Pennsylvania Special Education Hearing Officer
FINAL DECISION AND ORDER
CLOSED HEARING
ODR File Number: 19032 16 17
Student’s Name: M.B.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
Dates of Hearing:
06/26/2017, 06/27/2017, 06/28/2017, 08/08/2017, 08/16/2017
Parent:
[redacted]
Counsel for Parent
Michael J. Connolly, Esquire, McAndrews Law Office, P.C., 30 Cassatt Avenue, Berwyn, PA 19312
Local Education Agency:
Pleasant Valley School District, 2233 Route 115, Suite 100, Brodheadsville, PA 18322
Counsel for the LEA
Glenna M. Hazeltine, Esq, King, Spry, Herman, Freund, & Faul, LLC, One West Broad Street, Suite 700,
Bethlehem, PA 18108
Hearing Officer: Brian Jason Ford, JD, CHO
Date of Decision: 9/25/17
Introduction
This special education due process hearing concerns the educational rights of a former student (Student) of the School District (District).1 The Student’s parents (Parents) allege that the District denied the Student a free appropriate public education (FAPE) from the 2010-11 school year until the Student aged out of programming after the 2016- 17 school year.
For reasons discussed below, I find in favor of the Parents in part and in favor of the District in part. I fashion a remedy to address the denial of FAPE.
Issues2
1. Was the Student denied a FAPE from the 2010-11 school year until the Student aged out of IDEA eligibility at the end of the 2016-17 school year?
2. If the Student was denied a FAPE, how much compensatory education is owed, and how may that compensatory education be used?
M-B-Pleasant-Valley-ODRNo-19032-16-17