California OAH special education order · September 27, 2018
Order Denying Request for Official Notice
OAH Case No. 2018070224 · ALJ Penelope S. Pahl
OAH denied Student's request for official notice of Education Code section 56324(b) on health assessor qualifications, finding official notice unnecessary because the ALJ can consider statutes without it.
This case went to decision
Summit Public Schools-Denali v. Student: Summit Public Schools-Denali may not assess without consent through a "diagnostic placement" or implement its June 2018 IEP. (2018)
Summary
During hearing, Student's counsel asked the ALJ to take official notice of Education Code section 56324, subdivision (b). That section sets out the qualifications for people who conduct health assessments. Summit-Denali objected that the request amounted to raising a new issue not previously raised at hearing. The ALJ explained that Government Code section 11515 does not apply to special education hearings, and that official notice under Evidence Code section 452(h) is generally used for easily verifiable facts. Because official notice is not required for every statute the ALJ considers, the request was denied as unnecessary.
Why it matters
Parties do not need to ask OAH to officially notice a statute in order to rely on it. The ALJ can consider the law anyway, though new legal theories still must fit within the issues set for hearing. Official notice is for easily verifiable facts, not for importing legal standards.
Key authority cited
- Ed. Code § 56324, subd. (b)
- Gov. Code § 11515
- Evid. Code § 452, subd. (h)
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:
OAH Case No. 2018070224
SUMMIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS: DENALI,
ORDER DENYING REQUEST FOR
v. OFFICIAL NOTICE
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT.
On September 19, 2018, Counsel for Student served and attempted to file a request that the undersigned take official notice of California Education code section 56324, subdivision (b), which sets forth the qualifications of personnel conducting health assessments for Students in the state of California.1 That request was re-filed on September 21, 2018. On September 20, 2018 counsel for Summit-Denali objected to the request on the grounds that it was tantamount to raising an issue not previously raised in hearing.
No specific state or federal statute or regulation governs the taking of official notice in special education proceedings in California. When official notice is taken, OAH generally considers the California evidence code sections governing judicial notice in evaluating the merits of a request. Although Student’s counsel bases her request of California Government Code section 11515, that code section does not pertain to special education hearings.
Counsel asks that the code section be officially noticed pursuant to California Evidence Code section 452, subdivision (h) which allows judicial notice, or in the context of an administrative hearing, official notice, for matters upon which there can reasonable basis for dispute and which are subject to immediate and accurate determination. Generally, requests pursuant to this code section are made to establish commonly known facts to avoid the necessity of proof of dates, place locations on a map or similarly easily verifiable facts.
Official notice is not required for every statute considered in the course of evaluating a case pending before the Office of Administrative Hearings. Here, the request for official notice is unnecessary and is therefore DENIED.
DATE: September 27, 2018
PENELOPE S. PAHL
Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings Student originally served and attempted to file the request on September 19, 2018 however the Office of Administrative Hearings’ electronic filing system was not functioning properly that day. Student’s counsel was notified o the problem. She filed the document again on September 21, 2018.