Claudia C-B v. Board of Trustees of Pioneer Valley

• Decision Date: 20 March 2008
• Docket Number: C.A. No. 07-30094-MAP.
• Citation: 539 F.Supp.2d 474
• Parties: CLAUDIA C-B, et al., Plaintiffs v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF PIONEER VALLEY PERFORMING ARTS CHARTER SCHOOL, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

539 F.Supp.2d 474

CLAUDIA C-B, et al., Plaintiffs v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF PIONEER VALLEY PERFORMING ARTS CHARTER SCHOOL, et al., Defendants.

C.A. No. 07-30094-MAP.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

March 20, 2008.

Bryan K. Clauson, Springfield, MA, for Plaintiffs.

Edward D. Etheredge, Etheredge & Steuer, P.C., Northampton, MA, James S. Whitcomb, Office of Attorney General, Springfield, MA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER RE: REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION WITH REGARD TO CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Docket Nos. 8, 11, 29 & 33)

PONSOR, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, parents of a student at Defendant Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School ("PVPA"), have brought this action to challenge the May 7, 2007 decision by a hearing officer at the codefendant state Bureau of Special Education Appeals ("BSEA"). Two of the three counts of the complaint are offered pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400, et seq. (Counts I and II), and the third contends that the PVPA's decisions with regard to the student's education, as generally affirmed in the decision of the BSEA's hearing officer, violated the student's due process rights under the United States Constitution (Count III).

Plaintiffs and both Defendants moved for summary judgment, and the motions were referred to Chief Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman for report and recommendation.

On February 12, 2008, Judge Neiman issued a detailed Report and Recommendation, finding that the BSEA hearing officer's decision was well supported both in fact and in law, and recommending that Defendants' motions be allowed and Plaintiffs' motion be denied, with a minor exception. The exception was Judge Neiman's recommendation that, based on their fragmentary success before the B SEA, Plaintiffs should receive one-eighth of their claimed attorney's fees, or $4,165.00.

Plaintiffs thereafter filed a lengthy objection to the Report and Recommendation, continuing to maintain that the hearing officer's decision violated the student's rights under the IDEA and the federal Constitution. Defendants replied to these objections, urging the adoption of Judge Neiman's Report, but objecting to the modest award of attorney's fees to Plaintiffs.

For the reasons set forth below, the court will adopt Judge Neiman's substantive recommendation to the effect that the hearing officer's decision constituted no violation of any of the student's rights under the IDEA or the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court will decline to adopt the recommendation with regard to the modest award of attorney's fees. The additional academic support ordered by the hearing officer, in the form of a consultant with expertise related to the student's disability, was not the result of any initiatives by Plaintiffs. Indeed, the additional consultation might well have been obtained without litigation if Plaintiffs had cooperated in the development of the student's 2006-2007 Individualized Education Plan ("IEP"). Under the circumstances, an award of any fees to Plaintiffs would be unfair and improper.

This memorandum is the third to address the substantive issues raised in this case. Both the hearing officer's written decision and Judge Neiman's Report and Recommendation offer detailed, meticulous, and intelligent discussions of the issues in this case, and may be reviewed as a backdrop to this decision. Because of the excellent work previously done, this memorandum need not be lengthy.

The PVPA is a public charter school located in South Hadley, Massachusetts with approximately 400 students in grades 7 through 12. It emphasizes the performing arts within the context of a demanding academic curriculum. Report and Recommendation ("R & R"), Dkt. 33, at 3. Hearing Officer's Decision, attached to Complaint, Dkt. No. 1, at 5.

One aspect of the school's educational philosophy is the absence of letter or number grades and the employment instead of what the school calls a "competency-based" analysis of a student's academic progress. This policy preexisted the student's enrollment in the school, and Plaintiffs were aware of it when they chose to enroll the student there.

A central thread in this litigation has been Plaintiffs' vigorous contention that the school's educational philosophy, as embodied in the competency-based system, somehow worked a violation of the student's rights under the IDEA and even under the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution. Plaintiffs' objections to the Report and Recommendation condemn the Report's conclusion "that there exists no compelling factual argument that PVPA's competency-based system should have been ordered changed. ..." Dkt. No. 34 at 2. Throughout the litigation, the focus has tended to drift away from the needs of the student under the IDEA into policy-based arguments about the appropriateness of the school's educational philosophy and particularly, its approach to grading and promotion of students. Neither the IDEA, nor the Fourteenth Amendment, provides an appropriate instrument for attacking the general academic approach of a school, particularly a charter school such as PVPA, which almost by definition offers an alternative to traditional academics.

The student in this case has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ("ADHD"), as well as an "atypical learning disorder." Hearing Officer's Decision at 4. He has significant academic strengths, however, and is an impressive musician with a facility in playing at least four instruments. Id. His attentional difficulties do interfere with reading comprehension, and he suffers from distractability, slow processing of information, procrastination, resistance to doing homework, and failure to hand in assignments on time or at all. Id. The student's difficulties, as well as strategies for addressing them, were well assessed by a private neuropsychological specialist, Heather Hornik. Most of her recommendations were incorporated in the 2005-2006 IEP, which was accepted by the parents in early October 2005. The IEP contemplated a spectrum of weekly supports to the student, both inside and outside the classroom.

Although the student had some difficulties, he did succeed in passing all his subjects for the 2005-2006 academic year, his eighth grade. The school recognized that for the student's ninth grade, additional support was needed and made proposals to this effect as part of the IEP for that year. The parents rejected the IEP, focusing, as noted above, especially on the school's competency-based approach to the assessment of academic achievement.

The hearing officer noted that the absence of "measurable goals" in the 2005-2006 IEP did interfere to some extent with the accurate assessment of the student's progress, but did not lead to a denial of a free and appropriate public education ("FAPE"). Id. at 14. Moreover, the hearing officer found that the 2006-2007 IEP could be improved and made appropriate for the student with the addition of regular consultations with a professional with expertise in education of students with significant executive functioning disorders. The hearing officer concluded, with strong support in the record, that "parents simply have not demonstrated that PVPA's policy regarding credit and promotions deprived student of FAPE in violation of the IDEA. ..." Id. at 15.

As the Report and Recommendation indicates, the hearing officer's detailed memorandum carefully addressed all the arguments offered by the parents. The court's task in an IDEA case is to receive the record of the administrative hearings, give the hearing officer's decision due weight, and determine what relief is appropriate based upon a preponderance of the evidence standard. R & R at 10.

No fair reading of the administrative record, the hearing officer's decision, and Judge Neiman's Report and Recommendation could reach any conclusion other than that Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate their entitlement to any relief under either the IDEA or the due process clause of the Constitution. Plaintiffs' policy disagreement with the school regarding its competency-based educational philosophy is particularly inappropriate as a focus for what should be student-based litigation. In all other respects, Plaintiffs' objections amount to no more than a disagreement with the BSEA decision, with the clear weight of evidence favoring Defendants.

As to the award of attorney's fees, the modest relief afforded by the hearing officer in the form of the recommended consultant constituted at best de minimis success on the part of Plaintiffs. Moreover, this extra help was not the focus of Plaintiffs' requests for relief and might well have been provided to them had Plaintiffs participated in the development of the IEP for the 2006-2007 academic year.¹ Under these circumstances, as noted above, the court will decline to adopt the portion of the Recommendation awarding Plaintiffs a fraction of their attorney's fees.

Based on the foregoing, upon de novo review, the Report and Recommendation of Chief Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman (Dkt. No. 33) is hereby adopted, with one exception. Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 8) is hereby DENIED. The PVPA's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 11) is hereby ALLOWED, and the BSEA's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 29) is hereby ALLOWED. The court declines to adopt the portion of the Report and Recommendation awarding Plaintiffs' counsel attorney's fees.² The clerk is ordered to enter judgment in favor of Defendants on all counts. This case may now be closed.

It is So Ordered.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION REGARDING CROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Docket Nos. 8, 11 and 29)

NEIMAN, United States Chief Magistrate Judge.

This case, brought by the parents of a student at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School ("PVPA") in South Hadley, Massachusetts, follows a May 7, 2007 decisio...