California OAH special education order · March 28, 2019
Order Denying Motion for Bifurcation Without Prejudice
OAH Case No. 2019030484 · ALJ Judith Pasewark
OAH denied, without prejudice, Mt. Diablo's motion to bifurcate Student's residency issue as untimely, ruling that bifurcation is best decided by the hearing judge at the prehearing conference.
This case went to decision
Student v. Mt. Diablo Unified School District et al.: Mt. Diablo Unified and Contra Costa County Office of Education win residency dispute; disenrolled student's claims denied and stay put vacated. (2019)
Summary
Mt. Diablo asked OAH to hold a separate, earlier hearing on whether Student lives within its boundaries. Its defense was that it is not Student's local educational agency and so owes Student no free appropriate public education. OAH denied the request without prejudice as untimely, saying bifurcation is a procedural question best decided by the hearing judge at the prehearing conference, where Mt. Diablo may raise it again. OAH also noted that Student's stay put request cannot be delayed by a bifurcated residency hearing, and it decided stay put in a separate order.
Why it matters
A district cannot use a residency dispute to delay a stay put ruling, and requests to split off threshold issues like residency are generally decided at the prehearing conference rather than through early standalone motions.
Key authority cited
- Gov. Code § 11507.3(b)
- Ed. Code § 56505(d)
- Student v. Manteca Unified School District (July 21, 2011) OAH Case No. 2011060184
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. 2019030484 v. ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR
BIFURCATION WITHOUT
MT. DIABLO UNIFIED SCHOOL PREJUDICE
DISTRICT AND CONTRA COSTA
COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION.
On March 12, 2019, Student filed a Request for Due Process Hearing with the Office of Administrative hearing, naming Mt. Diablo Unified School District.
On March 25, 2019 Mt. Diablo filed a Motion for Bifurcation of Issues in Student’s complaint which requested a bifurcation of the issue of Student’s residency within the jurisdictional boundaries of Mt. Diablo Unified School District. Mt. Diablo raises as a defense in its Response to the complaint that Mt. Diablo is not Student’s local educational agency, and therefore, Mt. Diablo has no obligation to provide Student a free appropriate public education.
On March 25, 2019, Student filed a Response to Mt. Diablo’s Motion to Bifurcate, contending the threshold issue against Mt. Diablo is whether Mt. Diablo is the current local educational agency responsible for providing Student a FAPE.
APPLICABLE LAW
Contra Costa Special Education Local Plan Area was dismissed as a party to Student’s complaint in a separate order issued on March 28, 2019.
In its Motion for Bifurcation, Mt. Diablo also requested that an evidentiary hearing on the issue of residency be heard prior to determination of Student’s request for Stay Put.
Stay Put (Ed. Code, § 56505, subd. (d)) is a pre-hearing motion, for determination of special education placement and services pending hearing of the complaint, including defenses offered by the school district. As such, Student’s Request for Stay Put is not subject to early or bifurcated hearing. Therefore, contentions regarding Student’s Request for Stay Put were determined under a separate order issued concurrently with the above order.
Federal and state law pertaining to special education due process hearing does not contain a specific reference to a procedure for bifurcating issues. Such authority resides in the discretion of the administrative law judge, provided the separate hearings are conductive to judicial economy or efficient and expeditious use of judicial resources (See Govt. Code § 11507.3(b).)
OAH has previously granted bifurcation of issues where the determination of residency could be efficiently resolved in an evidentiary proceeding…which would potentially further judicial economy by reducing the number of witnesses, and time for witness examination and cross-examination on issues related to FAPE. (see Student v.
Manteca Unified School District, et al. (July 21, 2011) OAH Case No. 2011060184.)
DISCUSSION
Mt. Diablo’s Motion for Bifurcation of the issue of Student’s residency is a procedural request best determined with the hearing ALJ as part of the Prehearing Conference. Mt. Diablo’s Motion for Bifurcation is denied without prejudice as untimely, and may be raised again as part of Mt. Diablo’s Prehearing Conference Statement for determination at that time.
ORDER
Mt. Diablo Unified School District’s Motion to Dismiss is denied without prejudice, and may be raised as part of the Prehearing Conference on this matter.
The matter shall proceed as currently scheduled.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATE: March 28, 2019
JUDITH PASEWARK
Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings