California OAH special education order · December 6, 2016
Order Taking Official Notice of Geographical Distances
OAH Case No. 2016061098 · ALJ Charles Marson
OAH took official notice that Andrew Hill High School is 0.5 miles from Student's home on foot and 1.5 miles by car. Distances between places are indisputable facts, and the districts did not respond.
This case went to decision
Student v. East Side Union High School District et al.: East Side Union High must fund two years at Provo Canyon School as compensatory education; County Office prevails on all claims. (2016)
Summary
After the hearing, Student asked OAH to take judicial notice of the distance between Student's home and Andrew Hill High School, supported by a Mapquest printout. Neither East Side nor the County Office of Education responded. Applying Evidence Code section 452, subdivision (h), as guidance, the ALJ found that geographical distances are facts that cannot reasonably be disputed. The distance was also relevant to whether East Side took adequate steps to get Mother's signature on an assessment plan and her attendance at IEP meetings, so OAH took official notice of it.
Why it matters
Parents can ask OAH to officially notice facts that cannot reasonably be disputed, such as distances from an online map, to support arguments about a district's outreach efforts without calling a witness. Districts that do not respond to such requests risk having them granted.
Key authority cited
- Evid. Code, § 452, subd. (h)
- Gov. Code, § 11515
- In re Nicole H. (2016) 244 Cal.App.4th 1150
- People v. Traugott (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 492
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. 2016061098 v. ORDER TAKING OFFICIAL NOTICE
OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISTANCES
EAST SIDE UNION HIGH SCHOOL
DISTRICT AND SANTA CLARA OFFICE
OF EDUCATION.
On November 23, 2016, Student filed a “Request for Judicial Notice” that Andrew Hill High School is 0.5 miles away from Student’s home by foot and 1.5 miles by automobile. In support of the request, Student attached a printout from the mapping function of the website Mapquest.com. No response has been received from East Side Union High School or the Santa Clara County Office of Education.
APPLICABLE LAW
No specific statute or regulation governs the taking of official notice1 in special education due process proceedings. For guidance in such situations the Office of Administrative Hearings often looks to the Evidence Code. Section 452, subdivision (h) of that Code allows the taking of judicial notice of “[f]acts and propositions that are not reasonably subject to dispute and are capable of immediate and accurate determination by resort to sources of reasonably indisputable accuracy.”
Under that provision, California courts take judicial notice of the distances between geographical places. (See, e.g., In re Nicole H. (2016) 244 Cal.App.4th 1150, 1153 [distance between Stockton and appellant’s father’s home]; People v. Traugott (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 492, 497, fn. 4 [distance from Banning courthouse to Fontana].)
DISCUSSION
At hearing the parties disputed whether East Side took adequate steps to obtain Mother’s signature on an assessment plan and her attendance at individualized education program team meetings. The physical distance between Student’s school and his (and Mother’s) home is relevant to that determination. Neither East Side nor the County Office of Education has responded to Student’s request, having had a reasonable time to do so.
Judicial notice is generally called official notice when taken by an administrative tribunal. (See, e.g., Gov. Code, § 11515.)
Official notice is therefore taken of the fact that Andrew Hill High School is 0.5 miles away from Student’s home by foot and 1.5 miles by automobile.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATE: December 6, 2016
CHARLES MARSON
Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings