California OAH special education order · December 16, 2013

Order Following Expedited Pre-Hearing Conference Setting Order to Show Cause Re: Dismissal

OAH Case No. 2013110633 · ALJ Kara K. Hatfield

OAH refused to vacate Student's expedited hearing because expedited hearings cannot be continued or stayed, and ordered Student to show cause why the case should not be dismissed after both attorneys missed the prehearing conference.

Order to show cause Expedited hearings

Summary

Student asked OAH to vacate the hearing dates and set a status conference. OAH found the request inadequate for the expedited issues because no authority allows an expedited due process hearing to be continued or stayed. To vacate the January 6, 2014 expedited hearing, Student must withdraw the expedited issues. The vacate-and-status-conference procedure OAH uses for settlements awaiting board approval is not available for expedited hearings. Neither Student's nor the District's attorney appeared at the expedited prehearing conference, so OAH set a December 30, 2013 hearing for Student to show cause why the expedited case should not be dismissed for failing to take part in the prehearing conference process.

Why it matters

Expedited hearings cannot be put on hold, even when the parties have a settlement waiting for board approval. The filing party must withdraw the expedited claims or keep showing up, because missing the prehearing conference can lead to dismissal.

Topics

expedited hearing continuance order to show cause failure to appear settlement pending board approval

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:

OAH CASE NO. 2013110633

PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT,

ORDER FOLLOWING EXPEDITED

v. PRE-HEARING CONFERENCE

SETTING ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

ALVORD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT. RE: DISMISSAL

On December 16, 2013, a telephonic prehearing conference (PHC) was held before Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Kara K. Hatfield, Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). Meldie Moore, Attorney at Law, failed to appear on behalf of Student. Dina Harris, Attorney at Law, failed to appear on behalf of Alvord Unified School District. The PHC was not recorded due to the lack of appearances.

The ALJ issues the following order:

1. Student’s Request to Vacate Dates and Schedule Status Conference is

inadequate as to the expedited issues of the case. There is no authority permitting a continuance or stay of an expedited due process hearing. To vacate the expedited due process hearing set for January 6, 2014, Student must file a request to withdraw the complaint as to the expedited issues in the case. While OAH will vacate dates and set a status conference for matters that have an executed settlement agreement requiring board approval, this procedure is not available for expedited hearings.

2. Unless the expedited matter is withdrawn and subsequently dismissed, a

telephonic hearing will be held on December 30, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. for Student to show cause why the expedited case should not be dismissed for failure to participate in the expedited prehearing conference process. If Student demonstrates cause why the matter should not be dismissed, the matter will proceed to prehearing conference at that time.