California OAH special education order · April 22, 2020
Order Granting Motion to Unexpedite Hearing
OAH Case No. 2020040519 · ALJ Cararea Lucier
OAH unexpedited Student's case because the claim about a missed manifestation determination from two years earlier was not a disciplinary appeal, and Student sought relief only under the regular due process rules.
Summary
OAH first set Student's complaint for expedited hearing because it raised a manifestation determination issue. Student then asked OAH to unexpedite the case, and neither district responded. OAH granted the motion because Student was no longer enrolled at Lancaster and faced no current discipline. The complaint challenged a manifestation determination that Lancaster allegedly failed to hold two years earlier, and Student sought relief under the regular due process provision rather than as a disciplinary appeal. OAH vacated the expedited dates, and the case will go forward on the regular schedule.
Why it matters
A complaint that mentions a manifestation determination does not have to go on the fast 20-school-day track. A parent who raises an old discipline issue only to seek regular due process relief can ask OAH to unexpedite and get more time to prepare.
Key authority cited
- 20 U.S.C. § 1415(k)(3)(A)
- 20 U.S.C. § 1415(k)(4)(B)
- 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(6)(A)
- 34 C.F.R. § 300.532
- Molina v. Bd. of Educ. of Los Lunas Schools (D.N.M. 2016) 157 F.Supp.3d 1064
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.
LANCASTER SCHOOL DISTRICT AND ANTELOPE VALLEY UNION
HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT.
OAH CASE NUMBER 2020040519
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO UNEXPEDITE HEARING
APRIL 22, 2020
On April 14, 202, Parent, on behalf of Student, filed a Due Process Hearing Request, known as a complaint, against Lancaster School District and Antelope Valley Union High School District. Parent, on behalf of Student, shall be referred to as Student.
On April 17, 2020, based on issues asserted in the complaint, the Office of Administrative Hearings, referred to as OAH, issued a Scheduling Order and Notice of Expedited and Non-Expedited Due Process Hearing and Mediation, Scheduling Order.
The Scheduling Order set this matter for expedited mediation on April 29, 2020, expedited prehearing conference on May 4, 2020, and expedited hearing for May 12, 2020, through May 14, 2020.
On April 21, 2020, Student filed a motion to unexpedite this matter and vacate the expedited dates. OAH did not receive a response from Lancaster or Antelope Valley.
APPLICABLE LAW
A parent of a child with a disability who disagrees with any decision by a school district regarding a change in educational placement of the child based upon a violation of a code of student conduct, or who disagrees with a manifestation determination made by the district, may request and is entitled to receive an expedited due process hearing. (20 U.S.C. § 1415(k)(3)(A); 34 C.F.R. § 300.532(a) (2006), All subsequent references to the Code of Federal Regulations are to the 2006 version.) An expedited due process hearing before OAH must occur within 20 school days of the date the complaint requesting the hearing is filed. (20 U.S.C. § 1415(k)(4)(B); 34 C.F.R.
§ 300.532(c)(2).) The procedural right to an expedited due process hearing is mandatory and does not authorize OAH to make exceptions or grant continuances of expedited matters. (Ibid.) A matter can only be unexpedited or continued if no issue is alleged that is subject to an expedited hearing, if the student withdraws the issues in the complaint that triggered the expedited hearing, or if the student elects to challenge the change of placement under title 20, section 1415, subdivision (b)(6)(A) and not subdivision (k).
(Molina v. Bd. of Educ. of Los Lunas Schools (D.N.M. 2016) 157 F.Supp.3d 1064, 1068- 1071.)
DISCUSSION
Student has demonstrated that no expedited issues were alleged in the complaint or that circumstances have changed, so that an expedited hearing is no longer required. In his complaint, Student alleges that Lancaster denied him free appropriate public education by allegedly failing to conduct a manifestation determination for a disciplinary action that occurred two years earlier. Student is no longer enrolled in Lancaster or facing a disciplinary action that may impact his education. Although the complaint includes facts concerning the issue of whether Lancaster should have conducted a manifestation determination, Student does not allege facts that constitute an appeal pursuant to Section 1415(k)(3), and thus that the mandatory provisions of Section 1415(k)(4)(B) for an expedited hearing do not apply as Student only seeks relief under Section 1415(b)(6)(A). (Molina, supra, 157 F.Supp.3d 1064, 1068-1071.) Accordingly, the expedited hearing dates will be vacated.
ORDER
1. The motion to unexpedite this matter is granted.
2. All expedited dates are vacated, including expedited mediation on
April 29, 2020, expedited prehearing conference on May 4, 2020, and expedited hearing for May 12, 2020, through May 14, 2020.
3. The unexpedited matter shall proceed pursuant to OAH’s Scheduling
Order of April 17, 2020, with a prehearing conference on June 1, 2020, at 3:00 PM, and a due process hearing on June 9, 2020, though June 11, 2020.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Cararea Lucier Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings