California OAH special education order · December 1, 2014

Order Granting Request for Reconsideration; Setting Prehearing Conference and Hearing Dates

OAH Case No. 2014100503 · ALJ Adeniyi Ayoade

OAH granted Student's reconsideration request and moved the hearing up from March 3 to February 17, 2015, because Student needed an earlier date due to placement issues and OAH could now accommodate February dates.

Granted Reconsideration

Summary

OAH had granted San Joaquin County Office of Education's request to continue the due process hearing to March 3, 2015. Student moved for reconsideration the next day. The ALJ found that Student's disagreement with the continuance was not a new fact, circumstance, or law. However, Student said placement issues required an earlier hearing, and OAH could now offer February dates, so the ALJ granted reconsideration and reset the prehearing conference to February 9 and the hearing to begin February 17, 2015.

Why it matters

Disagreeing with a continuance is not enough to win reconsideration. A prompt motion that explains a concrete need for an earlier hearing, such as placement concerns, can still get the hearing moved up when OAH has open dates.

Key authority cited

Gov. Code, § 11521
Code Civ. Proc., § 1008
Baldwin v. Home Savings of America (1997) 59 Cal.App.4th 1192

Topics

reconsideration continuance hearing dates placement multiple agencies

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. 2014100503 v.

ORDER GRANTING REQUEST FOR

MARIPOSA COUNTY UNIFIED SCHOOL RECONSIDERATION; SETTING

DISTRICT, MARIPOSA COUNTY PREHEARING CONFERENCE AND

OFFICE OF EDUCATION, STANISLAUS HEARING DATES

COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION,

RIPON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT,

AND SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY OFFICE

OF EDUCATION.

On November 24, 2014 the undersigned administrative law judge issued an order, finding good cause and, continuing the due process hearing dates in this matter as requested by the San Joaquin County Office of Education, through its attorney, Rodney L. Levin. On November 25, 2014, Daniel R. Shaw, filed a motion for reconsideration on behalf of Student.

APPLICABLE LAW

The Office of Administrative Hearings will generally reconsider a ruling upon a showing of new or different facts, circumstances, or law justifying reconsideration, when the party seeks reconsideration within a reasonable period of time. (See, e.g., Gov. Code, § 11521; Code Civ. Proc., § 1008.) The party seeking reconsideration may also be required to provide an explanation for its failure to previously provide the different facts, circumstances or law. (See Baldwin v. Home Savings of America (1997) 59 Cal.App.4th 1192, 1199-1200.)

DISCUSSION AND ORDER

While the attorney for Student expresses a strong disagreement with the ALJ’s order granting continuance in this matter, Student failed to present any new or different facts, circumstances, or law justifying reconsideration. However, in granting the request for continuance, at the prehearing conference, and setting new due process hearing dates to begin on March 3, 2015, the undersigned indicated that OAH would be unable to set new hearing dates in this matter until late February to early March in 2015. Student’s request for reconsideration asserts that Student requires an earlier hearing date due to placement issues.

After considering all of Student’s contentions, OAH can accommodate hearing dates in this matter as early as February 2015. Therefore, new facts do exist to reset the hearing dates in this matter to begin on February 17, 2015. Accordingly, reconsideration is granted, and the prehearing conference and due process hearing dates in this matter are reset as follows:

Prehearing Conference: February 9, 2015, at 1:00 PM Due Process Hearing: February 17-19, and 24-26, 2015. The hearing shall begin at 9:00 AM each day, except for February 17 when the hearing shall begin 1:30 PM, and February 24 when the hearing shall begin at 9:30 AM. Thereafter, the hearing shall continue day to day, Monday through Thursday at the discretion of the ALJ until the hearing is concluded.