Bills by Bills v. Homer Consolidated School Dist. No. 33-C, 96 C 6431.

• Decision Date: 14 March 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96 C 6431.,96 C 6431.
• Citation: 959 F.Supp. 507
• Parties: Robert BILLS, a Minor, by his parents and next friends, Sean BILLS and Debbie Bills, Plaintiff, v. HOMMER CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 33-C, a municipal corporation; Douglas Sisterson, individually and in his official capacity; and Ernst Jolas, individually and in his official capacity; and Deputy Joseph Kamarauskas, individually and in his official capacity, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

959 F.Supp. 507

Robert BILLS, a Minor, by his parents and next friends, Sean BILLS and Debbie Bills, Plaintiff, v. HOMMER CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 33-C, a municipal corporation; Douglas Sisterson, individually and in his official capacity; and Ernst Jolas, individually and in his official capacity; and Deputy Joseph Kamarauskas, individually and in his official capacity, Defendants.

No. 96 C 6431.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

March 14, 1997.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Edward M. Fox, Alan J. Shefler, Shefler and Berger, Ltd., Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

Heidi Ann Katz, Robert E. Riley, Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, Ltd., Chicago, IL, Nicholas Evans Sakellariou, Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, Ltd., Joliet, IL, for Homer Consolidated School Dist. No. 33-C, Douglas Sisterson, Ernst Jolas.

Bruce K. Shapiro, Paul M. Heller & Associates, Ltd., Chicago, IL, Norma Jean Guess, Daniel C. Shapiro, Moss & Bloomberg, Ltd., Bolingbrook, IL, James Gus Sotos, Dana M. Shannon, Jason W. Rose, Hervas, Soto & Condon, P.C., Itasca, IL, James Constantine Vlahakis, Hernas, Sotos, Longdon & Bersani, Itasca, IL, for Joseph Kamarauskas.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ZAGEL, District Judge.

This case has its origin in events that began on February 5, 1996.¹ That day, Homer Consolidated School District No. 33-C ("School District") officials found a fire burning in a locker at Schilling Elementary School where plaintiff Robert Bills was a fifth grade student. The Schilling School Principal Ernst Jolas and Will County Police Officer Joseph Kamarauskas began investigating this incident, and as a result, found a hand-held propane torch in a locker near the one where the fire occurred. Beginning on February 5 and continuing daily at least through February 9, Kamarauskas, Jolas, and other school officials questioned plaintiff, sometimes outside the presence of his parents, in connection with the fire. On February 8, 1996, a Schilling School student who was an acquaintance of plaintiff's, admitted to starting the fire with matches, not the propane torch. On February 9, Kamarauskas pulled plaintiff out of class, questioned him in an allegedly coercive manner, and extracted a signed confession wherein plaintiff admitted bringing the torch to school and giving it to the boy who admitted starting the fire.

After plaintiff signed the confession, a series of significant events ensued. On February 13, plaintiff and his parents received a notice that the School District intended to suspend plaintiff from school and recommend his expulsion for the remainder of the 1995-1996 school year and for the whole 1996-1997 school year. Subsequently, the school district suspended plaintiff for ten days.² Then, on February 20, plaintiff's parents requested a hearing on the suspension and expulsion issues. On February 22, plaintiff was redesignated as non-learning disabled. Previously, plaintiff had been classified as Learning Disabled since first grade. On May 7, 1996, plaintiff and his parents attended a school disciplinary hearing at which the School District's Board of Education took action to expel him from school.

On June 11, 1996, plaintiff filed a complaint in Illinois state court alleging constitutional deprivations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On September 20, 1996, the court found plaintiff engaged in gross and serious misconduct by bringing a torch to school, but the school board's expulsion of plaintiff beginning May 8, 1996 through the end of the 1996-1997 school year was excessive and an abuse of discretion not supported by plaintiff's conduct. Thereupon, plaintiff resumed school, and he continues to attend school at the present time.

On October 2, 1996, plaintiff filed a complaint seeking primarily monetary, declaratory, and injunctive relief against the School District, Douglas Sisterson (President of the Board of Education for the Homer district), Ernst Jolas (these first three defendants shall be collectively designated the "School District Defendants"), and Deputy Joseph Kamarauskas in federal court alleging constitutional deprivations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff asserted the following six counts:

(1) Kamarauskas and Jolas, in their individual capacities, violated plaintiff's Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights by unreasonable seizures and interrogations;

(2) Jolas and Sisterson, in their individual capacities, violated plaintiff's substantive and procedural due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment by reclassifying his status, conducting an unfair disciplinary hearing and expelling him;

(3) Jolas and Sisterson, in their individual capacities, violated plaintiff's equal protection rights under the Fourteenth amendment by reclassifying his status and expelling him;

(4) Kamarauskas, in his official capacity, maintained a policy that violated plaintiff's Fourth amendment rights by unreasonable seizures and interrogations;

(5) Sisterson, in his official capacity, and the School District maintained policies that violated plaintiff's due process and equal protection rights by expelling him and reclassifying his status;

(6) Jolas, Sisterson and the Homer School District improperly reclassified plaintiff's status and expelled him in violation of his Fourteenth amendment due process rights.

Now, the School District Defendants move to dismiss the complaint as to them under Rule 12(b)(1) and under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim, respectively. The School District Defendants move for dismissal alleging several alternative grounds: (1) res judicata; (2) abstention; (3) failure to exhaust administrative procedures; (3) qualified immunity; and (4) failure to allege facts sufficient to state a claim.

ANALYSIS

On a motion to dismiss, the court tests the sufficiency of the complaint, not the merits of the lawsuit. Triad Assocs., Inc. v. Chicago Hous. Auth., 892 F.2d 583, 586 (7th Cir. 1989). The court must accept all well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Dimmig v. Wahl, 983 F.2d 86, 87 (7th Cir.1993). A court will only grant a motion to dismiss if it is clear that the plaintiff cannot prove any set of facts that would entitle it to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957).

A. Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

The defendants move to dismiss Counts II, III, V and VI based on plaintiffs alleged failure to exhaust his administrative remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA").³ The IDEA limits any civil action, including a civil rights action, when relief is available under the IDEA unless the administrative process has first been exhausted. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(f). There are numerous reasons for requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies, including: (1) to permit an agency to exercise its discretion and expertise; (2) to develop technical issues and a factual record prior to judicial review; (3) to prevent circumvention of agency procedures; and (4) to avoid unnecessary judicial review by allowing agencies to correct errors. See Doe v. Alfred, 906 F.Supp. 1092, 1097 (S.D.W.Va.1995) (citing Association for Commun. Living v. Romer, 992 F.2d 1040, 1044 (10th Cir.1993); Heldman v. Sobol, 962 F.2d 148, 159 (2d Cir. 1992)).

Could plaintiff have sought relief for the claims alleged in Counts II, III, V, and VI under the IDEA? The IDEA provides relief for "any matter relating to the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child, or the provision of a free appropriate public education to such child." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(1)(E). Here, plaintiff asserted claims in Counts II, III, V and VI relating to the reclassification of the his Learning Disabled ("LD") status and to his expulsion. These claims relate to plaintiff's opportunity to receive a free appropriate public education and to his educational placement. Therefore, I find that plaintiff could have asserted these claims under the IDEA.⁴ See, e.g., Waterman v. Marquette-Alger Intermediate Sch. Dist., 739 F.Supp. 361, 365 (W.D.Mich.1990) (dismissing complaint for lack of exhaustion where "all of plaintiffs' claims arise from defendants' allegedly excessive disciplinary acts and practices").

Plaintiff acknowledges that Count II is based on the IDEA, but contends that Counts III, V and VI are asserted under other legal theories. "[A]ny pupil who wants `relief that is available under' the IDEA must use the IDEA's administrative system even if he invokes a different statute." Charlie F. v. Board of Educ. of Skokie School Dist. 68, 98 F.3d 989, 991 (7th Cir. 1996) (holding that student who sued school officials under § 1983, the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act regarding a misconceived educational strategy under was required to exhaust IDEA administrative remedies) Therefore, the fact that plaintiff here asserted Constitutional claims under § 1983 does not alter his obligation to exhaust the administrative process before suing in federal court.

In a final attempt to save these claims, plaintiff argues that he did not have to exhaust the administrative process because doing so would have been futile. A plaintiff need not exhaust administrative procedures if he can show that doing so would have been futile or inadequate. Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305, 327, 108 S.Ct. 592, 606, 98 L.Ed.2d 686 (1988). Some courts have allowed suits to proceed without exhaustion only in exceptional circumstances. See Urban v. Jefferson County Sch. Dist. R-1, 89 F.3d 720, 725 (10th Cir.1996) (stating that administrative remedies "futile" when plaintiffs allege a systemic failure and seek systemwide reforms); Heldman v. Sobol, 962 F.2d 148, 159 (2d Cir.1992) (finding "futility" where plaintiff alleged that state education department procedures...