California OAH special education order · August 19, 2019
Order Following Order to Show Cause
OAH Case No. 2019040251 · ALJ Cynthia Fritz
OAH declined to dismiss the case or sanction Parent for missing a prehearing conference, finding no adequate excuse but crediting her timely, regretful response, and warned her against assuming continuances are granted.
Summary
OAH ordered Parent to explain why she missed the August 12, 2019 prehearing conference. Parent responded on time, saying she believed her late-filed August 9 continuance motion had been granted. The ALJ found no adequate explanation because the motion had not been ruled on and the conference stayed on calendar. In the interests of justice, she still imposed no dismissal, sanctions, or cost-shifting because Parent responded on time and appeared regretful, and she reset the prehearing conference for August 30 and the hearing for September 10-12, 2019.
Why it matters
Filing a continuance request does not postpone anything. Until OAH issues an order granting it, every scheduled date stays in place and a party who does not appear risks dismissal or sanctions. This leniency was a one-time warning, and the ALJ said the same assumption will not excuse sanctions in future 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:
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT,
v.
SACRAMENTO CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT.
OAH CASE NUMBER 2019040251
ORDER FOLLOWING ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
On August 13, 2019, the undersigned administrative law judge, hereafter called ALJ, ordered Parent to show cause by August 19, 2019, as to why she did not appear at the scheduled August 12, 2019 prehearing conference. Parent timely filed a response on August 19, 2019.
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
On August 19, 2019, Parent explained that she believed that the August 9, 2019, late-filed motion for a continuance had been granted, and the prehearing conference was continued.
No ruling was made on the continuance motion prior to the prehearing conference. Thus, it remained on calendar and Parent was required to appear.
In the interests of justice, however, the lack of an adequate explanation will be overlooked because Parent timely filed a response to the order to show cause and appears regretful. Thus, a dismissal of the case, sanctions, or shifting of costs will not be ordered. Parent is on notice in this case and all further cases that an assumption that a case is continued without receiving notice from the Office of Administration Hearings as such will not be permitted to subvert sanctions in the future.
The matter is continued to the following dates:
Prehearing Conference will be held on August 30, 2019, at 1:00 PM.
Due Process Hearing will be held on September 10, 11, and 12, 2019. The hearing shall begin at 9:30 AM the first day, and at 9:00 AM on all other days unless otherwise ordered. The hearing shall continue day to day, as needed at the discretion of the Administrative Law Judge.
The parties shall immediately notify all potential witnesses of the hearing dates, and shall subpoena witnesses if necessary, to ensure their availability to testify. Good cause for witness unavailability is not established by failing to properly notify or subpoena a witness. Prehearing conference statements and motions are due to OAH no later than three business days before the prehearing conference or with evidence of good cause why it was not possible to file the motion by that date.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: August 19, 2019 Cynthia Fritz Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings