R.E. v. Brewster Central School District

180 F. Supp. 3d 262, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58162, 2016 WL 2606535
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided March 30, 2016·No. 15 Civ. 04562 (RMB)·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

DECISION & ORDER

■Richard M. Berman, United States District Judge

I. Background

On June 11, 2015, R.E. and D.E. (“Parents”) individually and on behalf of their son, M.E. (“M.”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), commenced this action pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., against the Brewster Central School District (“Defendant” or “Brewster”). Plaintiffs appeal from adverse administrative decisions of both the'New York State Education Department Impartial Hearing Officer (“IHO”) and State Review Officer (“SRO”). They request that the Court grant: (1) “compensatory education” relief for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years, and (2) reimbursement for M.’s tuition at the Eagle Hill School, a private school in Greenwich, Connecticut (“Eagle Hill”), for the 2013-14 school year. (See Compl., dated June 11, 2015 (“Compl.”), at 29.)

The parties agree that: (i) M. entered kindergarten (2006-07 school year) in Brewster and attended Brewster’s elementary and middle schools through sixth grade (2012-13 school year) (Pis.’ Rule 56.1 Statement, dated Nov. 21, 2015 (“Pis.’ 56.1”), ¶ 5; Def.’s Rule 56.1 Response Statement, dated Jan. 8, 2016 (“Def.’s 56.1”), ¶ 5); (ii) in the Spring of 2010, M. was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome or “as having symptoms associated with Tourette’s Syndrome” (Pis.’ 56.1 ¶ 7; Def.’s 56.1 ¶ 7); (iii) in the 2011-12 school year, M. “receive[d] accommodations” from Brewster pursuant to his plan, dated June 2, 2010, under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794 (“Section 504 Accommodation Plan”), for symptoms related to Tourette’s Syndrome (Pis.’ 56.11 ¶¶ 15-16; Def.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 15-16); (iv) in or around November 2011, M. was diagnosed as meeting the criteria for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (Pis.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 2, 17; Def.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 2, 17); (v) in December 2011, D.E. made a request for M.’s referral to special education and, in January 2012, Brewster’s Committee on Special Education convened to develop M.’s Individualized Education Program (“IEP”), pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1414, to commence in February 2012 (Pis.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 18-19; Def.’s 56,1 ¶¶ 18-19); (vi) by the Spring of 2013, M.’s symptoms (tics) worsened; he attended two hours of school per day in May 2013 and he received home tutoring in June 2013 (Pis.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 29-30; Def.’s 56.1 ¶¶29-30); and (vii) in August 2013, Plaintiffs notified Brewster that they rejected M.’s IEP for the 2013-14 school year and would (and did) unilaterally place M. at Eagle Hill (Pis.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 34-35; Def.’s 56.1 ¶¶34-35).

Principal points upon which the parties appear to disagree include: (i) whether Brewster should have identified M. as a student in need of special education services (IEP) in the first half of the 2011-12 school year rather than in or around January 2012 (Pis.’ 56.1 ¶ 19; Def.’s 56.1 ¶19); (ii) whether Brewster appropriately implemented M.’s IEP during 2012-13 (Pis.’ 56.1 ¶ 27; Def.’s 56.1 ¶27); and (iii) whether Brewster offered an appropriate IEP to M. for the 2013-14 school year (Pis.’ 56.1 ¶ 32; Def.’s 56.1 ¶ 32).

On October 21, 2013, Plaintiffs submitted a due process complaint to Defendant pursuant to the IDEA and the New York State Education Law (“Due Process Complaint”). (See Due Process Compl., dated Oct. 21, 2013.) Plaintiffs sought, among [266] other things: (1) “compensatory education services for [Brewster’s] failure to timely evaluate and identify [M.] in the 2011-2012 School Year” in violation of Brewster’s “Child Find” obligation under the IDEA; (2) “compensatory education services for [Brewster’s] failure to fully -implement [M/s] IEP in the 2012-2013 School Year”; and (3) tuition “reimbursement for [Brewster’s] failure to offer an appropriate program for the 2013-2014 School Year.” (Id. at 17.)

On December 4, 2014, after conducting a hearing over seven days between February 3, 2014 and October 6, 2014, the IHO dismissed Plaintiffs’ Due Process Complaint. (Findings of Fact and Decision, dated Dec. 4, 2014 (“IHO Decision”), at 1-2, 17.) The IHO determined that “[M.] was doing -reasonably well with his studies” under the Section 504 Accommodation Plan in 2011-12 and the IHO did “not find ... that [Brewster] violated its ’child find obligations for [that] year.” (Id. at 14.) The IHO also found that M. “demonstrated ... progress” under Brewster’s IEP in 2012-13 and also that M.’s neurologist “had problems with the application of the drug Strattera which may have caused [M.’s] tics to worsen and require [M.’s] homebound instruction at the end of the [2012-13] school year.” (Id. at 16.) The IHO concluded that Brewster “offered [M.] FAPE [‘free appropriate public education’ pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1412] for the 2013-2014 school year,” noting that the 2013-14 IEP’s continued “recommendation to place [M.] in an integrated co-teaching class was supported by [M.’s] demonstrated ability to progress in that setting” in 2012-13. (Id. at 15, 17.) The IHO “ordered [that] the Parents’ Due Process complaint for 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014 is denied.” (Id. at 17.)

On February 11, 2015, following an appeal by Plaintiffs, the- SRO affirmed the IHO’s findings, in a thorough, single-spaced twenty-eight-page decision. (See Decision No. 15-009, dated Feb. 11, 2015 (“SRO Decision”).) The SRO determined, among other things, that there is no reason to disturb the IHO’s conclusion that Brewster “did not violate its child find obligations for the 2011-12 school year,” citing the facts that “[M.] was responsive to the section 504 accommodations provided to him by [Brewster]” and that “[M.’s] class grades and test scores reflected average performance.” (Id. at 11, 13 & n.7, 27.) The SRO also found that the “record does not support a finding that [Brewster] ... failed to provide [M.] with the accommodations in the [2012-13] IEP in a material way, such that [Brewster] failed to offer [M.] a FAPE for the 2012-13 school year,” stating, among other things, that the “record does not support the parents’ concerns regarding [Brewster’s] provision of consultant teacher services” and “testing accommodations.” (Id. at 18-20.) Finally, the SRO affirmed the IHO’s conclusion that Brewster “offerfed] [M.] a FAPE for the 2013-14 school year,” determining, among other things, that Brewster “appropriately considered [M.’s] needs, as well as [his] progress during the 2012-13 school year ,.. in reaching its decision to recommend” the 2013-14 IEP. (Id. at 23, 27.)

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R.E. v. Brewster Central School District, 180 F. Supp. 3d 262, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58162, 2016 WL 2606535 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

180 F. Supp. 3d 262 (R.E. v. Brewster Central School District) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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