In Re Humerick

738 N.E.2d 31, 137 Ohio App. 3d 45
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 10, 2000
DocketC.A. Case No. 17771. T.C. Case No. JC G 95-4575 OC.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 738 N.E.2d 31 (In Re Humerick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Humerick, 738 N.E.2d 31, 137 Ohio App. 3d 45 (Ohio Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

Fain, Judge.

Intervenor-appellant New Lebanon Local School District Board of Education appeals from an order of the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, Juvenile Division, ordering it to bear the costs of educating Mariah Humerick, a handicapped child receiving special education. New Lebanon Local School District argues that the trial court should have applied R.C. 3313.64(C)(1), which would make the local school district in which the parent of the handicapped child currently resides responsible for the costs of the child’s education. Although the issue is not free from difficulty, we conclude that the trial court correctly applied R.C. 3313.64(C)(2), which provides that a local school district in which the parent of the child resided at the time that the child was removed from the parent’s custody, New Lebanon Local School District in this case, must bear the costs of educating that child. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

I

New Lebanon Local School District has filed the only brief in this appeal. Because we concluded that the West Carrollton City School District would be the school district alternatively responsible for the costs of Mariah Humerick’s education, should New Lebanon school district prevail in this appeal, we extended an invitation to the West Carrollton City School District, which was neither a *47 party in the trial court nor a party to this appeal, to file a brief amicus curiae. It has not responded to our invitation.

The facts are succinctly set forth in New Lebanon Local School District’s brief, as follows:

“The important fact of this case is the changing residency of Mariah Humerick’s mother, Tanya Sparks. Beginning in the 1998-99 school year Mariah Humerick attended school in the New Lebanon Local School District. At that time Mariah Humerick resided with her mother, Tanya Sparks.
“Prior to attending New Lebanon, Mariah Humerick attended the Kettering City School District. While attending the Kettering City School District, it was determined Mariah Humerick was handicapped within the meaning of R.C. Chapter 3323. An individualized educational plan was prepared.
“Mariah Humerick only attended New Lebanon from August 1998 until December 1998. Mariah Humerick did not return to school after the Christmas break in December 1998. On December 28, 1998, Tanya Sparks, Mariah Humerick’s mother, moved from a residence in New Lebanon to a residence in the West Carrollton City School District.
“On December 22, 1998, the Montgomery County Children’s Services Board filed a motion for temporary custody of Mariah Humerick. At that time Mariah Humerick’s mother, Tanya Sparks, resided within the boundaries of New Lebanon. However, as previously noted, on December 28, 1998, Tanya Sparks moved to a residence within the West Carrollton City School District.
“On January 27, 1999 Magistrate Cranmer entered an order of interim temporary custody and shelter care placing Mariah Humerick in the care of Montgomery County Children Services. When Magistrate Cranmer entered his order on January 27, 1999, Magistrate Cranmer stated that New Lebanon should bear the cost of educating Mariah Humerick.
“Mariah Humerick currently resides at the Dettmer Residential Treatment Facility located in Miami County, Ohio. Dettmer has requested reimbursement of educational expenses for Mariah Humerick from New Lebanon.” (Citations to record omitted.)

New Lebanon Local School District sought, and was granted, leave to intervene in the trial court for the purpose of objecting to the magistrate’s decision. An order was entered in the trial court on May 21, 1999, overruling New Lebanon Local School District’s objection.

New Lebanon Local School District appeals from the order of the trial court, entered April 5, 1999, requiring it to bear the costs of educating Mariah Humerick.

*48 II

New Lebanon Local School District’s sole assignment of error is as follows:

“The juvenile court erred when it determined that New Lebanon Local School District is the school district responsible for bearing the cost of educating Mariah Humerick.”

R.C. 3313.64(C) provides:

“A district shall not charge tuition for children admitted under division (B)(1) or (3) of this section. If the district admits a child under division (B)(2) of this section, tuition shall be paid to the district that admits the child as follows:
“(1) If the child receives special education in accordance with Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, tuition shall be paid in accordance with section 3323.091, 3323.13, 3323.14, 3323.141 of the Revised Code regardless of who has custody of the child or whether the child resides in a home.
“(2) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(2)(d) of this section, if the child is in the permanent or legal custody of a government agency or person other than the child’s parent, tuition shall be paid by:
“(a) The district in which the child’s parent resided at the time the court removed the child from home or at the time the court vested legal or permanent custody of the child and the person or government agency, whichever occurred first[.]”

Division (B)(2) of R.C. 3313.64 applies in this case because Mariah Humerick does not reside in the district where her parent resides and she both is in the legal or permanent custody of a government agency, and requires special education.

New Lebanon Local School District argues that the trial court should have applied R.C. 3313.64(C)(1), which provides that when a child is receiving special education, tuition is to be paid by the school district in which the parent of the child resides, regardless of who has custody of the child or whether the child resides in the home. If R.C. 3313.64 wex*e the only statute that the trial court was required to consider, we would agree with New Lebanon Local School District. However, the jurisdiction, powers, and duties of a juvenile court are established in Chapter 2151 of the Ohio Revised Code, and R.C. 2151.357 provides:

“In the manner prescribed by division (C)(2) of section 3313.64 of the Revised Code, the court, at the time of making any order that removes a child from the child’s own home or that vests legal or permanent custody of the child in a person other than the child’s parent or a government agency, shall determine the school district that is to bear the cost of educating the child. The court shall make the *49 determination a part of the order that provides for the child’s placement or commitment.”

Thus, the very statute empowering and requiring the trial court to make the order from which this appeal is taken directs the trial court to determine the school district that is to bear the cost of educating the child “[i]n the matter prescribed by division (C)(2) of section 3313.64 of the Ohio Revised Code.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
738 N.E.2d 31, 137 Ohio App. 3d 45, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-humerick-ohioctapp-2000.