California OAH special education order · December 5, 2025
Order Denying Request for Reconsideration
OAH Case No. 2025051001 · ALJ Jeanie Min
OAH denied Santa Clara's request to reconsider its refusal to consolidate two Student-filed cases because the district offered no new facts, circumstances, or law, and Student may bring claims separately.
Summary
OAH had earlier denied Santa Clara's motion to consolidate two Student-filed cases. Santa Clara asked OAH to reconsider. It argued that the denial focused wrongly on a later continuance request and did not address its main point: both cases involve the same witnesses, the same documents, and the same 2023-2024 school year. Student did not respond, and OAH denied reconsideration because OAH does not consolidate only Student-filed cases, Student is entitled to bring claims separately, and Santa Clara presented nothing new.
Why it matters
A district generally cannot force a parent to combine separate Student-filed due process cases, even when the cases overlap in witnesses and school years. Reconsideration also requires genuinely new facts, circumstances, or law, not a repeat of earlier arguments.
Key authority cited
- Gov. Code, § 11521
- Code Civ. Proc., § 1008
- Baldwin v. Home Savings of America (1997) 59 Cal.App.4th 1192
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 2025051001
ORDER DENYING REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION
DECEMBER 5, 2025
On December 1, 2025, the undersigned Administrative Law Judge issued an order denying Santa Clara Unified School District’s motion to consolidate two Student-filed cases and denying the joint motion to continue the due process hearing. On December 3, 2025, Santa Clara filed a request for reconsideration relating to the motion to consolidate. Student did not file a response to the motion.
The Office of Administrative Hearings will generally reconsider a ruling upon a showing of new or different facts, circumstances, or law justifying reconsideration, when the party seeks reconsideration within a reasonable period of time, generally within ten days. (See, e.g., Gov. Code, § 11521; Code Civ. Proc., § 1008.) The party seeking reconsideration may also be required to provide an explanation for its failure to previously provide the different facts, circumstances or law. (See Baldwin v. Home Savings of America (1997) 59 Cal.App.4th 1192, 1199-1200.)
Santa Clara argues the denial wrongly focused on a request for continuance filed 16 days after the motion to consolidate, and that OAH has authority to move procedural timelines. Santa Clara contends the denial did not address the primary basis for the consolidation request, that both Student’s cases involve the same witnesses, same documentary evidence, and the same 2023-2024 school year.
OAH denied Santa Clara’s consolidation request because OAH does not consolidate just Student-filed cases. Student is entitled to bring claims separately.
Student has not yet amended either complaint to include all claims in one case.
Santa Clara did not offer new facts, circumstances, or law that were not brought in its initial motion to consolidate, to support reconsideration. The motion for reconsideration is denied. All dates set in this matter are confirmed.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Jeanie Min Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings