California OAH special education order · July 20, 2018
Order Denying Motion to Amend Complaint Without Prejudice
OAH Case No. 2018050914 · ALJ Penelope S. Pahl
OAH denied Student's unopposed motion to amend without prejudice because Student filed only an attachment to the original complaint rather than a single, complete amended complaint.
This case went to decision
Student v. Antioch Unified School District: Antioch Unified prevails on all issues: 2016 autism assessment upheld, no IEE, and manifestation review without parents allowed. (2019)
Summary
Student asked to amend a due process complaint against Antioch Unified School District by filing a proposed attachment to the existing complaint. Antioch did not oppose. OAH denied the motion without prejudice. The law allows an amended complaint, not an addendum. The attachment also did not show which allegations it added to and which it replaced, and it left out information about Student, Parents, and district contacts.
Why it matters
Even an unopposed amendment can be denied if it is not filed as a complete, stand-alone amended complaint. Parents should refile the whole complaint with all required information, not a supplement or addendum.
Key authority cited
- 20 U.S.C. § 1415(c)(2)(E)
- 20 U.S.C. § 1415(c)(2)(E)(ii)
- Ed. Code § 56502(e)
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. 2018050914 v. ORDER DENYING MOTION TO
AMEND COMPLAINT WITHOUT
ANTIOCH UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT. PREJUDICE
On May 21, 2018, Student filed a Due Process Hearing Request (complaint) naming Antioch Unified School District as respondent. On July 3, 2018, Student filed a Motion to Amend the Due Process Hearing Request with a proposed attachment to the due process complaint already on file. The amendment was not a complete amended complaint in that it.
Furthermore, the proposed attachment did not indicate which information supplemented the old complaint and which information supplanted previously submitted allegations. No information regarding the Student, Parents or school district contacts were included. No opposition to the motion to amend was received from Antioch.
An amended complaint may be filed when either (a) the other party consents in writing and is given the opportunity to resolve the complaint through a resolution session, or (b) the hearing officer grants permission, provided the hearing officer may grant such permission at any time more than five (5) days prior to the due process hearing. (20 U.S.C.
§1415(c)(2)(E).) The filing of an amended complaint restarts the applicable timelines for the due process hearing. (20 U.S.C. §1415(c)(2)(E)(ii).) As an amended complaint is tantamount to filing a new complaint, any amended complaint must meet all of the requirements of an original complaint.
Student did not file a single proposed amended complaint. The law permits, “[A]n amended complaint,” to be filed, not an attachment or addendum to an originally filed complaint. (20 U.S.C. §1415(c)(2)(E); Ed. Code 56502(e).) As a result, the motion to file the amendment is DENIED without prejudice.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATE: July 20, 2018
PENELOPE S. PAHL
Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings