California OAH special education order · August 14, 2013
Order Denying Student's Objection and Motion to Strike and Motion for Sanctions
OAH Case No. 2013080296 · ALJ Robert Helfand
OAH denied Student's motion to strike the District's notice of insufficiency and Student's request for sanctions, because OAH had already found Student's complaint insufficient, so the District's filing was not frivolous.
This case went to decision
Student v. Manteca Unified School District (consolidated): Manteca Unified wins all issues and may place student at Children's Home of Stockton without parent consent. (2013)
Summary
Student objected to and moved to strike Manteca Unified School District's notice of insufficiency, and separately sought sanctions, calling the notice a frivolous pleading. Before ruling on these motions, OAH issued a separate order agreeing with the District that Student's complaint was insufficient. Because that issue had already been decided against Student, OAH denied both the motion to strike and the sanctions request as lacking merit.
Why it matters
A district's notice of insufficiency is a legitimate challenge, not a frivolous filing, especially when OAH agrees the complaint is deficient. Parents are better served by amending a complaint to cure insufficiency than by seeking sanctions over the challenge.
Key authority cited
- Ed. Code § 56502
- 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(7)(A)
Topics
Full text of the order
Published text of the OAH order. Page headers and numbers from the original PDF have been dropped.
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
In the Matter of:
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT, OAH CASE NO. 2013080296
v. ORDER DENYING STUDENT’S
OBJECTION AND MOTION TO
MANTECA UNIFIED SCHOOL STRIKE AND MOTION FOR
DISTRICT. SANCTIONS
On August 07, 2013 Student’s parent on behalf of Student (Student) filed with the Office of Administrative Hearing (OAH) a Due Process Hearing Request 1 (complaint)
naming the Manteca Unified School District (District) as respondent.
On August 9, 2013, the District filed a Notice of Insufficiency] (NOI) as to Student’s complaint.
On August 13, 2013, Student filed two motions. The first was an objection and motion to strike the District’s NOI. The second was a motion for sanctions against the District for filing a frivolous pleading, the NOI.
On August 13, 2013, OAH issued an order finding that Student’s complaint was not sufficient. Thus, Student’s motions have no merit as the issue has been decided adversely to Student.
ORDER
1. Student’s objection and motion to dismiss is denied.
2. Student’s motion for sanctions is denied.
Dated: August 14, 2013 /s/
ROBERT HELFAND
Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings 1 A request for a due process hearing under Education Code section 56502 is the due process complaint notice required under Title 20 United States Code section 1415(b)(7)(A).