C.N. v. Willmar Public Schools, Dist. No. 347

• Decision Date: 07 January 2010
• Docket Number: No. 08-3019.,08-3019.
• Citation: 591 F.3d 624
• Parties: C.N., on her own behalf and by and through her parent and natural guardian, J.N., Appellant, v. WILLMAR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 347; Michael Carlson, Chair, Willmar Board of Education, in his representative capacity; Kathryn Leedom, Superintendent in her personal and representative capacities; Susan Smith, Supervisor of Special Education, in her personal and representative capacities; Rebecca Simenson, Principal, in her personal and representative capacities; Lisa Van Der Heiden, in her personal and representative capacities, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

591 F.3d 624

C.N., on her own behalf and by and through her parent and natural guardian, J.N., Appellant, v. WILLMAR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 347; Michael Carlson, Chair, Willmar Board of Education, in his representative capacity; Kathryn Leedom, Superintendent in her personal and representative capacities; Susan Smith, Supervisor of Special Education, in her personal and representative capacities; Rebecca Simenson, Principal, in her personal and representative capacities; Lisa Van Der Heiden, in her personal and representative capacities, Appellees.

No. 08-3019.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: June 11, 2009.

Filed: January 7, 2010.

Margaret O'Sullivan, argued, St. Paul, MN, for appellant.

Nancy Ellen Blumstein, argued, Sonja J. Guggemos, on the brief, Minneapolis, MN, for Willmar Public Schools, et al.

Laura Tubbs Booh, argued, Plymouth, MN, for appellant Van Der Heiden.

Before MELLOY, BEAM and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.

BEAM, Circuit Judge.

C.N., by and through her mother, J.N., appeals the dismissal of various federal claims against Willmar Public Schools, Independent School District No. 347 (the District), several officials affiliated with the District and her former special education teacher Lisa Van Der Heiden. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

When this action commenced, C.N., a special education student, attended fourth grade in the Atwater Public School District in Atwater, Minnesota. This action, however, concerns events that allegedly occurred while C.N. was enrolled at Lincoln Elementary School within the District in Willmar, Minnesota, where C.N. attended school from midway through kindergarten to midway through her third grade year.

C.N. was born in March 1998 and was tested for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in 2001. Although the testing ruled out ASD, further testing revealed C.N. had a communications disorder and attentional and hyperactivity problems. Ultimately, C.N. was designated as developmentally delayed with speech and language impairment. Thus, during kindergarten at Jefferson Elementary, a school within the District, C.N. had an individualized education program (IEP) geared toward addressing her special needs. The IEP was created through the collaborative efforts of the local education agency, teachers, parents and behavioral service providers (the IEP team). C.N.'s IEP included a behavior intervention plan (BIP), which authorized the use of restraint holds and seclusion when C.N. exhibited various target behaviors. After continued behavioral problems, the District and J.N. agreed C.N. should be assessed by Tim Ardoff, an outside evaluator from Southern Minnesota Community Support Services. After the evaluation, the District transferred C.N. to Lincoln Elementary, another District school, in January 2004. C.N.'s IEP and BIP were also revised to incorporate some of Ardhoff's suggestions. Ardhoff did not specifically recommend the use of restraint holds or seclusion. Over J.N.'s alleged objections, however, C.N.'s BIP continued to authorize such procedures to address certain target behaviors. During later evaluations, Ardhoff recommended against seclusion, and J.N. allegedly continued to object to the use of restraints and seclusion. Throughout C.N.'s time at Lincoln, however, the IEP team continually adjusted her IEP, and at all relevant times, the IEP authorized controlled procedures.

While attending Lincoln, C.N. worked with Defendant Lisa Van Der Heiden, a special education teacher. Van Der Heiden sometimes used the controlled procedures authorized in C.N.'s BIP, and recorded the incidents in behavioral and communication logs she kept for her students. The complaint alleges that during C.N.'s time under her care, Van Der Heiden used those techniques improperly and excessively and also mistreated C.N. For example, Van Der Heiden allegedly made C.N. sit at a "thinking desk" and hold a physical posture for a specified time, or else face restraint or seclusion. Van Der Heiden also allegedly yelled and shouted at C.N., demeaned and belittled C.N., once pulled C.N.'s hair when she would not hold a posture at the thinking desk and once denied C.N. use of the restroom, causing an accident. C.N. also reported to J.N. that Van Der Heiden "choke[d] her and that the restraints hurt her very much."

During C.N.'s third grade year (the 2006-07 school year), a paraprofessional reported Van Der Heiden to the Minnesota Department of Education's (MDE) Maltreatment of Minors Division for maltreatment of C.N. This was the third such report made against Van Der Heiden. J.N. learned of those allegations in August 2006, and filed a complaint with the MDE's Accountability and Compliance Division in September 2006. Ultimately, according to the complaint, the MDE investigations concluded Van Der Heiden violated a number of C.N.'s rights as a child with a disability and also maltreated C.N. by denying her access to the restroom. During the MDE's investigations, the District placed Van Der Heiden on leave and conducted its own investigation into allegations that she mistreated two students, one of whom was C.N. On two previous occasions in 2005 and 2006, the District had conducted similar investigations but found no misconduct by Van Der Heiden. This time, the District found evidence that Van Der Heiden denied C.N. access to the restroom but attributed the incident to a lapse in judgment. Thus, Van Der Heiden was never disciplined by the District for any maltreatment allegations.¹ Without notice to J.N., Van Der Heiden returned to Lincoln on October 2, 2006. She remained at Lincoln until October 6, 2006, but was not at school the following week and had no further contact with C.N.

J.N. thereafter repeatedly contacted Defendant Kathryn Leedom, District Superintendent, and asked to be notified if and when Van Der Heiden returned to Lincoln. On November 29, 2006, Leedom wrote J.N. and informed her that Leedom had no obligation to provide that information to J.N. J.N. subsequently withdrew her daughter from Lincoln and enrolled her at St. John's, a private school in Atwater, Minnesota, for the remainder of her third grade year. J.N. enrolled C.N. in the Atwater public school district for the 2007-08 school year.

On October 17, 2007, C.N., by and through J.N., requested an administrative hearing and filed a complaint with the MDE, challenging the adequacy of the educational services provided by the District. Relying on a line of cases beginning with Thompson v. Board of Special School District No. 1, 144 F.3d 574 (8th Cir.1998), the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) granted the District's motion to dismiss the hearing request for lack of jurisdiction because C.N. was no longer enrolled in the District and had transferred to Atwater without requesting a hearing against the District.

C.N. appealed that ruling to the district court,² and asserted various federal and state claims against the District, District Board Chairman Michael Carlson in his official capacity, and Van Der Heiden, Leedom, Lincoln principal Rebecca Simenson and Supervisor of Special Education Programming Susan Smith, in both their individual and official capacities. As relevant to this appeal, C.N. asserted federal claims under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. The district court concluded C.N.'s IDEA claim failed as a matter of law because she did not request a hearing on her claims against the District until after leaving the District. The court also dismissed C.N.'s remaining federal claims for failure to state a claim and declined to exercise jurisdiction over her state law claims.³ This appeal follows.⁴

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

"This court reviews de novo the grant of a motion to dismiss, taking all facts alleged in the complaint as true." Owen v. Gen. Motors Corp., 533 F.3d 913, 918 (8th Cir.2008) (quotation omitted). We bear in mind, however, that although a complaint need not include detailed factual allegations, "a plaintiff's obligation to provide the grounds of his entitlement to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (internal quotations and alteration omitted). Instead, the complaint must set forth "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Id. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

B. IDEA Claim

We first address C.N.'s challenge to the dismissal of her IDEA claim against the District. As noted above, after transferring to the Atwater public school system, C.N. requested an administrative hearing against the District, challenging the adequacy of the educational services provided by the District. Like the ALJ, the district court concluded C.N.'s IDEA claim failed under Thompson, 144 F.3d 574, because she did not request a hearing to challenge the education provided by the District until after leaving the District. C.N. contends that ruling was in error because recent changes to Minnesota law have rendered Thompson invalid. We disagree.

The IDEA seeks to ensure that all disabled children receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) designed to meet their needs. 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A). To that end, the IDEA "provides federal money to state and local education agencies in order to assist them in educating handicapped children on the condition that the states and local agencies implement the substantive and procedural requirements of the Act." M.P. v. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 721, 326 F.3d 975, 979 (8th Cir.2003). Substantively, for example, school districts must develop an IEP for each disabled student. Id. The IDEA also provides certain "procedural safeguards to permit parental involvement in all matters concerning the child's...