Upper Valley Ass'n v. Blue Mountain Union School
| Decision Date | 24 July 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 2:95-CV-207.,2:95-CV-207. |
| Citation | 973 F.Supp. 429 |
| Parties | UPPER VALLEY ASSOCIATION FOR HANDICAPPED CITIZENS, and Winnie Pineo, Plaintiffs, v. BLUE MOUNTAIN UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 21, Board of District No. 21, Board of Directors, Blue Mountain Union School District No. 21, and Albert DePetrillo, Superintendent of the Blue Mountain Union School District No. 21, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Vermont |
Olcott Whitman Smith, Kochman & Smith, Burlington, VT, for Plaintiffs.
Elizabeth J. Grant, Paul, Frank & Collins, Inc., Burlington, VT, for Defendants.
In this civil rights class action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Plaintiffs seek declaratory judgment declaring their right to costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, incurred in a successful administrative action brought by Plaintiffs against Defendants under implementing regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), as well as an award of such costs. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants' failure to reimburse such costs constitutes a violation of their rights under the IDEA, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1401 et seq.; the Handicapped Children's Protection Act ("HCPA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1415(e); and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794. Pending before the Court are Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Defendants' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment.1
The following facts are not in dispute.2 Plaintiff Upper Valley Association for Handicapped Citizens ("the Association") is an unincorporated, non-profit association comprised of individuals with disabilities, family members, professionals and advocates, which provides informational, support, and advocacy services to individuals with disabilities and their families. Its principal place of business is in South Ryegate, Vermont. Plaintiff Winnie Pineo ("Pineo"), a resident of South Ryegate, serves as Program Director of the Association.
On March 22, 1993, 36 members of the Association wrote to Defendant Board of Directors of the Blue Mountain Union School District alleging numerous violations of the IDEA, including the failure to implement appropriate individualized education programs ("IEPs") for several specified students, as well as systemic inadequacies in the school district. In addition, they alleged violations of § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Vermont special education regulations. Of the 36 signatories to the letter, 24 are parents of a child with a disability in Blue Mountain Union schools, one is a guardian of such a child, and the others are interested citizens.
Plaintiffs received no written response to their letter. On April 12, 1993, Plaintiff Pineo filed an administrative complaint with Vermont Commissioner of Education Richard Mills on behalf of the Association and the members who signed the March 22 letter. Commissioner Mills dismissed seven of the counts of the complaint as not appropriate for review by the commissioner complaint process. He appointed a three-person team ("Team") to investigate the remaining counts and to make recommendations to him.
On December 20, 1994, the Team issued a 45-page report documenting its findings and recommending corrective actions. The report confirmed many of the violations of the IDEA and related regulations that Plaintiffs had alleged. In addition to prescribing corrective actions, the report recommended that compensatory services be provided to six students. Commissioner Mills adopted the report, and issued an addendum expressing his concern for the breadth and severity of the problems at Blue Mountain Union schools and ordering further monitoring of the District.
Plaintiffs filed this action on June 29, 1995 seeking reimbursement of costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, that they expended in the course of the administrative complaint process. On July 11, 1996, this Court certified Plaintiffs as a class, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(c)(1). The class consists of all present and future members of the Association, and includes a subclass of the 36 members who filed the April 12, 1993 administrative complaint with Commissioner Mills. Plaintiff Pineo was designated as representative of both the class and the subclass.
Summary judgment is appropriate when the Court finds that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The party opposing summary judgment may not rest on its pleadings but must present "significant probative evidence" demonstrating that a genuine dispute of material fact exists, and that the moving party is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The Court must view all materials submitted in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, drawing all reasonable inferences in the nonmovant's favor. Id. at 255, 106 S.Ct. at 2513. The moving party bears the initial burden of informing the court of the basis for the motion and of identifying those parts of the record which demonstrate absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552.
In 1975, Congress enacted the Education of the Handicapped Act ("EHA") to ensure that the states provide all disabled children with "a free appropriate public education." 20 U.S.C. § 1400(c). This legislation was enacted in recognition of the fact that a majority of disabled children in the United States "were either totally excluded from schools or [were] sitting idly in regular classrooms awaiting the time when they were old enough to `drop out.'" H.R.Rep. No. 94-332, 94th Cong., 1st Sess. at 2 (1975), 1975 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1425, 1426. Known today as the IDEA, see Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1990, Pub.L. No. 101-476, § 901(a)(1), 104 Stat. 1103, 1141-42 (1990) (revising short title), the statute conditions the granting of federal funds to the states for use in special education programs on the states' compliance with elaborate procedural requirements set forth in the Act. 20 U.S.C. §§ 1412, 1413; Mrs. W. v. Tirozzi, 832 F.2d 748, 751 (2d Cir.1987).
The IDEA establishes two administrative mechanisms for enforcement of the Act's procedural requirements. First, a parent or guardian of a disabled child may present complaints "with respect to any matter relating to the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(1)(E). Upon the filing of a complaint, the complainant is entitled to an impartial due process hearing conducted by the state or local educational agency. Id. § 1415(b)(2). If the due process hearing is conducted by a local educational agency, the agency's findings and decision may be appealed to the state educational agency, which is required to make an independent review and render a final decision within 30 days. Id. § 1415(c); 34 C.F.R. § 300.512(b)(1) (1997). Parties to a due process proceeding are entitled to a panoply of hearing rights, including the right to be accompanied and advised by counsel and experts; to present evidence and confront, cross-examine and compel attendance of witnesses; to prohibit the introduction of evidence that has not been disclosed at least five days prior; to obtain a record of the hearing; and to obtain written findings of fact and decisions. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(d); 34 C.F.R. § 300.508. An aggrieved party may appeal a state's decision by filing a civil action in state or federal court. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(e).
The second procedural safeguard available under the IDEA is known as the complaint resolution procedure ("CRP").3 Implementing regulations of the IDEA require that states adopt written procedures for the receipt and resolution of complaints, from organizations or individuals, that a state or local educational agency has violated the IDEA or its regulations. 34 C.F.R. §§ 300.660, 300.662. The regulations further require that a state's CRP include a 60-day limit in which to investigate and resolve a complaint. Id. § 300.661(a). The state educational agency must conduct an independent investigation if it deems such an investigation necessary, and the complainant has the opportunity to submit additional information. Id. § 300.661(a)(1)-(2). However, the complainant does not have rights of confrontation, crossexamination, or compulsory process. Both the complainant and the public agency have the right to request a review of the state agency's decision by the United States Secretary of Education. Id. § 300.661(d). Although the IDEA provides no direct route of appeal from the Secretary's decision, it may be challenged through a separate § 1983 action. See 20 U.S.C. § 1415(f); see generally Tirozzi, 832 F.2d at 754-55.
It is the CRP process, known in Vermont as a commissioner complaint, that Plaintiffs initiated when they filed their April 12, 1993 complaint with the Vermont Commissioner of Education. Vermont's CRP provides that complaints are to be submitted to the Commissioner of Education, who must then appoint a complaint investigator to investigate the allegations made. Vermont State Board of Education Regulations § 2364.3.7 (1992). The complaint investigator is authorized to conduct meetings, hearings, and on-site investigations, and must present his or her findings to the Commissioner within 50 days of the Commissioner's receipt of the complaint. Id. The Commissioner then has ten days in which to render a decision and order. Id. The regulations also allow an aggrieved party to appeal the Commissioner's decision to the United States Department of Education. Id.
It is today well-settled that the IDEA provides a private right of action for...
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