California OAH special education order · October 7, 2025
Order Denying Request for Interim Relief of Placement at Northgate High School and Denying Request for Stay Put Reconsideration
OAH Case No. 2025070018 · ALJ Penelope S. Pahl
OAH denied Student's request for interim placement at Northgate High School and reconsideration of a prior stay put denial, finding no legal authority for the relief and no new facts or law.
Summary
After OAH denied stay put at Northgate High School on September 30, 2025, Student asked for interim relief placing Student at Northgate while the due process hearing was pending. Mount Diablo opposed. Student's reply was treated as a request to reconsider the stay put order. OAH denied the interim relief request because it was essentially the same as the denied stay put motion. Student cited no authority allowing such an order, and OAH has no jurisdiction over Section 504 or ADA claims. OAH denied reconsideration because Student offered no new facts or law and no declaration explaining why the order should be revisited.
Why it matters
Relabeling a denied stay put request as 'interim relief' will not get a different result. To win reconsideration, a party must show new facts, circumstances, or law, usually within about ten days, and explain why they were not raised before.
Key authority cited
- 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2)
- 34 C.F.R. § 300.518
- Wyner v. Manhattan Beach Unified School Dist. (9th Cir. 2000) 223 F.3d 1026
- 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.
MT. DIABLO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT.
OAH CASE NUMBER 2025070018
ORDER DENYING REQUEST FOR INTERIM RELIEF OF
PLACEMENT AT NORTHGATE HIGH SCHOOL AND
DENYING REQUEST FOR STAY PUT RECONSIDERATION
OCTOBER 7, 2025
On June 30, 2025, Parent, on behalf of Student, filed a request for due process hearing, also called a complaint, with the Office of Administrative Hearings, called OAH, naming Mount Diablo Unified School District as respondent. On October 2, 2025, Student filed a request for interim relief, seeking a temporary order requiring Mount Diablo to place Student at Northgate High School pending the outcome of the due process hearing. On October 3, 2025, Mount Diablo opposed Student’s request for interim relief. On October 3, 2025, Student filed a reply to Mount Diablo’s opposition. Student’s reply appears to be a request for reconsideration of the September 30, 2025 Stay Put denial.
REQUEST FOR PLACEMENT AT NORTHGATE HIGH SCHOOL AS INTERIM
RELIEF
Student acknowledges that his request for stay put at Northgate was denied on September 30, 2025. Student’s moving papers base this request on United States Code, title 20, section 1415(i)(2); and Code of Federal Regulations, title 34, section 300.518; as well as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794), Title II of the ADA, and California Education Code §§ 56000 et seq. OAH’s special education division does not have jurisdiction over claims asserted under either Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Wyner v. Manhattan Beach Unified School. Dist. (9th Cir. 2000) 223 F.3d 1026, 1028-1029.) The cited code sections pertain the right to file civil complaints in state or federal court, following an administrative hearing Decision (20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2); and stay put rights (34 C.F.R. § 300.518.) Student also cites to California Education Code §§ 5600 et seq. which is the full range of statutes detailing California special education laws Student cites no specific section of California’s special education law that authorizes OAH to provide interim relief as to placement when Stay Put has previously been denied. Although Student states the motion is “not a motion to reopen Stay Put”, the fundamental request of this motion is nearly identical to Student’s previously denied motion for Stay Put. The only different is Student attempts to limit the relief to the period encompassed only by the Administrative Hearing. Student cites no legal authority allowing OAH to issue such an order.
REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION OF STAY PUT ORDER
Student’s reply brief is treated as a request for reconsideration of the Stay Put Order as it reiterates general assertions regarding stay put law and Student’s assertions that his stay put placement at Northgate High School is necessary.
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.) Here Student’s reply to Mount Diablo’s opposition offers no new facts, or new law, to be considered regarding the previously denied motion for Stay Put.
All of Student’s reply brief arguments have been previously considered. Student offers nothing new and no declaration offering reasons why the previously denied Stay Put should be reconsidered. The request to reconsider the prior stay put order is denied.
ORDER
1. Student’s motion for interim relief in the form of Placement at Northgate
High School is denied.
2. The request for reconsideration of the September 30, 2025 Stay Put order
denying Stay Put placement at Northgate is denied.
3. All currently scheduled dates are confirmed, and the case shall proceed
accordingly.
Penelope S. Pahl Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings