minor [ECF No. 12] 16 Student, 17 Defendants. 18 19 20 On September 16, 2024, plaintiff Escondido Union High School District (“District”), 21 filed the instant action seeking reversal of a decision from the State of California’s Office 22 of Administrative Hearings (“OAH”), pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities 23 Education Act (“IDEA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. ECF No. 1. On September 23, 2024, 24 this case was reassigned to the undersigned. ECF No. 4. 25 Now pending is the Parties joint motion to file under seal the entire copy of the OAH 26 administrative record. ECF No. 12. For the reasons discussed below, the Court grants the 27 motion. 28 1 A party seeking to seal a judicial record attached to a dispositive motion or one that 2 is presented at trial must articulate “compelling reasons” in favor of sealing. See Kamakana 3 v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006). The Parties contend that 4 the administrative record contains “private and sensitive information regarding Student’s 5 disabilities, psychological and medical information, and educational records.” ECF No. 12 6 at 2. The Parties also contend that the information is “protected from public disclosure 7 under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act [(“FERPA”)], as well as California 8 State law.” 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 C.F.R. Part 99; Cal. Educ. Code § 49062, et seq. 9 FERPA prohibits federal funding of an educational institution that “has a policy or 10 practice of releasing, or providing access to, any personally identifiable information in 11 education records” without the written consent of the student, a lawfully issued subpoena, 12 or a judicial order. 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b)(2). The term “personally identifiable information” 13 means information such as names, birthdates, social security numbers, and “[o]ther 14 information that, alone or in combination, is linked or linkable to a specific student that 15 would allow a reasonable person in the school community, who does not have personal 16 knowledge of the relevant circumstances, to identify the student with reasonable certainty.” 17 34 C.F.R. § 99.3. 18 Here, Defendants provide compelling reasons to seal the administrative record. See, 19 e.g., D.L. v. Poway Unified Sch. Dist., No. 19-CV-0780- GPC-RBB, at *3–4 (S.D. Cal. 20 Nov. 1, 2019) (sealing OAH record and hearing transcripts); G.R. v. Del Mar Union Sch. 21 Dist., No. 19-cv-132-AJB-MSB, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 12, 2019) (sealing record of a due 22 process hearing before OAH). The administrative record contains references to the 23 disabilities, educational records, and medical information of a minor, and such material is 24 “largely protected from public disclosure by both federal and state law.” J.M. v. Oakland 25 Unified Sch. Dist., No. 17-CV-04986-HSG, 2018 WL 6574190, at *8 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 13, 26 2018). 27 Further, the prohibited references here are “too numerous to redact,” A.B. ex rel. 28 W.F.B. v. San Francisco Unified Sch. Dist., No. C 07-4738 PJH, 2007 WL 2900527 at *1 1 ||(N.D. Cal. Oct. 2, 2007), “as the administrative record is voluminous.” E.M. v. Poway 2 || Unified Sch. Dist., No. 19-cv-00689-JM-MSB, at *2 (S.D. Cal. July 29, 2019). Indeed, the 3 || documents total more than 2,000 pages and contain sensitive details pertaining to the minor 4 || Defendant throughout. See ECF No. 13. 5 Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the Parties’ Joint Motion to File Documents 6 |}Under Seal. ECF No. 12. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to file the documents, 7 || currently lodged with the Court at ECF Nos. 13 and 15, UNDER SEAL. 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. fekut ¢ Psa 9 Dated: February 13, 2025 10 Hon. Robert S. Huie United States District Judge 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28