California OAH special education order · March 3, 2017
Order Striking Student's Response and Counter Complaint
OAH Case No. 2017021203 · ALJ Rebecca Freie
OAH struck Parent's response and counter complaint to Fremont's due process filing because the IDEA neither requires a response nor allows counter complaints, though Student may file a separate case.
This case went to decision
Fremont Unified School District v. Student: Fremont Unified may reassess a 10th grader with anxiety-related attendance problems without parent consent; services may stop if Student is not produced. (2017)
Summary
Fremont filed a due process complaint against Student. Two days later Parent emailed a response and counter complaint: 73 pages raising 31 issues, including replies to Fremont's claims, requests for sanctions, and Student's own IDEA claims. OAH struck these filings because the IDEA does not require parents to respond to a district's complaint and does not allow a respondent to file a counter complaint or cross-complaint. A footnote explains that Student or Parent may file a separate due process request and then ask OAH to consolidate the two cases.
Why it matters
Parents who want to raise their own claims after a district files for due process must file a separate due process complaint, not a counter complaint. They can then ask OAH to consolidate the two cases.
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:
FREMONT UNIFIED SCHOOL OAH Case No. 2017021203
DISTRICT,
ORDER STRIKING STUDENT’S
v. RESPONSE AND COUNTER
COMPLAINT
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT.
On February 28, 2017, Fremont Unified School District filed a request for a due process hearing (complaint), naming Student. On March 2, 2017, Parent sent an email to OAH explaining he was filing a response and counter complaint. Attached to the email were 24 pages containing 31 separate problems or complaints (issues) on the OAH forms often used by parties to request mediation and due process hearing pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Parent also emailed separately 49 additional pages containing further information concerning the 31 issues. Some of the 31 issues appear to be a response to Fremont’s complaint, some appear to be requests for sanctions, and some appear to be issues that would appear in a request for due process filed by a Student pursuant to the IDEA.
The IDEA does not require parents to file a response to a complaint filed by a school district. Further, there is no authority in the IDEA for respondents in this type of action to file a cross-complaint or counter complaint. Accordingly, these documents will be stricken from the record. 1
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATE: March 3, 2017
REBECCA FREIE
Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings Nothing in this order prevents Student or Parent from filing their own request for due process, which will be assigned a different case number. If this is done, a motion to consolidate both matters may also be filed with OAH for consideration.