Beckwith ex rel. L.B. v. Dist. of Columbia

• Decision Date: 15 September 2016
• Docket Number: Case No: 15-cv-1284-RCL
• Citation: 208 F.Supp.3d 34
• Parties: Javanda BECKWITH, Parent and next friend of L.B., a minor, and L.B. individually, Plaintiffs, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

208 F.Supp.3d 34

Javanda BECKWITH, Parent and next friend of L.B., a minor, and L.B. individually, Plaintiffs,

v.DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Defendant.

Case No: 15-cv-1284-RCL

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed September 15, 2016

Robert Wilson Jones, James E. Brown & Associates, PLLC, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.

Veronica A. Porter, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM

ROYCE C. LAMBERTH, United States District Judge

This matter is before the Court on the Report and Recommendation filed by Magistrate Judge Alan Kay on June 27, 2016. The 14-day period during which the parties may file objections to the Report and Recommendation has expired, see Local Civil Rule 72.3(b), and neither party has filed objections.

Plaintiffs Javanda Beckwith, parent and next friend of L.B., a minor, and L.B. individually, filed this complaint in August 2015 naming the District of Columbia as the sole defendant. The complaint alleges that the District of Columbia Public Schools ("DCPS") denied Ms. Beckwith's child, L.B., a free appropriate public education ("FAPE") in violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. Plaintiffs moved for summary judgment, asking the Court to reverse the Hearing Officer's Determination ("HOD") that DCPS provided L.B. a FAPE. Plaintiffs argued that DCPS denied L.B. a FAPE by: (1) failing to comply with its own guidelines concerning the use of restraint on L.B.; (2) failing to implement L.B.'s IEPs during the 2014-2015 school year; (3) assigning L.B. to a school—Langley Elementary—incapable of implementing L.B.'s IEPS; (4) failing to provide an appropriate IEP in January 2015; and (5) failing to develop an appropriate behavior intervention plan ("BIP"). Defendant filed a cross-motion for summary judgment asking the Court to affirm the HOD.

Magistrate Judge Kay found that the Hearing Officer erred in finding that DCPS's failure to comply with its restraint requirements did not deny L.B. a FAPE, and that DCPS's failure to implement L.B.'s June 2014 and January 2015 IEPs did not deny L.B. a FAPE. Magistrate Judge Kay also found, however, that the Hearing Officer did not err in determining that Langley was an appropriate location of services and capable of implementing L.B.'s IEPs, or that DCPS provided an appropriate IEP in January 2015, or that DCPS's failure to develop a behavior intervention plan did not deny L.B. a FAPE. In sum, L.B. was denied a FAPE when defendant failed to comply with its restraint requirements, and when defendant failed to implement L.B.'s June 2014 and January 2015 IEPs.

Accordingly, Magistrate Judge Kay recommended granting in part and denying in part plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, and granting in part and denying in part defendant's cross-motion for summary judgment. Specifically, Magistrate Judge Kay recommended granting plaintiffs' motion as to their claims that defendant denied L.B. a FAPE by violating DCPS guidelines on the use of restraint and by failing to implement her June 2014 and January 2015 IEPs. Magistrate Judge Kay recommended denying plaintiffs' motion as to their claims that defendant denied L.B. a FAPE by placing L.B. at Langley for the 2014-2015 school year, by failing to develop an appropriate IEP in January 2015, and by failing to develop a BIP until February 2015. After consideration of the Report and Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Kay, the absence of any party's objection thereto, the entire record before the Court and the applicable law, the Court will adopt Magistrate Judge Kay's Report and Recommendation and grant in part and deny in part plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, and grant in part and deny in part defendant's cross motion for summary judgment.

A separate order accompanies this memorandum.

ORDER

For the reasons stated in the accompanying memorandum, it is hereby

ORDERED that Magistrate Judge Alan Kay's Report and Recommendation issued June 27, 2016 [20], is ADOPTED; and it is further

ORDERED that the plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgement [11] is granted in part, and denied in part; and it is further

ORDERED that the defendant's Cross Motion for Summary Judgment [15] is granted in part, and denied in part.

Accordingly, the May 13, 2015 Hearing Officer's Determinations that DCPS's failure to comply with its restraint requirements did not deny L.B. a FAPE, and that DCPS's failure to implement L.B.'s June 2014 and January 2015 IEPs did not deny L.B. a FAPE are hereby REVERSED.

The May 13, 2015 Hearing Officer's Determinations that Langley Elementary was an appropriate location of services and capable of implementing L.B.'s IEPs, that DCPS provided an appropriate IEP in January 2015, and that DCPS's failure to develop a behavioral intervention plan did not deny L.B. a FAPE are hereby AFFIRMED.

It is hereby ORDERED that defendant revise L.B.'s IEP to include appropriate guidelines for the use of restraints on L.B., and that defendant provide compensatory education for the above-listed denials of a FAPE.

Pursuant to Local Rule 54.2(a), it is hereby ORDERED that the parties are directed to confer and to attempt to reach an agreement on fee issues. Any motions for attorneys' fees shall be filed no later than 14 days from this date pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d)(2)(B).

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

ALAN KAY, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Plaintiff Javanda Beckwith complains that the District of Columbia Public Schools ("DCPS") denied her child L.B. a free appropriate public education ("FAPE") in violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. An administrative Hearing Officer found that DCPS adequately provided L.B. a FAPE and accordingly denied Plaintiffs all requested relief. (See Hearing Officer's Determination ("HOD") [9-1] at 21.) Ms. Beckwith now moves for summary judgment and asks the Court to overturn the Hearing Officer's Determination ("HOD"). (Pls.' Mot. [12] at 1.) By contrast, Defendant District of Columbia moves the Court to uphold the HOD through its Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment. (Def.'s Cross-Mot. [15] at 1.) United States District Judge Royce C. Lamberth referred this matter to the undersigned for a Report and Recommendation on the pending motions. (J. Lamberth Order [3].) For the reasons discussed below, the undersigned recommends finding that Plaintiffs' Motion is granted in part and denied in part and that Defendant's Cross-Motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Statutory Framework

The IDEA "aims to ensure that every child has a meaningful opportunity to benefit from public education." Boose v. Dist. of Columbia, 786 F.3d 1054, 1056 (D.C.Cir.2015). To further that end, the statute requires that "all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living." 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A).

The statute also requires a school district to ensure that all children residing in that district "who are in need of special education and related services, are identified, located, and evaluated." Id. § 1412(a)(3)(A). Once identified, the school district develops an annual individualized education program ("IEP") tailored to that student's personal skills and needs that outlines the appropriate educational services the student will receive. Id. § 1414(d)(1)(A); Sch. Comm. of Burlington v. Dep't of Educ. , 471 U.S. 359, 368, 105 S.Ct. 1996, 85 L.Ed.2d 385 (1988). In developing a student's IEP, the school district "must ensure that a parent of each child with a disability is a member of any group that makes decisions on the educational placement of the parent's child." 34 C.F.R. § 300.501(c)(1).

The student's IEP is a comprehensive statement that is reviewed annually and includes annual goals for the student's education, a list of the special education and services that are to be provided to the student, projected dates for the beginning of services, and the criteria for evaluating the student's progress. 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(1)(A). The IEP team may determine that the student needs additional "related services"—i.e., non-educational, supportive services, such as physical and occupational therapy and psychological counseling—in order to benefit from special education. See id. § 1401(26); 34 C.F.R. § 300.34(a). At a minimum, the IEP must be "reasonably calculated" to provide "personalized instruction with sufficient support services to permit the child to benefit educationally from that instruction," Hendri c k Hudson District Board of Education v. Rowley , 458 U.S. 176, 203–04, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982), and the school district must ensure that "special education and related services are made available to the child in accordance with the child's IEP," 34 C.F.R. § 300.323(c).

If a parent objects to the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of her disabled child, or contends that the student is not receiving a FAPE, the parent may seek an "impartial due process hearing" before a Hearing Officer, who issues a determination known as a Hearing Officer's Determination ("HOD"). 20 U.S.C. §§ 1415(f)(1)(A), 1415(b)(6). If a party objects to the HOD, that party may appeal to a D.C. court or federal district court. See id. § 1415(i)(2)(A).

B. Factual Background

L.B. is a nine-year-old student who is eligible for special education and related services. (Administrative Record ("AR") [9] at 3.) In 2011, when L.B. was five-years-old, she was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

("ADHD"). (AR [9] at 29.) L.B. was prescribed medication for her ADHD but was "on and off" medication from her diagnosis until the summer of 2013 when Ms. Beckwith took her fully off the medication. (AR [9] at 107, [10] at 659–62.)...