California OAH special education order · February 16, 2016
Order Denying Student's Request for Preliminary Injunction and Striking It From the Record
OAH Case No. 2015120810 · ALJ Charles Marson
OAH denied Student's request for a preliminary injunction moving Student to first grade because OAH lacks authority to issue injunctions, and struck the request as an improper extension of closing argument.
This case went to decision
Student v. Oakland Unified School District: Oakland Unified must fix speech therapy delivery and train providers; all other claims, including first-grade placement, denied. (2016)
Summary
After the hearing ended but before closing briefs were due, Parents asked OAH for a preliminary injunction to move Student from kindergarten to first grade until the final decision. Oakland opposed and moved to strike the request. OAH found it has no statutory authority or jurisdiction to issue preliminary injunctions. It also noted that stay put does not apply, because stay put keeps a student in the current placement rather than moving the student to a new one. OAH granted Oakland's motion to strike because the request contained extensive factual and legal argument that improperly went beyond the 25-page limit on closing arguments.
Why it matters
Families cannot use OAH to get a court-style injunction that changes a child's placement while a case is pending. Stay put only preserves the current placement. Filings made after the hearing that argue the merits may be struck if they get around the limits on closing briefs.
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. 2015120810 v. ORDER DENYING STUDENT’S
REQUEST FOR PRELIMINARY
OAKLAND UNIFIED SCHOOL INJUNCTION AND STRIKING IT
DISTRICT. FROM THE RECORD
This matter was filed on December 18, 2015. A due process hearing was held before the undersigned ALJ on January 26, 27, and 28, and February 2, 3, and 4, 2016. Closing arguments limited to 25 pages in length are due March 1, 2016. The central issue is whether Student, now kindergarten, should be in first grade instead.
On February 12, 2016, Parents filed a request for a preliminary injunction, seeking the immediate transfer of Student to first grade pending a final decision in this matter. On February 16, 2016, Oakland filed an opposition and a motion to strike Student’s motion from the record.
Preliminary Injunction OAH has no statutory authority or jurisdiction to issue preliminary injunctions. The closest analogue is a motion for stay put, which is inapplicable here because it seeks to keep the student in his current placement, not to put him in a different one. Because OAH has no jurisdiction to grant the request, it is DENIED.
Motion to Strike Oakland correctly argues that Student’s request for preliminary injunction, which contains extensive factual and legal argument, is an unauthorized expansion of Student’s right to file a closing argument and is inconsistent with the limits imposed on closing arguments.
Oakland’s motion to strike Student’s request for a preliminary injunction from the record is therefore GRANTED.
DATE: February 16, 2016
CHARLES MARSON
Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings