Manchester School Dist. v. Crisman

• Decision Date: 23 September 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-2454.,01-2454.
• Citation: 306 F.3d 1
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit
• Parties: MANCHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Margaret "Peggy" CRISMAN, As Surrogate Parent For Kimberli M., and Pittsfield School District, Defendants, Appellees.

Page 1

306 F.3d 1

MANCHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Margaret "Peggy" CRISMAN, As Surrogate Parent For Kimberli M., and Pittsfield School District, Defendants, Appellees.

No. 01-2454.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard March 4, 2002.

Decided September 23, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Dean B. Eggert with whom Paul L. Apple and Wadleigh, Starr & Peters, P.L.L.C. were on brief for appellant.

Lynn Zygomont with whom Ronald K. Lospennato and Disabilities Rights Center, Inc. were on brief for appellee Margaret "Peggy" Crisman.

Jed Z. Callen with whom Baldwin, Callen, Hogan & Kidd, P.L.L.C. was on brief for appellee Pittsfield School District.

Before LYNCH, Circuit Judge, CAMPBELL and MAGILL,^* Senior Circuit Judges.

LEVIN H. CAMPBELL, Senior Circuit Judge.

At issue in this appeal is whether the Manchester School District ("MSD"), a school district within the State of New Hampshire, has a continuing duty to pay for the special education expenses of Kimberli M.

Kimberli, now fourteen years old, is a developmentally delayed child. Since the age of seven months she has lived at the Brock Home, a state licensed home for children located in Pittsfield, New Hampshire. Because the home for children where Kimberli lives is located within the Pittsfield School District, she attends school there¹; and because of her disabilities she receives special education services under provisions of federal and state law.² But because state educational authorities have determined that MSD was Kimberli's "sending district," as that term is used in the relevant New Hampshire statutes, infra, the New Hampshire Department of Education ("NHDOE") requires MSD to reimburse the Pittsfield School District for the cost of the educational services furnished by the latter to Kimberli.

MSD strenuously objects to being held financially responsible for Kimberli's educational expenses. It points out that Kimberli's parents are not New Hampshire residents. Born in Colorado, Kimberli came, as an infant, with her parents to Manchester, New Hampshire in 1989, where she was severely injured in an accident. At the age of seven months, while her parents were still in Manchester, she was placed, with the assistance of New Hampshire officials, in the Brock Home in Pittsfield, New Hampshire. Soon thereafter her parents left New Hampshire, leaving Kimberli in the Brock Home where she has since resided. In 1995, Kimberli's parents were divorced, with Kimberli's father being awarded custody of the children, including Kimberli, in a divorce decree issued by an Ohio court. Her father resides in Akron, Ohio, and apparently remains satisfied with Kimberli's placement in New Hampshire. Neither parent appears to be involved with her or to contribute to her support.

In the view of MSD, Kimberli's residence has, by operation of law, become that of her father, making her an Ohio resident. MSD resents being forced to pay for the educational expenses of a minor whom it regards as an out-of-state resident. MSD challenges the correctness of the NHDOE's interpretation of New Hampshire statutory law so as to charge MSD for Kimberli's educational expenses.

After failing over a period of years to convince New Hampshire education authorities that it should not be held responsible for Kimberli's educational expenses, MSD sued under 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2)(A), in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire.³ Acting on cross motions for summary judgment, the district court agreed with the NHDOE's interpretation of state law imposing liability for Kimberli's educational expenses upon MSD in the present circumstances. This appeal followed. We affirm.

I. FACTS

This case was disposed of in the district court on cross-motions for summary judgment filed by the plaintiff-appellant, MSD, on the one hand, and, on the other, by the defendants-appellees, Margaret "Peggy" Crisman, as Surrogate Parent for Kimberli M., and the Pittsfield School District. We take the facts from the documentary record made by the parties in connection with their cross-motions.

Kimberli M. was born on September 5, 1988, to James and Paula M. in Colorado. In January 1989, while she and her parents were in Manchester, New Hampshire, Kimberli was the victim of an accident that left her blind and severely developmentally delayed. Following several months of medical treatment in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Boston, Massachusetts, Kimberli's parents, with the aid of the New Hampshire Division of Children and Youth Services, placed Kimberli in the Brock Home, located in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, a "home for children" licensed by the New Hampshire Department of Mental Health. See N.H.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 193:27 I.⁴ On the application for placement, Kimberli's parents listed their address as 213 Pine Street, Manchester, New Hampshire. Although the parents, James and Paula M., appear to have retained legal custody of Kimberli at this time, they had little or no contact with her after she went to the Brock Home. Her parents moved to South Carolina shortly after Kimberli was placed in the Brock Home.

Because of her several disabilities, Kimberli was entitled under federal and New Hampshire law to receive special education services beginning at the age of three. See 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(A); N.H.Rev. Stat. Ann. § 186-C:1.⁵ In May 1992, the Moore Center Services, Inc.,⁶ on behalf of Kimberli, requested the NHDOE to make a so-called "district of liability" determination to decide which school district in New Hampshire, if any, was responsible to pay for the expenses of Kimberli's education. In a letter dated May 15, 1992, the NHDOE, quoting N.H.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 193:29⁷, notified MSD that MSD was the district of liability for Kimberli because it was the district in which Kimberli had "most recently resided" prior to her placement in the Brock Home. Unhappy with this determination, MSD appealed to the Commissioner of Education, Charles H. Marston. The Commissioner affirmed the NHDOE's decision, and MSD sought no further review of the decision at this time although entitled to do so. Therefore, as matters stood, while Kimberli would attend school in the Pittsfield School District where the Brock Home was located, MSD had to pay for her special education costs.

In 1993, James M., Kimberli's father, relocated from South Carolina to Akron Ohio with his remaining children. On February 1, 1993, Kimberli, along with Mrs. Brock of the Brock Home and an assistant, traveled to Ohio to visit her family. According to MSD (but not appellees), there was some thought at the time to place Kimberli in a facility located in Ohio. The attempted Ohio placement, if it was such, failed, and on February 4, 1993, Kimberli was returned to the Brock Home. MSD believed that the out-of-state trip formed a basis for once again challenging the 1992 NHDOE's district of liability determination. MSD argued, in a letter to the NHDOE, that the four-day trip constituted a move that altered Kimberli's residence, thereby relieving MSD of further liability. The NHDOE rejected MSD's characterization. It determined that the trip to Ohio was a mere visit that did not constitute a change in residence. Thus, the NHDOE determined that MSD remained liable for Kimberli's educational expenses. MSD did not seek review of this decision.

Also in 1993, the NHDOE appointed an educational surrogate parent, Margaret "Peggy" Crisman, to act in the place of Kimberli's parents for purposes of making educational decisions. See N.H.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 186-C:14 III.⁸ Since her appointment, Ms. Crisman has acted on Kimberli's behalf in all matters related to her education. In May 2000, Ms. Crisman became Kimberli's legal guardian.⁹

In 1995, James and Paula M. were divorced. James M. was awarded "residential and legal custody" of their four children, including Kimberli. Focusing on the 1995 divorce decree, MSD petitioned the NHDOE for yet another district of liability determination. MSD argued that, because James M. had been awarded "residential" custody, Kimberli, a minor, had become a resident of Akron, Ohio, where her father resided. MSD reasoned that Akron, and not Manchester, was liable financially for Kimberli's education. Consistent with this theory, MSD administratively discharged Kimberli from special education in 1996, reiterating that her residence, like her father's, was in Akron, Ohio. In response, Ms. Crisman requested a due process hearing before a hearing officer of the NHDOE. That request had the effect of temporarily maintaining the status quo as to Kimberli's placement and MSD's liability for her education expenses.

In January 1997, the hearing officer issued a decision that the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel prevented MSD from re-litigating Kimberli's residency. The hearing officer determined that the NHDOE's 1992 district of liability decision constituted a final order binding upon MSD. However, the hearing officer allowed MSD to "produce evidence to demonstrate changed circumstances occurring since the 1992 DOL determination which might justify a different result...."

Seeking to demonstrate changed circumstances, MSD argued that Kimberli's 1993 trip to Ohio and the divorce decree were new circumstances calling for a different district of liability determination. The hearing officer disagreed. She determined that the 1995 Ohio divorce decree, granting residential custody to Kimberli's father, did not affect the 1992 district of liability determination. She further concluded that any argument that the 1993 trip to Ohio constituted a move was barred by the statute of limitations pursuant to N.H.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 186-C:16-b I.¹⁰

MSD thereupon brought this action in the district court against Crisman, as Kimberli's surrogate parent, and the Pittsfield School District, contesting the hearing officer's conclusion. See note 3, supra. MSD sought a determination that it was no longer...