California OAH special education order · June 19, 2025
Order Granting Request to Reopen Case
OAH Case No. 2025011072 · ALJ Joy Redmon
OAH reopened Student's case against Santa Clara Unified after finding it was wrongly dismissed, because the settlement still depended on court approval of a minor's compromise, not just board approval.
Summary
Student told OAH the parties had settled pending board approval. Student asked for a continuance to October 2025 because the deal also depended on court approval of a minor's compromise, but OAH dismissed the case the same day. Student moved to reconsider and reopen because the minor's compromise hearing had not yet been held. OAH found the case should not have been dismissed, reopened it, and set a prehearing conference for October 24, 2025 and a hearing for November 4 through 6, 2025.
Why it matters
When a settlement depends on conditions such as board approval or a court-approved minor's compromise, families should state those conditions clearly in the notice to OAH and quickly ask to reopen if the case is dismissed too early. This keeps their hearing rights intact until the settlement is final.
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.
SANTA CLARA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT.
OAH CASE NUMBER 2025011072
ORDER GRANTING REQUEST TO REOPEN CASE
JUNE 19, 2025
On May 5, 2025, Student notified the Office of Administrative Hearings that the parties settled the matter pending board approval. In the notice, Student also requested the matter be continued until October 2025 because the agreement was contingent on both board approval and a minor’s compromise. OAH issued a dismissal the same day.
On June 19, 2025, Student moved to reconsider the dismissal and requested to reopen the case because the minor’s compromise hearing has not been held. The matter should not have been dismissed as the parties’ request to vacate the hearing dates was based on both board approval and court approval of the minor’s compromise.
ORDER
The request to reopen the case is granted. This matter is now scheduled:
• Prehearing Conference: October 24, 2025, at 10AM.
• Due Process Hearing: November 4 through 6, 2025. The hearing starts at
9:30 a.m. on the first day and 9:00 a.m. on all other days unless the ALJ orders otherwise.
All prehearing conference statements and motions shall be filed no later than three business days before the prehearing conference unless the party establishes good cause for the delay.
The parties shall immediately give witnesses the hearing dates. If necessary, they can subpoena witnesses to ensure the witnesses is available to testify. A witness will not be considered unavailable if the party did not properly notify or subpoena a witness.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Joy Redmon Presiding Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings