California OAH special education order · September 11, 2013
Order Following Order to Show Cause Hearing
OAH Case No. 2013060210 · ALJ Rebecca Freie
OAH dismissed an order to show cause against Student's advocate for missing a prehearing conference, accepting that faulty rural cell service caused the absence, but warned him future violations could bring sanctions.
Summary
OAH held a hearing on why Student should not pay expenses after Student's advocate, Dr. Robert Closson, failed to appear at the August 30, 2013 prehearing conference. Dr. Closson submitted a timely declaration and explained that he was in a rural area with poor cell service and his phone did not ring. The ALJ accepted this explanation and dismissed the order to show cause. She warned him that failing to follow OAH orders in this or any other case could lead to sanctions.
Why it matters
Missing a required OAH conference can expose a family's side to paying expenses. A prompt declaration with a credible explanation can avoid sanctions, but advocates should make sure they can be reached for scheduled calls.
People named in the order
- Robert Closson, Ed.D., Student's advocate
- David Girard, District attorney
- Rebecca Freie, Administrative Law Judge
Topics
Full text of the order
Published text of the OAH order. Page headers and numbers from the original PDF have been dropped.
BEFORE THE
OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
In the Matter of:
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT, OAH CASE NO. 2013060210
v. ORDER FOLLOWING ORDER TO
SHOW CAUSE HEARING
PLACER HILLS UNION SCHOOL
DISTRICT.
On September 9, 2013, an Order to Show Cause Hearing as to Why Student Should Not Pay Expenses for Failure to Appear at the Prehearing Conference (PHC) on August 30, 2013, was held before Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Rebecca Freie. Student’s advocate, Robert Closson, Ed.D., appeared, as did David Girard, Attorney at Law, on behalf of Placer Hills Union School District (District).
Student’s advocate timely submitted a declaration explaining his failure to appear on August 30, 2013. He explained during the hearing that his failure to appear was due to faulty cell phone service as he was in a rural location at the time of the PHC on that date, and his cell phone did not ring. The ALJ accepted this explanation, and hereby dismisses the Order to Show Cause. However, Dr. Closson was warned that failure to abide by an OAH order in the future, either in this case or another case filed before OAH on behalf of another student, may result in sanctions being imposed in the future.
Dated: September 11, 2013 /s/
REBECCA FREIE
Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings