Smith v. Fitchburg Public Schools

• Decision Date: 22 March 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-1546.,04-1546.
• Parties: Chelsea SMITH, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. FITCHBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Defendant, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

401 F.3d 16

Chelsea SMITH, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. FITCHBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Defendant, Appellee.

No. 04-1546.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard November 3, 2004.

Decided March 22, 2005.

Theodore M. Hess-Mahan, with whom Shapiro Haber & Urmy LLP, Julia K. Landau, and Massachusetts Advocates for Children, were on brief, for appellant.

Doris R. MacKenzie Ehrens, with whom Mary L. Gallant, and Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP, were on brief, for appellee.

Before SELYA, Circuit Judge, STAHL, Senior Circuit Judge, and LEVAL,^* Senior Circuit Judge.

STAHL, Senior Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Chelsea Smith ("Chelsea"), by and through her parents, Linda and Deane Smith ("Chelsea's Parents"),¹ initiated a proceeding before the Bureau of Special Education Appeals ("BSEA"), pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., against the Fitchburg Public Schools ("Fitchburg") seeking home and hospital special education services. After a series of pre-hearing orders and ultimately a private settlement, Chelsea received all of the relief sought. Chelsea's Parents subsequently commenced this action in the district court to recover attorneys' fees and expenses as a prevailing party pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3), which provides for an award of attorneys' fees to parents of a student with a disability who is the "prevailing party" in an action or proceeding brought under the IDEA. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Fitchburg on the ground that Chelsea was not a "prevailing party" within the meaning of Buckhannon Board & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, 532 U.S. 598, 121 S.Ct. 1835, 149 L.Ed.2d 855 (2001). We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

The material facts in this case are undisputed. At the time these proceedings were initiated, Chelsea was a thirteen-year-old girl living with her parents in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and enrolled as a student at St. Joseph's School. When Chelsea was two, she was diagnosed with liver cancer and underwent extensive treatment including chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. As a result of that treatment, she suffers from partial hearing loss and ongoing gastrointestinal, respiratory, and other serious impairments. She depends on hearing aids and classroom assistance because of her disability.

Chelsea attended the Fitchburg public schools from 1993 to 1997, during which time Fitchburg provided special education services consisting of speech and language therapy. In 1997, Chelsea's Parents withdrew her from the public school and enrolled her in St. Joseph's School, a non-public, parochial school located in Fitchburg. Fitchburg continued to provide Chelsea with special education services at St. Joseph's.

In early 2001, Chelsea became ill due to complications from her earlier treatment, requiring multiple prolonged hospitalizations and surgeries. As a result, Chelsea missed a significant amount of school. In June 2001, Chelsea was hospitalized again, and, in August 2001, when it became clear that Chelsea would be absent from school for an extended period of time, her parents asked that the principal of St. Joseph's contact Fitchburg's special education department to request special education services for Chelsea while she was hospitalized. Fitchburg informed the principal that it was not required to provide such services because Chelsea was a regular student enrolled in a non-public school.

In September 2001, Chelsea's Parents hired a private tutor to provide Chelsea with educational services while she was in the hospital, and directed that the bills be sent directly to Fitchburg. Fitchburg refused to pay these bills.

As a result, on November 6, 2001, Chelsea's Parents filed a request for an administrative hearing before the BSEA seeking an order requiring Fitchburg to: (1) pay for Chelsea's tutoring at home and in the hospital; (2) convene an IEP meeting to address Chelsea's special education needs;² and (3) implement the resulting IEP.³ Chelsea was subsequently discharged from the hospital on November 11, 2001, although her medical condition prevented her from returning to school at that time. Because Fitchburg continued to refuse to provide special educational services for Chelsea, Chelsea's Parents arranged for Chelsea to be tutored at home.

On December 4, 2001, the BSEA Hearing Officer initiated a conference call with the parties, and at that time, Fitchburg orally agreed to convene a TEAM meeting on December 12, 2001 to evaluate Chelsea's special education needs. On December 12, 2001, because Fitchburg had not convened the TEAM meeting, Chelsea filed a motion requesting that the BSEA Hearing Officer order Fitchburg to convene the meeting. Fitchburg did not oppose the motion, and on December 20, 2001, the BSEA Hearing Officer issued a ruling granting Chelsea's motion, stating that "Fitchburg will use its best efforts to convene the TEAM on January 4, 2002 but in no event will the TEAM be convened any later than January 11, 2002." On January 10, 2002, Fitchburg's counsel informed Chelsea's Parents that the TEAM meeting would take place the next day. Due to the short notice and conflicts with Chelsea's medical appointments, the TEAM meeting was rescheduled and eventually convened on January 18, 2002.

As a result of the TEAM meeting, Fitchburg determined that Chelsea was entitled to receive "home/hospital education services" despite her enrollment in a private school. Soon thereafter, the parties, under the guidance of the BSEA Hearing Officer, commenced negotiations for a settlement agreement to include home/hospital tutoring, reimbursement for prior tutoring expenses, execution of the IEP, and payment of attorneys' fees. Following a BSEA Hearing Officer-initiated conference call, the Hearing Officer issued an Order, noting that the "[p]arties reported that they were discussing settlement," and confirming that "School Counsel will send a written proposal for settlement by March 25, 2002 at 12:00 p.m." The Hearing Officer also scheduled a follow-up conference call for March 25, 2002 at 3:00 p.m.

Fitchburg sent a draft settlement agreement to Chelsea on March 21, 2002. After the March 25, 2002 conference call, the BSEA Hearing Officer issued an Order to Show Cause why the case should not be dismissed in light of the parties' impending settlement. At that time, however, Fitchburg had not yet provided Chelsea's Parents with the proposed IEP⁴ and a signed copy of the settlement agreement. Accordingly Chelsea's counsel responded to the show cause order, requesting that the case remain active until Chelsea received the IEP and both parties had executed the settlement agreement. On April 29, 2002, after another conference call, the BSEA Hearing Officer ordered Fitchburg to send Chelsea's Parents the IEP by Thursday, May 9, 2002 at 3:00 p.m.⁵ and scheduled a conference call for Friday, May 10, 2002 to further discuss the pending settlement. That order stated that Fitchburg's failure to send the IEP by May 10, 2002 would result in sanctions. Fitchburg faxed the IEP on May 9, 2002, but did not forward a signed copy of the settlement agreement. During the May 10, 2002 conference call, Fitchburg said that it would send Chelsea's Parents a copy of the settlement agreement, and would review Chelsea's Parents' proposed changes to the IEP. Fitchburg's promises were again memorialized in an Order issued by the BSEA Hearing Officer that same day, and a follow-up conference call was scheduled for May 21, 2002. Chelsea's Parents forwarded the proposed changes to the IEP on May 14, 2002, and on May 20, 2002, sent a letter to Fitchburg's counsel noting that they had not yet heard back from Fitchburg about the proposed changes, despite the fact that a conference call was scheduled for the next day.

On May 23, 2002, the BSEA Hearing Officer issued a second ruling, this time ordering, under threat of sanctions, that Fitchburg respond to Chelsea's Parents' proposed changes to the IEP no later than May 31, 2002. The ruling also set up a conference call for June 3, 2002.

During the June 3, 2002 conference call, the parties discussed and agreed upon several proposed changes to the IEP. In addition, the parties acknowledged that it was time to convene another TEAM meeting to discuss services for Chelsea during the summer months. In an order memorializing the conference call, the BSEA Hearing Officer stated that Fitchburg would send Chelsea's Parents a copy of the settlement agreement and would execute the changes to the IEP agreed upon in the conference call. The order also stated that by the next conference call, scheduled for June 11, 2002, a date for the TEAM to reconvene would be set.

On June 7, 2002, Fitchburg executed the settlement agreement and forwarded it to Chelsea's counsel. Fitchburg did not, however, send an executed IEP reflecting the changes agreed upon during the June 3, 2002 conference call. On June 10, 2002, Chelsea's counsel sent Fitchburg a letter stating that Chelsea had not received the signed IEP. On June 19, 2002, Chelsea's counsel sent the BSEA Hearing Officer a letter stating that Chelsea still had not received the signed IEP. On June 26, 2002, Chelsea's counsel sent yet another letter to the BSEA Hearing Officer stating Chelsea still had not received the signed IEP, and requesting a Hearing Officer-initiated conference call to address Fitchburg's failure to provide a signed copy of the IEP.

On July 2, 2002, the BSEA Hearing Officer issued an order requiring Fitchburg to "execute a signed IEP no later than July 5, 2002." The order stated that Fitchburg's failure to do so might result in sanctions. On July 16, 2002, Fitchburg sent Chelsea's Parents a signed IEP, and Chelsea's Parents executed the settlement agreement that same day. The settlement agreement provided, inter alia, that (1) Chelsea is a child in need of special education services; (2)...