California OAH special education order · April 11, 2019
Order Denying Request for Reconsideration
OAH Case No. 2018110292 · ALJ Marian H. Tully
OAH denied Student's request to reconsider an order refusing to continue April hearing dates. Parents' summer vacation and the district's summer break were not new facts justifying reconsideration.
Summary
An ALJ denied Student's request to continue hearing dates that the parties had agreed to and OAH had set in December 2018. Student then used a peremptory challenge to remove that ALJ, which was granted, and asked for reconsideration. The Presiding ALJ denied reconsideration. Student did not explain why the new information, Parents' prepaid June–July vacation and the district's summer break, had not been raised in the original request. In any event, events from June to August had no bearing on whether to continue April hearing dates.
Why it matters
A reconsideration motion must offer genuinely new facts or law, explain why they were not raised earlier, and connect them to the ruling being challenged. Hearing dates the parties agreed to are hard to move.
Key authority cited
- Gov. Code, § 11521
- Code Civ. Proc., § 1008
- Baldwin v. Home Savings of America (1997) 59 Cal.App.4th 1192
People named in the order
- Adrienne L. Krikorian, Administrative Law Judge (issued order denying continuance; removed by peremptory challenge)
- Marian H. Tully, Presiding Administrative Law Judge
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. 2018110292 v. ORDER DENYING REQUEST FOR
RECONSIDERATION
MANHATTAN BEACH UNIFIED
SCHOOL DISTRICT.
On April 10, 2019, Administrative Law Judge Adrienne L. Krikorian issued an Order Denying a Request for Continuance. On April 11, 2019, Student exercised a Peremptory Challenge to ALJ Krikorian and filed a Motion for Reconsideration of the Order Denying the Request for Continuance. On April 11, 2019, the undersigned Presiding Administrative Law Judge granted Student’s peremptory challenge. The undersigned has reviewed the Order Denying the Motion for Continuance and the Motion for Reconsideration. The request for reconsideration is denied.
The Office of Administrative Hearings will generally reconsider a ruling upon a showing of new or different facts, circumstances, or law justifying reconsideration, when the party seeks reconsideration within a reasonable period of time. (See, e.g., Gov. Code, § 11521; Code Civ. Proc., § 1008.) The party seeking reconsideration may also be required to provide an explanation for its failure to previously provide the different facts, circumstances or law. (See Baldwin v. Home Savings of America (1997) 59 Cal.App.4th 1192, 1199-1200.)
Student claims the independent educational evaluation and Long Beach’s agreement to fund the independent educational evaluation predate the date Student filed the complaint.
That said, the April 23, 24 and 25, 2018, hearing dates currently on calendar were agreed upon by the Parties and OAH granted their request for those days on December 19, 2018.
The Motion for Reconsideration proffers Parents’ prepaid vacation for a period of time in June and July 2019, and Manhattan Beach’s break from June 14, 2019 to August 2019 as new facts to support reconsideration. There is no explanation as to why this information was not provided to ALJ Krikorian in the Request for Continuance. In any event, events that may happen from June to August, do not constitute different facts or circumstances justifying reconsideration of the Order Denying a Request for Continuance of hearing dates in April.
Accordingly, Student’s request for reconsideration is denied.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATE: April 11, 2019
MARIAN H. TULLY
Presiding Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings