This is a redacted version of the original decision. Select details have been removed from the
decision to preserve anonymity of the student. The redactions do not affect the substance of
the document.
Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
ODR No. 00715-0910KE
Child’s Name: B.S.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Dates of Hearing: 6/16/10, 8/10/10, 8/12/10, 8/13/10,
9/17/10, 9/23/10, 10/1/10, 10/26/10,
11/5/10, 11/17/10
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing:
Parents Parent[s]
School District
Radnor Township
135 S. Wayne Avenue Wayne, PA 19087-4117
Representative:
Parent Attorney
Amy Carolla, Esquire
Reisman Carolla,Gran, LLP
19 Chestnut Street
Haddonfield, New Jersey 08033
School District Attorney
Sara Davis, Esq.
Levin Legal Group
1402 Mason Mills Business Park 1800 Byberry Road
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
Date Record Closed: December 13, 2010
Date of Decision: December 28, 2010
Hearing Officer: Anne L. Carroll, Esq.
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Student in this case is a recent graduate of a private residential school located in [another state]. A resident of the Radnor Township School District, Student attended its schools through 8th grade, and then spent 9th and 10th grades in private boarding schools before re-enrolling in the District for 11th grade at the beginning of the 2008/2009 school year.
At the time Student left the District at the end of middle school, Student had been receiving special education services under the categories of specific learning disability (SLD) and emotional disturbance (ED). The District acknowledged Student’s IDEA eligibility at the time of reenrollment by immediately assigning a special education learning support teacher as Student’s case manager. After approximately three months in the District high school, Parents placed Student in private therapeutic residential facilities through the end of the 2009/2010 school year.
Parents seek reimbursement from the District for the costs associated with the costs of those residential placements, as well as compensatory education for the brief period Student attended the public high school.
As explained in detail below, based upon the evidence compiled over a 10 session hearing held between June and November 2010, and in accordance with the applicable legal standards, Parents will be awarded some of the relief they requested. Specifically, Parents will receive reimbursement for the private placement they selected for Student in the 2008/2009 school year and partial reimbursement for the 2009/2010 school year.
ISSUES
- Is Student entitled to an award of compensatory education for any part of the time Student was enrolled in [the] School District between September and November 2008, and if so, in what amount, for what period and in what form?
- Is [the] School District obligated to reimburse the Parents for the costs of tuition and transportation for Student’s enrollment in an out of state residential treatment facility from December 1, 2008 until the end of September 2009?
- Is [the] School District obligated to reimburse the Parents for the costs of tuition and transportation for Student’s enrollment in a different out of state residential facility for the 2009/2010 school year?
- Is [the] School District obligated to reimburse the Parents for the costs associated with Student’s placement at a Pennsylvania diagnostic unit from the end of January to the beginning of March 2010?