Rockwall Independent School District v. M.C. ex rel. M.C.

816 F.3d 329, 2016 WL 929445, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 4497
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedMarch 10, 2016
DocketNo. 14-10333
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 816 F.3d 329 (Rockwall Independent School District v. M.C. ex rel. M.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rockwall Independent School District v. M.C. ex rel. M.C., 816 F.3d 329, 2016 WL 929445, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 4497 (5th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

JAMES L. DENNIS, Circuit Judge:

The parents of M.C., a minor child who qualifies for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), 20. U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., appeal the district court’s judgment denying them reimbursement for the tuition cost of M.C.’s enrollment in a private school. Because the district court’s findings and the underlying record support the conclusion that M.C.’s parents acted unreasonably in unilaterally terminating the process of developing M.C.’s Individualized Educational Plan (“IEP”), we affirm the district court’s denial of reimbursement. See 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(10)(C)(iii)(III) (providing that an award of private school tuition “may be reduced or denied ... upon a judicial finding of unreasonableness with respect to actions taken by the parents”); 34 C.F.R. § 300.148(d)(3). (same).

I.

A.

M.Q. entered the eighth grade in the Rockwall Independent School District (“RISD”) during the 2009-2010 school year. Before the beginning of the school year, M.C.’s parents had her evaluated by a psychologist and a psychiatrist who concluded that she suffered-from depression and' Attention Deficit Disorder (“ADD”). After being informed of these results, RISD performed a Full Individual Evaluation (“FIE”) of M.C., which included a psychological evaluation by a Licensed Specialist in School Psychology. The FIE report concluded that M:C. was eligible for special education services as á student with an Emotional Disturbance but not as a student with Other Health Impairment such as ADD or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (“ADHD”). Thereafter, in February 2010, RISD held M.C.’s initial Admission, Review, and- Dismissal Committee (“ARDC”)1 meeting during which an IEP was developed for her.

Thereafter, M.C.’s difficulties at school apparently worsened. Her grades declined. She was repeatedly truant. She was placed in detention and received both in- and out-of-school suspensions.

M.C. began her ninth grade year - at Rockwall High School in the fall of 2010. However, on the night before the first day of school, M.C. left her home without permission, drove with a friend, and was in a car accident. As a result, M.C. received a 45-day suspension in RISD’s disciplinary alternative 'education program. After completion of her suspension, M.C. suffered severe anxiety" and refused to remain in school for the full day. Her psychiatrist recommended a residential placement.

In December 2010, a new ARDC meeting was convened, at which M.C.’s parents requested that RISD agree to place M.C. in a residential, facility. RISD did not agree to this request but instead proposed [332]*332placing M.C. in RISD’s “Transitions” classroom. The parents indicated they were willing to try this arrangement but also wanted to see progress such as M.C. achieving passing grades and not calling home. By this meeting, the ARDC had completed a counseling evaluation and, as a result, M.C.’sIEP was revised to include counseling for. her for fifteen minutes every other week. In addition, at the meeting, the ARDC revised M.C.’s Independent Study Skills, Behavior, and Transition goals and objectives.

Before the December 2010 IEP could be put into effect, however, M.C.’s parents removed her from Rockwall High School and placed her in a residential treatment facility, the Meridell Achievement Center (“Meridell”), based on the advice of M.C.’s psychiatrist. This was done without the approval or involvement of RISD. M.C. attended Meridell from December 14, 2010 until February 15, 2011. While at Meri-dell, M.C. received instruction through the University ' of Texas-University Charter School—not by RISD. Records from an ARDC meeting convened by University Charter for M.C. (which did not involve RISD) reveal that M.C. participated in the general, education curriculum with accommodations in an academic setting of between 8 and. 12 students in a class, with faculty/staff available at all .times, and escorts between classes.

Following M.C.’s discharge from Meri-dell in February 2011, her parents decided that she was not ready to return to RISD. Instead, they enrolled M.C. at the Dallas Learning Center (“DLC”), a non-áccredit-ed private school that uses simultaneous enrollment in the University of Nebraska’s Independent Study High School, a fully accredited high school under the North Central Association. DLC’s director testified that,the school is a “very structured, tight environment, with constant supervision.” In addition, there is a “tutoring type of rapport” between students and teachers; there is a maximum of eight students to one teacher for each class; and DLC students have 15-minute breaks between each class period. M.C. continued her studies at the DLC for the remainder of the spring semester of the 2010-2011 school year.

In July 2011, M.C.’s parents filed a request for a due process hearing with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) seeking reimbursement for M.C.’s private school tuition of the 2010-2011 school year. Subsequently, the parents entered into a settlement agreement with RISD whereby RISD agreed, inter alia, to reimburse M.C.’s parents for M.C.’s private school tuition for the 2010-2011 school year as well as the fall semester of the 2011-2012 school year. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, M.C.’s parents agreed, inter alia, to provide RISD with no less than thirty days’ notice of their intent to re-enroll M.C. in RISD if they decided to return during the 2011-2012 school year to enable RISD to schedule an ARDC meeting in order to devise an IEP for M.C.’s re-enrollment in the district.

B.

M.C. completed the fall semester of the 2011-2012 school year at the DLC. On November 11, 2011, M.C.’s parents notified RISD that they intended to re-enroll M.C. at Rockwall High School for the 2012 spring semester. Accordingly, an ARDC meeting was held on December 14, 2011;

A number of different parties attended the December 14, 2011, ARDC meeting. Representing RISD were: Dr. Mark Le-Master, the principal at Rockwall High School; Shadie Acosta, M.C.’s former algebra teacher; Rochelle Eddy, the special education, counselor; Lea Garrett, the specialist in school psychology; Marian Hin[333]*333ton, the chairwoman of the special education department; Sue Peterson, the diagnostician; Debi Buchanan, the special education director; Maurice' Lane, the transition teacher; Cathy Honeycutt, the executive director for special programs; and Katie Duran, the counselor at Rock-wall High School. On behalf of M.C. were: her parents and Mara LaViola, a special education advocate (the “Advocate”).

Dr. LeMaster opened the meeting by explaining that “everybody is free to talk” and “[everybody gets to be heard.” He also indicated that the purpose of the meeting was to “see how [the ARDC] could come to decisions ... about M.C. and what’s in her best interest.” Following introductions, the meeting then commenced with a cursory review of M.C.’s prior evaluations, all of which were considered “current.”2 Ms. Garrett explained that M.C. was eligible for special education services because she has an “emotional disturbance,” meaning that “emotions and behaviors interfere with her learning and her educational progress.” Ms.

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816 F.3d 329, 2016 WL 929445, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 4497, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rockwall-independent-school-district-v-mc-ex-rel-mc-ca5-2016.