California OAH special education order · April 22, 2024
Order Denying Motion to Dismiss Expedited Issues
OAH Case No. 2024030698 · ALJ Alexa Hohensee
OAH denied Panama-Buena Vista's motion to dismiss Student's expedited issues as moot because the district filed it after the deadline without a sworn declaration showing good cause.
This case went to decision
Student v. Panama-Buena Vista Unified School District: Panama-Buena Vista wrongly found TikTok posts were not a manifestation of a student's autism, but no expedited relief was ordered. (2024)
Summary
The day after the expedited prehearing conference, Panama-Buena Vista moved to dismiss Student's expedited issues as moot, and Student opposed. The scheduling order required motions by April 10, 2024. The post-conference order required any late motion to include a declaration under penalty of perjury showing good cause. The district gave no sworn explanation for the late filing, including why it took the action it claimed made the issues moot less than three business days before the conference, so OAH denied the motion and the expedited hearing will go forward as scheduled.
Why it matters
OAH enforces the motion deadlines in its scheduling and prehearing orders, so a district cannot avoid an expedited hearing by taking last-minute action and filing a late mootness motion without a sworn good-cause showing. Parents can point to these deadlines when opposing untimely motions.
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:
PARENTS ON BEHALF OF STUDENT,
v.
PANAMA-BUENA VISTA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT.
OAH CASE NUMBER 2024030698
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS EXPEDITED ISSUES
APRIL 22, 2024
On March 19, 2024, Parents on behalf of Student filed a request for due process hearing, referred to as a complaint, with the Office of Administrative Hearings, naming Panama-Buena Vista Unified School District, called Panama-Buena Vista. The Office of Administrative Hearings is referred to as OAH.
On March 21, 2024, OAH designated this case as a dual matter with expedited and non-expedited issues, and issued an Order scheduling the expedited prehearing conference, called a PHC, for April 15, 2024, with the expedited hearing to begin on April 24, 2024. The March 21, 2024 scheduling Order expressly stated:
EXPEDITED PREHEARING CONFERENCE MOTIONS AND EXPEDITED
PREHEARING CONFERENCE STATEMENTS
LAST DAY TO FILE: 04/10/2024
This deadline does not include motions with specific statutory timelines. Any motions filed after this due date must show good cause as to why it was not filed timely.
The expedited PHC was held on April 15, 2024. On April 16, 2024, an Order following the PHC was issued and served on the parties, stating in part:
Any motion that was not filed three business days before the PHC, shall be supported by a declaration under penalty of perjury establishing good cause why the motion was not timely filed.
On April 16, 2024, after the Order following the PHC was issued and served on the parties, Panama-Buena Vista filed a motion to dismiss Student’s expedited issues as moot. On April 19, 2024, Student filed an opposition.
Panama-Buena Vista’s motion to dismiss expedited issues was not accompanied by a sworn declaration explaining why the motion was not filed by April 10, 2024, at least three business days prior to the expedited PHC on April 15, 2024. In particular, Panama-Buena Vista failed to explain why it took the action it contends moots Student’s expedited issues less than three business days prior to the expedited PHC.
Panama-Buena Vista’s motion to dismiss expedited issues was untimely under, and failed to comply with, both the March 21, 2024 scheduling Order and the April 15, 2024 Order following the PHC.
ORDER
1. Panama-Buena Vista’s motion to dismiss expedited issues is denied.
2. The expedited hearing on expedited issues will proceed as scheduled.
Alexa Hohensee Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings