Slama v. Independent School Dist. No. 2580, CIV.02-824(RLE).

• Decision Date: 24 March 2003
• Docket Number: No. CIV.02-824(RLE).,CIV.02-824(RLE).
• Citation: 259 F.Supp.2d 880
• Parties: Theresa SLAMA, by her parents and natural guardians, David and Jeanne SLAMA, and David and Jeanne Slama, Plaintiffs, v. INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 2580, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

Page 880

259 F.Supp.2d 880

Theresa SLAMA, by her parents and natural guardians, David and Jeanne SLAMA, and David and Jeanne Slama, Plaintiffs, v. INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 2580, Defendant.

No. CIV.02-824(RLE).

United States District Court, D. Minnesota.

March 24, 2003.

Luther A. Grandquist, Minneapolis, MN, for Plaintiff.

Nancy E. Blumstein, Minneapolis, MN, for Defendant.

ORDER

ERICKSON, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. Introduction

This matter came before the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to the consent of the parties, as authorized by the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), upon the parties' cross-Motions for Judgment on the Record.

At a Hearing on the Motions, the Plaintiffs appeared by Luther A. Grandquist, Esq., and the Defendant Independent School District No. 2580 ("District") appeared by Nancy E. Blumstein, Esq.

For reasons which follow, we recommend that the Defendant's Motion for Judgment on the Record be granted.

II. Factual and Procedural Background

In this action, the Plaintiffs seek judicial review of the Hearing Review Officer's ("HRO's") affirmance of the Hearing Officer's ("HO's") decision, which resolved issues presented by the parties during the Plaintiffs' Due Process Hearing. The Due Process Hearing was conducted under the auspices of the Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning ("MDCFL"), and was commenced on February 20, 2002. See, Findings of Fact, Conclusions, and Decision, MDCFL Case No. 459, at p. 1. ("Findings of Fact, Conclusions, and Decision ").

The Plaintiff Theresa Slama ("Theresa") is a seventeen year old student with disabilities which qualify her for special education services, and her parents and natural guardians, David and Jeanne Slama, have challenged the District's decision to replace Theresa's Personal Care Attendant ("PCA"), Diane Nelson ("Nelson"), who had been selected by the Slamas, with a District-employed educational assistant. The Plaintiffs claim that the District's decision to replace Nelson violated the Individuals with Disabilities Act ("IDEA"), Title 20 U.S.C. § 1400, et seq. Specifically, the Plaintiffs allege that the District denied Theresa the "free appropriate public education ('FAPE')," to which she is' entitled under the IDEA, by failing to provide services in conformity with Theresa's individualized education program ("IEP").

The Plaintiffs contend that Theresa's IEP allowed the Slamas to select the PCA who would care for Theresa while at school. The District argues, in response, that the wordage of the IEP, concerning the selection of the PCA, merely documented the District's informal agreement with the Slamas, and did not constitute a substantive decision, by Theresa's IEP team, concerning her IEP. As a consequence of the District's decision, the Slamas refused to send Theresa to school without Nelson, and she has not attended school since November 30, 2001. See, Findings of Fact, Conclusions, and Decision, at p. 56.

The first issue presented is whether the District denied Theresa FAPE by refusing to allow Nelson to continue as Theresa's PCA while she is at school. Necessarily, that determination hinges on whether the reference to the parent's decision to select the PCA, as contained in Theresa's IEP, constituted a mandate to the District, or was simply a reference to a collateral agreement between the Slamas, and representatives of the District. In addition, we must determine whether the District owed the Plaintiffs notice, consistent with the content standards of Title 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(3), and 34 C.F.R. § 300.503, when the District informed the Plaintiffs that Nelson would no longer be permitted to act as Theresa's PCA at school.

Reduced to its simplest form, this is a case of parental zeal in ensuring the best possible educational experience for their daughter. The parents approached the District, and expressed their interest in having Nelson act as their daughter's PCA. At first, the District vacillated, and then, it acceded to the parents' demand for Nelson, an agreement which was memorialized in Theresa's IEP. Even though it remains uncontested, that Nelson's service as a PCA is not a necessary component to Theresa's ability to receive an educational benefit, the Plaintiffs argue that, because their agreement with the District is mentioned in the IEP, the District is bound by its terms. The Plaintiffs particularly emphasize that the District entered the agreement voluntarily, willingly, and in good faith, and therefore, the District should be held to its agreement even though, concededly, the words of the agreement are not couched in the form of a directive, but merely record the fact that the Plaintiffs had chosen a PCA. With this backdrop, we turn to the parties' arguments.

III. Discussion

A. Judgment on the IDEA Record. A Motion for Judgment on the Record, in the context of the IDEA, is a request that the Court enter a final Judgment in what is essentially "a bench trial on a stipulated record." Ojai Unified Sch. Dist. v. Jackson, 4 F.3d 1467, 1472 (9th Cir.1993), cert, denied, 513 U.S. 825, 115 S.Ct. 90, 130 L.Ed.2d 41 (1994). Under this form of review, the Court may make a decision on the merits, even if there exist, upon the stipulated Record, disputed issues of material fact. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 283 v. S.D., 88 F.3d 556, 561 (8th Cir.1996); Ojai Unified Sch. Dist. v. Jackson, supra at 1471. As we have previously observed, in Moubry v. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 696, 9 F.Supp.2d 1086, 1104-05 (D.Minn. 1998) ("Moubry II"), a reviewing Court must independently determine, based upon "the preponderance of the evidence," whether a School District has complied with the requirements of the Act. Although this is "a less deferential standard of review than the substantial evidence test common to federal administrative law[,] * * * it still requires the reviewing court to give `due weight' to agency decision-making." Independent Sch. Dist. No. 283 v. S.D., supra at 561; see also, CJN v. Minneapolis Public School, 323 F.3d 630, 635-36 (8th Cir.2003); E.S. v. Indep. Sch. Dist, No. 196, 135 F.3d 566, 569 (8th Cir.1998); Fort Zumwalt Sch. Dist. v. Clynes, 119 F.3d 607, 610 (8th Cir.1997); Yankton Sch. Dist. v. Schramm, 93 F.3d 1369, 1373 (8th Cir.1996).

In conducting this review, a Court may "afford! ] greater weight to the fact findings of the HO [as opposed to the HRO] in view of his opportunity to observe the demeanor of the witnesses and to render believability determinations." Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 283 v. S.D., 948 F.Supp. 860, 871 (D.Minn.1995), affd, 88 F.3d 556, 561 (8th Cir.1996); see also, Fort Zumwalt Sch. Dist. v. Clynes, supra at 610 ("consideration should be given to the fact that the state hearing panel had the opportunity to observe the demeanor of witnesses"). Nevertheless, where an IEP is being challenged, "[Hendrick Hudson Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 203, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690, (1982)] instructs that we may not substitute our own `notions of sound judicial policy for those of the school authorities.'" Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 283 v. S.D., supra, 88 F.3d at 561, quoting Petersen v. Hastings Public Schools, 31 F.3d 705, 707 (8th Cir.1994). "Judicial review of the HRO's decision under the IDEA is limited because judges are not trained educators." Nygren v. Minneapolis Public Schools, 2001 WL 1690048 at *3 (D.Minn, December 14, 2001).

B. The Parties' Cross Motions for Judgment on the Record. The Plaintiffs argue that the District's refusal to continue allowing Nelson to serve as Theresa's PCA denied Theresa the provision of FAPE, as required by the IDEA. The Plaintiffs do not, however, challenge the substance of Theresa's IEP. Rather, the Plaintiffs' argument—that the District denied Theresa FAPE—is based upon the District's failure to provide FAPE "in conformity with"—to quote the IDEA— Theresa's IEP. The Plaintiffs contend that Theresa's IEP requires that the Plaintiffs appoint Theresa's PCA, while the District maintains that the IEP only referred to an informal agreement, albeit one reduced to writing, between the Plaintiffs, and the District.

1. The Plaintiffs' Claim Concerning the Alleged Denial of FAPE.

a. Standard of Review. "Insofar as a State is required to provide a handicapped child with a `free appropriate public education,' the Supreme Court has maintained that a State satisfies that requirement `by providing personalized instruction with sufficient support services to permit the child to benefit educationally from that instruction.'" Hendrick Hudson Dist, Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, supra at 203, 102 S.Ct. 3034. In delineating the standard by which to measure the adequacy of benefits provided under the IDEA, the Court settled upon a qualitative standard—namely, that "some benefit" would have to result from the educational process. Hendrick Hudson Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, supra at 200,102 S.Ct. 3034.

In this respect, "[t]he IDEA does not promise perfect solutions to the vexing problems posed by the existence of learning disabilities in children and adolescents." Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 283 v. S.D., supra, 948 F.Supp. at 878-79, quoting Lenn v. Portland Sch. Comm., 998 F.2d 1083, 1086 (1st Cir.1993). The IDEA does not require schools to "either maximize a student's potential or provide the best possible education at public expense," but only requires a school to "provide sufficient specialized services so that the student benefits from his education." Fort Zumwalt Sch. Dist. v. Clynes, supra at 612, citing Hendrick Hudson Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, supra at 203, 102 S.Ct. 3034. "Specific results are not required, 34 C.F.R. § 300.350(b), and an IEP need not be designed to maximize a student's potential `commensurate with the opportunity provided to other children,' see Rowley, 458 U.S. at 189-198,102 S.Ct. 3034." CJN v. Minneapolis Public Schools, supra at 638.

The IDEA requires that a disabled child be provided with...