California OAH special education order · June 24, 2020
Order Denying Motion to Amend Complaint
OAH Case No. 2020050817 · ALJ Laurie Gorsline
OAH denied Student's request to add Folsom Cordova and Sacramento City school districts to the case, even though it was unopposed. Student did not serve them and the claims against them involved separate, earlier conduct.
This case went to decision
Student v. San Juan Unified School District et al.: San Juan Unified and Visions In Education must assess a 10th grader after wrongly refusing parent's requests; speech claim denied. (2020)
Summary
Student sent an email asking to add Folsom Cordova Unified and Sacramento City Unified as parties to a pending case against San Juan Unified and Visions in Education Charter School. OAH treated the email as a motion to amend, and San Juan and Visions filed a notice saying they did not oppose it. OAH denied the motion anyway. Student had no proof that the two new districts were served, and adding them would in effect consolidate separate cases without a showing of common questions or judicial economy. The claims against Folsom (2017) and Sacramento (2018–2019) concerned different conduct than the 2020 claims against San Juan and Visions.
Why it matters
A lack of opposition does not guarantee an amendment. To add new districts, serve them and show the claims share common facts or law; otherwise, file a separate complaint against each district.
Key authority cited
- 20 U.S.C. § 1415(c)(2)(E)
- Gov. Code § 11507.3(a)
- Code Civ. Proc. § 1048(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 MATTER OF:
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT,
v.
SAN JUAN UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT AND VISIONS IN
EDUCATION CHARTER SCHOOL.
OAH CASE NUMBER 2020050817
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO AMEND COMPLAINT
JUNE 24, 2020
On May 22, 2020, Student filed a Due Process Hearing Request, referred to as a complaint, with the Office of Administrative Hearings, naming San Juan Unified School District and Visions in Education Charter School. The Office of Administrative Hearings is referred to as OAH. On June 22, 2020, Student filed an email requesting permission to include two new parties, specifically Folsom Cordova Unified School District and Sacramento City Unified School District as additional parties. OAH treats the email as a motion to amend. On June 23, 2020, San Juan and Visions Charter School filed a Notice of Non-Opposition to the motion.
An amended complaint may be filed when the other party consents in writing and is given the opportunity to resolve the complaint through a resolution session, or when the hearing officer grants permission. The hearing officer may grant permission at any time more than five days before the due process hearing. (20 U.S.C.
§1415(c)(2)(E)(i).) The filing of an amended complaint restarts the applicable timelines for the due process hearing. (20 U.S.C. §1415(c)(2)(E)(ii).)
Student failed to attach a proof of service establishing that the motion was served on the two entities Student seeks to add to the pending case. Through the amendment process Student is attempting to file a separate action against Folsom and Sacramento and consolidate it with the pending action against San Juan and Visions Charter School. Student has failed to establish any basis for adjudicating the claims against these four entities in the same case. Student has not established that consolidation 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].) The claims against Folsom are based on conduct which occurred in March 2017 and the claims against Sacramento are based on conduct which occurred in September 2018 and October 2019. In contrast, the claims against San Juan and Visions Charter School are based on conduct in 2020 after Student began attending Visions Charter School. Therefore, the motion to amend is denied. All dates shall remain on calendar as scheduled.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Laurie Gorsline Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings