California OAH special education order · May 24, 2017
Order Sustaining Objection to Student's Exhibit 84; Order Denying Student's Request to File Case Decision Confidentially
OAH Case No. 2016100466, 2017030402 · ALJ Darrell Lepkowsky
OAH excluded Parent's partial transcript of a later IEP meeting because it fell outside the hearing's time frame and could be out of context, and refused to keep the decision non-public.
This case went to decision
Student v. Capistrano Unified School District et al.: Capistrano Unified must reimburse $704.06 and train staff over a delayed assessment and missing prior written notice; other claims denied. (2017)
Summary
After the hearing, Student asked OAH to admit Exhibit 84, a two-page transcript Parent made of a few minutes of a March 20, 2017 IEP meeting. District objected that the meeting came after the period at issue. The ALJ sustained the objection because the meeting was outside the relevant time frame, the full recording was not in evidence, and the short excerpt might be incomplete or out of context. The ALJ also denied Student's request that the decision not be made public. OAH will withhold the names of Student and family members, but state law requires its decisions to be available to the public.
Why it matters
Evidence from events after the period at issue is often excluded, and a parent's partial transcript of a meeting carries less weight without the full recording. Families can expect names to be kept confidential, but they cannot keep an OAH decision from being published.
Key authority cited
- Ed. Code, § 56505, subd. (e)(5)
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 Consolidated Matters of:
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT, OAH Case No. 2016100466 v.
CAPISTRANO UNIFIED SCHOOL
DISTRICT AND COMMUNITY ROOTS
ACADEMY.
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT OAH Case No. 2017030402 v. ORDER SUSTAINING OBJECTION TO
STUDENT’S EXHIBIT 84; ORDER
CAPISTRANO UNIFIED SCHOOL DENYING STUDENT’S REQUEST TO
DISTRICT. FILE CASE DECISION
CONFIDENTIALLY
On the second to last day of hearing in this matter, Student moved to admit into evidence her Exhibit 84, a two-page transcript prepared by Student’s mother of a portion of an individualized education program team meeting held on March 20, 2017. District objected to the document as irrelevant because the IEP team meeting took place after the time period covered by the hearing. The undersigned Administrative Law Judge, who was hearing the matter, deferred a decision on admission of the exhibit for consideration on the last day of hearing. However, the exhibit was not addressed on that date. On May 16, 2017, after the last day of hearing, Student filed a request that the document be admitted into evidence.
The IEP meeting during which the conversation at issue occurred took place subsequent to the time frame at issue in this case. Additionally, the recording of the March 20, 2017 IEP team meeting was not entered into evidence. Student’s Exhibit 84 covers only a few minutes of the meeting; it is therefore not possible to determine if the conversation transcribed in Student’s Exhibit 84 captured the entire conversation on the issue or if the portion transcribed was taken out of context. Therefore, after due consideration, Student’s request is denied, and District’s objection to Student’s Exhibit 84 is sustained.
Student also requested that identifying information be excluded from the Decision in this case, and that the Decision not be made public. The Office of Administrative Hearings keeps confidential the name of students, their parents, and other family members so that the student at issue in a due process hearing is not identified. That protocol will be followed in this case. However, OAH decisions are required to be made available to the public. (Ed.
Code, § 56505, subd. (e)(5).) OAH is therefore unable to honor Student’s request that the Decision in her case not be made public.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATE: May 24, 2017
DARRELL LEPKOWSKY
Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings