California OAH special education order · October 30, 2019
Order Granting Motion to Consolidate
OAH Case No. 2019080072, 2019100792 · ALJ Charles Marson
OAH consolidated Student's and Roseville's due process cases over Student's laches objection, because both involve common questions about the May 23, 2019 offer and IEE funding under the SELPA cost policy.
Summary
Roseville moved to consolidate its October 2019 due process case with Student's July 2019 case. Student objected, arguing that Roseville's delay in filing its own complaint should bar consolidation under the doctrine of laches. OAH granted consolidation without addressing laches. It found the cases share common questions: whether the May 23, 2019 offer was a FAPE, whether Roseville may implement it without parental consent, and whether Roseville could rely on its SELPA cost policy to deny independent educational evaluations (IEEs). OAH made Roseville's later case the primary case, so the 45-day decision timeline now runs from that filing, and it vacated the dates in Student's case.
Why it matters
A district can file its own later complaint, consolidate it with the parent's case, and reset the decision timeline to its own filing date. Parents should expect that an objection based on the district's delay in filing may not stop consolidation when the cases share common issues.
Key authority cited
- Gov. Code, § 11507.3, subd. (a)
- Code Civ. Proc., § 1048, subd. (a)
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 CONSOLIDATED MATTERS OF:
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT,
v.
ROSEVILLE JOINT UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT,
OAH CASE NUMBER 2019080072
and
ROSEVILLE JOINT UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT,
v.
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT,
OAH CASE NUMBER 2019100792
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE
On July 31, 2019, Student filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings a Request for Due Process Hearing in OAH case number 2019080072, First Case, naming the Roseville Joint Union High School District.
On October 21, 2019, Roseville filed a Request for Due Process Hearing in OAH case number 2019100792, Second Case, naming Parents on behalf of Student.
On October 22 2019, Roseville filed a Motion to Consolidate First Case with Second Case.
On October 24, 2019, Student filed an objection to consolidation on the ground that Roseville, in waiting to October 21, 2019 to file its due process hearing request, should be denied consolidation under the doctrine of laches.
CONSOLIDATION
No statute or regulation specifically provides a standard to be applied in deciding a motion to consolidate special education cases. However, OAH will generally consolidate matters that involve the same parties, a common question of law and/or fact, and when consolidation of the matters furthers the interests of judicial economy by saving time or preventing inconsistent rulings. (See Gov. Code, § 11507.3, subd. (a)
[administrative proceedings may be consolidated if they involve a common question of law or fact]; Code of Civ. Proc., § 1048, subd. (a) (same applies to civil cases).)
Here, First Case and Second Case involve common questions of law and fact.
Specifically, they are whether Roseville’s May 23, 2019 offer of placement and services constituted a free appropriate public education; whether Roseville may implement that offer without parental consent; and whether Roseville was justified in relying on the cost policy of its Special Education Local Plan Area to decline to fund requested independent educational evaluations by assessors chosen by Parents. In addition, consolidation furthers the interests of judicial economy because many of the same witnesses and documents will be involved in both cases. Consolidation also avoids the risk of inconsistent judgments. Accordingly, consolidation is granted.
ORDER
1. Roseville’s Motion to Consolidate is granted.
2. Second Case is designated as the primary case. All dates previously set in
First Case, OAH case number 2019080072, are vacated.
3. The 45-day timeline for issuance of the decision in the consolidated cases
shall be based on the date of the filing of the complaint in Second Case, OAH case number 2019100792.
4. The scheduled dates and times for PHC and due process hearing in case
number 2019100792 are confirmed. The PHC shall be held at 3:00 p.m. on November 4, 2019, and the due process hearing on November 13 and 14, 2019.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: October 30, 2019 Charles Marson Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings