Board of Educ. of Fayette County, Ky. v. L.M.
| Decision Date | 02 March 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 06-5534.,06-5534. |
| Citation | 478 F.3d 307 |
| Parties | BOARD OF EDUCATION OF FAYETTE COUNTY, KENTUCKY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. L.M., as legal guardian of T.D., a minor; L.M., on her own behalf; and T.D., by his legal guardian, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
ARGUED: Marie Allison, Lexington, Kentucky, for Appellants. Robert L. Chenoweth, Chenoweth Law Office, Frankfort, Kentucky, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Marie Allison, Assistant Public Advocate, Lexington, Kentucky, for Appellants. Robert L. Chenoweth, Chenoweth Law Office, Frankfort, Kentucky, for Appellee.
Before: MARTIN, COLE, and GILMAN, Circuit Judges.
This appeal is brought by a child with a disability within the meaning of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court insofar as it upheld the hearing officer's determination regarding the extent of the School District's violation of the IDEA, but REVERSE the court's affirmation of the compensatory-education award and REMAND the case with instructions to have the appropriate administrative body craft a remedy that complies with the IDEA.
T.D., a minor child, attended preschool and elementary school through the fourth grade under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education of Fayette County, Kentucky (the School District). He exhibited behavioral and academic problems beginning in kindergarten, but was not identified by the School District as a child with a disability within the meaning of the IDEA until May of 2003, just prior to the conclusion of T.D.'s fourth-grade school year. L.M., the child's legal guardian, requested a due process hearing pursuant to the IDEA, which was held by an impartial hearing officer in January of 2004. The hearing officer found that the child was denied a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for his third- and fourth-grade school years (2001-2002 and 2002-2003) due to the School District's failure to refer T.D. for special education after his second-grade year. To remedy this denial, the hearing officer awarded T.D. a compensatory-education package that included 125 hours of specified one-on-one instruction in reading and language skills.
The Exceptional Children's Appeals Board (Appeals Board) affirmed the hearing officer's finding that the child was denied a FAPE for the two years in question, but reversed the hearing officer's award of 125 hours of compensatory education in favor of a more fluid determination of appropriate compensatory education to be prepared by the child's Admissions and Release Committee (Committee). In Kentucky, this Committee is the equivalent of a student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) team under the IDEA.
T.D. was born in February of 1993 and attended elementary school in Fayette County from 1998 through 2003. He was referred for evaluation as a student with possible disabilities under the IDEA in January of 2003, during his fourth-grade school year. The School District conducted a comprehensive evaluation of T.D. shortly thereafter, and the Committee met on May 5, 2003 to review and act on the results of that evaluation. Among other things, the Committee determined that T.D. had been medically diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and that he also met the IDEA eligibility requirements for a reading disability.
The School District does not dispute T.D.'s eligibility under the IDEA. T.D. and his guardian, however, argued before the hearing officer that the School District should have referred T.D. for a disability evaluation under the IDEA's "child-find procedures" as early as kindergarten. Report cards from the first two grading periods of T.D.'s kindergarten year showed that T.D. struggled with behavioral and social skills, beginning language skills, and math. But by the end of T.D.'s kindergarten year, he was meeting expectations in all academic areas, even though he still exhibited behavioral problems. T.D.'s behavioral problems continued for the next three years, and he began experiencing severe academic problems as well. For example, his standardized test scores at the end of the second grade indicated that T.D. was reading "far below grade level" and was considered "at risk." His second-grade teacher requested assistance from a reading specialist and the school's psychologist, and discussed the possibility of a reading disability with the principal. The teacher did not, however, refer T.D. for a formal evaluation under the IDEA.
After T.D. completed the third grade, he was still reading far below grade level. The third-grade teacher recommended that T.D. repeat that grade. His guardian objected, however, and he was promoted to fourth grade. But T.D. attended summer school between the third and fourth grades under the School District's Extended School Services program.
In September of 2002, T.D.'s guardian notified the school that T.D. had been medically diagnosed with ADHD. The school principal then referred T.D. for an IDEA evaluation in November of that year. In February of 2003, the Committee determined that the referral was appropriate and warranted a full evaluation, which was completed in April of 2003. The Committee reviewed T.D.'s evaluation and met on May 5, 2003 to devise a plan of action. At the meeting, the Committee determined that T.D. met the eligibility requirements for special education due to several disabilities, including his ADHD. The Committee held several meetings during May of 2003 to develop T.D.'s IEP. T.D.'s guardian, unhappy with the IEP as well as the timing of T.D.'s referral for special education, requested a due process hearing pursuant to the IDEA. The hearing officer conducted hearings throughout the fall of 2003 and rendered a written decision on January 30, 2004.
In her decision, the hearing officer concluded that the School District's failure to refer T.D. for a special-education evaluation in the second grade deprived him of a FAPE in the third and fourth grades: "This failure resulted in a loss of educational opportunity and constituted a denial of a FAPE." The hearing officer further concluded that the School District's failure to provide individualized Extended School Year (ESY) instruction during the summer of 2003 also constituted the denial of a FAPE. To remedy these violations, the hearing officer awarded T.D. 125 hours of compensatory education, consisting of one-on-one instruction in reading and language skills, as well as an "additional number of hours equal to the number of hours that [T.D.] would have been eligible for ESY, had the [Committee] considered and determined the need for ESY services in the Summer of 2003." Moreover, the hearing officer ordered the School District to invite T.D.'s private psychologist to the Committee meeting and to pay for the psychologist's attendance.
The School District appealed to the Appeals Board, which agreed with the hearing officer's factual findings but altered the remedy. Instead of requiring a certain number of hours of compensatory education, the Appeals Board "ordered T.D.'s [Committee] to prepare and carry out a plan for providing T.D. with compensatory education services and to meet as required to review and modify the plan, not less than once every twelve months, until the [Committee] determines that the award is fulfilled."
Unhappy with the Appeals Board's decision, the School District filed an action in federal district court, challenging the following two determinations made by the hearing officer and affirmed by the Appeals Board: (1) that T.D. was entitled to ESY instruction for the summer of 2003, and (2) that the School District pay for T.D.'s private psychologist to attend the Committee meeting. T.D. and his guardian asserted 11 counterclaims, 2 of which are the sole issues now on appeal: (1) that the School District denied a FAPE to T.D. during the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 school years — T.D.'s first- and second-grade years, respectively — as well as during the summer of 2002, and (2) that the limited nature of the compensatory-education award with respect to the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 school years and the summer of 2003 denied T.D. meaningful relief. The district court affirmed the Appeals Board's decision in its entirety. T.D. and his guardian timely appealed.
In a lawsuit brought to challenge an IDEA administrative finding, the district court "(i) shall receive the records of the administrative proceedings; (ii) shall hear additional evidence at the request of a party; and (iii) basing its decision on the preponderance of the evidence, shall grant such relief as the court determines is appropriate." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2)(C). "The Supreme Court has construed this provision to mean that an initial reviewing court should make an independent decision based on the preponderance of the evidence but also should give `due weight' to the determinations made during the state administrative process." Deal v. Hamilton County Bd. of Educ., 392 F.3d 840, 849 (6th Cir.2004) (quoting Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 206, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982)).
A district court thus reviews IDEA cases under a modified de novo standard, meaning that it may set aside administrative findings in an IDEA case "only if the evidence before the court is more likely than not to preclude the administrative decision from being justified based on the agency's presumed educational expertise, a fair estimate of the worth of the testimony, or both." Berger v. Medina City Sch. Dist., 348 F.3d 513, 519 (6th Cir.2003) (citation and quotation marks omitted). More weight "is due to an agency's determinations on matters for which educational expertise is relevant." Deal, 392 F.3d at 849.
On appeal, we will reverse the district court's findings of fact only if they...
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