J.N. v. South Western School District

55 F. Supp. 3d 589, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134346, 2014 WL 4792260
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 24, 2014
DocketCivil No. 1:14-CV-0974
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 55 F. Supp. 3d 589 (J.N. v. South Western School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J.N. v. South Western School District, 55 F. Supp. 3d 589, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134346, 2014 WL 4792260 (M.D. Pa. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

CHRISTOPHER C. CONNER, Chief Judge.

Plaintiffs J.N. and J.N. (“the parents”), on their own behalf and as parents and natural guardians of J.N. (“J.N.”), filed the above-captioned action, alleging violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), as amended, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 794. Plaintiffs seek reimbursement for tuition and related expenses, reimbursement for expert testimony, compensatory education, and costs and fees. Presently before the court is a motion (Doc. 10) to supplement the administrative record. For the reasons that follow, the court will deny the motion.

I. Factual Background and Procedural History

J.N. is a fourteen-year-old special needs student who resides in the South Western School District (“the District”). (Doc. 1 ¶¶ 1, 5). J.N. attended homeschool from kindergarten through fifth grade. (Id. ¶¶ 6, 24). In February 2011, the Penn State Hershey Psychiatric Institute evaluated J.N. and diagnosed him with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dysgraphia, and specific learning disabilities in reading, mathematics, and written expression. (Id. ¶ 7). In an Independent Educational Evaluation (“IEE”) of J.N. in July 2012, Dr. Margaret Kay (“Dr. Kay”) confirmed these learning disabilities and recommended, inter alia, that J.N. receive instruction using “Wilson” reading programs to improve his reading skills. (Id. ¶¶ 15-16). With respect to placement, Dr. Kay stated that J.N. requires a “small, structured school setting” designed to assist students with nonverbal or right-hemispheric learning disorders, such as The Janus School (“Janus”). (Id. ¶ 17).

J.N. attended sixth grade at an intermediate school in the District during the 2012-2013 academic year.1 In August 2012, J.N.’s parents and the District attended an Individualized Education Program (“IEP”)2 meeting at which the District offered J.N. reading instruction using the “System 44” program rather than the Wilson program. (Id. ¶ 25). At that time, J.N.’s reading skills were between the third- and fourth-grade level. (Id. ¶ 26). The parties strenuously dispute the extent to which J.N. made meaningful progress in reading and other subjects during the 2012-2013 academic year. In May 2013, Dr. Kay conducted another IEE of J.N. and noted that J.N.’s standard scores and growth scale values (“GSVs”) decreased in reading comprehension and related areas [593]*593over the course of the prior school year. (Id. ¶¶ 40-41). Dr. Kay reiterated her recommendation that J.N. receive instruction using the Wilson reading program, (id. ¶ 43), and concluded that the District had not provided J.N. an appropriate education with respect to literacy skills, (Doc. 9-13, Ex. P-27 at 15).

The parties reconvened for an IEP meeting on July 8, 2013. The District offered J.N. reading instruction using the “Read 180” program for the 2013-2014 academic year. (Doc. 13 ¶ 63). J.N.’s parents objected to this program and requested that the District place J.N. at Janus at its expense. (Doc. 1 ¶ 55). They subsequently filed a due process complaint with the Pennsylvania Office for Dispute Resolution (“ODR”), which they amended on July 15, 2013. (Id. ¶ 57). The District drafted a revised IEP on July 18, 2013 in which it proposed sixty minutes of Wilson instruction per day in connection with Read 180. (See Doc. 13 ¶ 67). J.N.’s parents again requested that the District place J.N. at Janus, but the District denied this request. (Doc. 1 ¶ 69). The parents enrolled J.N. at Janus for 2013-2014 school year. (Id. ¶¶ 72, 75).

The due process hearing consisted of five hearing sessions between September 2013 and January 2014. After receiving testimony from J.N.’s parents, Dr. Kay, District administrators, and a representative from Janus, among others, the Hearing Officer concluded that the Read 180 program met J.N.’s needs and that the District’s July 8, 2013 IEP offered J.N. a free and appropriate public education (“FAPE”) for the 2013-2014 academic year. (Doc. 1-3 at 17-18). Hence, the Hearing Officer did not consider whether Janus was an appropriate private placement for J.N. (Id. at 17). Over the course of the healing, the Hearing Officer excluded certain proposed exhibits, several of which are at issue in the instant motion.

Plaintiffs filed their complaint (Doc. 1) in this court on May 21, 2014. On July 14, 2014, plaintiffs moved to supplement the administrative record. The motion has been fully briefed and is ripe for disposition.

II. Legal Standard

The IDEA seeks “to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.” 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A). In furtherance of this goal, the IDEA requires that state and local agencies establish certain procedural safeguards in connection with the provision of FAPE. Id. § 1415(a). These procedures must allow parents to examine their child’s records, participate in IEP meetings, and obtain IEEs. Id. § 1415(b)(1). Parents also have a right to an impartial due process hearing conducted by a state or local agency. Id. § 1415(f)(1)(A). After exhausting state remedies, a party who is aggrieved by the result of the state due process hearing may bring suit in federal district court for violation of the IDEA. Id. § 1415(i)(2)(A). A district court possesses jurisdiction to hear such actions regardless of the amount in controversy. Id.

The IDEA provides that a district court “shall hear additional evidence at the request of a party.” Id. § 1415(i)(2)(C)(ii); accord 34 C.F.R. § 300.516(c)(2). “Additional evidence” does not refer to all evidence, but rather to evidence that properly supplements the administrative record. See Susan N., 70 F.3d at 759 (citing Town of Burlington v. Dep’t of Educ., 736 F.2d 773, 790 (1st [594]*594Cir.1984), aff'd sub nom. Sch. Comm. of Town of Burlington. v. Dep’t of Educ., 471 U.S. 359, 105 S.Ct. 1996, 85 L.Ed.2d 385 (1985)). A district court must evaluate a party’s proposed evidence and determine whether it is relevant, noncumulative, and useful with respect to “whether Congress’s goal has been reached for the child involved.” Id. at 759-60. Evidence may be excluded when it would merely “embellish” testimony provided at the administrative hearing. Bernardsville Bd. of Educ. v. J.H., 42 F.3d 149, 161 (3d Cir.1994).

Whether additional evidence should be admitted is left to the discretion of the district court. Susan N.,

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55 F. Supp. 3d 589, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134346, 2014 WL 4792260, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jn-v-south-western-school-district-pamd-2014.