California OAH special education order · December 30, 2025
Order Denying Motion to Compel Production of Educational Records
OAH Case No. 2025111067 · ALJ Rommel P. Cruz
OAH denied Student's motion to compel educational records because Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified produced them on time, and no law requires records to be organized, chronological, or free of extra documents.
Summary
Student asked OAH to order Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified to produce Student's educational records again in a usable form. Student argued the district's production was disorganized and duplicative, included records unrelated to Student, and did not include recordings of IEP team meetings. The district responded that it produced the records on time after Parent's December 1, 2025 request and planned to provide the IEP meeting recordings by December 16, 2025, five business days after Parent's December 9 request. OAH denied the motion because the records were produced on time, Student cited no authority requiring the records to be organized in any particular way, and Student did not show the recordings were late.
Why it matters
Under Education Code section 56504, a district must provide copies of records within five business days, but OAH will not order a district to redo a timely production just because it is messy, duplicative, or over-inclusive. Parents seeking organized records need legal authority for that requirement, and should give the district its full five business days before claiming items such as IEP recordings are late.
Key authority cited
- Ed. Code, § 56504
- Ed. Code, § 49061, subd. (b)
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.
PLACENTIA-YORBA LINDA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT.
OAH CASE NUMBER 2025111067
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION OF
EDUCATIONAL RECORDS
DECEMBER 30, 2025
On December 9, 2025, Parent on behalf of Student filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings, called OAH, a Motion to Compel Production of Educational Records. Student seeks an order compelling Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified to produce Student’s educational records consistent with the law and in a manner that allows Parent to meaningfully review the records.
Student contends Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified produced records that were unrelated to Student, disorganized, duplicative, and in excess of what Parent requested.
Student also claims Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified did not provide copies of recordings of Student’s individualized education program, called IEP, team meetings, which Parent inquired about on December 9, 2025.
On December 15, 2025, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified filed an opposition to the motion. Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified contends it timely produced the records sought by Parent pursuant to Parent’s December 1, 2025 records request. Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified also asserts it intended to provide Student copies of IEP team meeting recordings by December 16, 2025, five business days from Parent’s December 9, 2025 request.
California Education Code section 56504 states in relevant part that the parent shall have the right and opportunity to examine all school records of his or her child and to receive copies within five business days after the request is made by the parent, either orally or in writing. Pupil records are any information directly related to an identifiable pupil, other than directory information, that is maintained by a school district or required to be maintained by an employee in the performance of his or her duties whether recorded by handwriting, print, tapes, film, microfilm, or other means.
(Ed. Code, § 49061, subd. (b).)
Student failed to establish why an order to compel Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified to produce Student’s educational records is warranted. Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified timely provided Parent with copies of Student’s educational records. Student fails to offer any authority that required Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified to produce the records by category, in chronological order, or in any organizational manner which made it easier to review. Further, the production of additional records unrelated to Student, or duplicative of other records already produced, does not justify an order to compel Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified to redo its efforts.
In addition, Student did not establish Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified failed to timely produce recordings of Student’s IEP team meetings that were first requested by Parent on December 9, 2025. Accordingly, Student’s motion to compel Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified to produce Student’s educational records is denied.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Rommel P. Cruz Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings