Frazier v. Fairhaven School Committee

• Citation: 122 F.Supp.2d 104
• Decision Date: 22 November 2000
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 99-10102-RCL.
• Parties: Kate FRAZIER, with her best friends and parents, Bradford and Judith Frazier, Plaintiffs, v. FAIRHAVEN SCHOOL COMMITTEE, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

122 F.Supp.2d 104

Kate FRAZIER, with her best friends and parents, Bradford and Judith Frazier, Plaintiffs, v. FAIRHAVEN SCHOOL COMMITTEE, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 99-10102-RCL.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

November 22, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Michael W. Turner, Marion, MA, for Plaintiffs.

Elizabeth M. Fahey, Gerald Fabiano, Pierce, Davis, Fahey & Perritano, LLP, Boston, MA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

LINDSAY, District Judge.

Before the court is the defendants' motion, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. For the reasons set forth below, the defendant's motion to dismiss is GRANTED.

Introduction

The plaintiffs, Kate Frazier ("Kate") and her parents, Bradford and Judith Frazier ("parents" or "Kate's parents"),¹ have brought suit against the Fairhaven School Committee; the superintendent of Fairhaven Schools, Bernard F. Roderick; the principal of Fairhaven High School, John Newburn ("Newburn"); the guidance counselor of Fairhaven High School, Paul McCabe ("McCabe"); and the discipline matron of Fairhaven High School, Marie Morency ("Morency"). Although the plaintiffs make a variety of allegations under various federal and state laws, the gist of their claims is that Kate, a former student at Fairhaven High School, was not provided with a free appropriate public education.

The plaintiffs, however, did not bring a claim under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400-91 ("IDEA"), which guarantees individuals a free appropriate public education. Instead, the plaintiffs' claims largely are asserted under other federal statutes, including various federal civil rights acts (42 U.S.C. § 1983, § 1985(3), and § 2000d); section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. § 794); the Violence Against Women Act (42 U.S.C. § 13981); Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (20 U.S.C. § 1681); the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232); and the Revenue Sharing Act of 1972 (31 U.S.C. § 6716). The plaintiffs also allege intentional infliction of emotional distress and assert claims under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act (M.G.L. c. 258).

Allegations of the Complaint

The amended complaint (the "complaint") makes the following allegations. On a motion to dismiss, all factual allegations in the complaint are taken as true. Aulson v. Blanchard, 83 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1996).

In March, 1995, the spring of Kate's first year in high school, Ralph Tripp ("Tripp"), special education director of Fairhaven High School, determined that Kate was likely suffering a learning disability, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Kate was thereafter evaluated by the school psychologist, Michael Childs ("Childs"). Childs' evaluation confirmed Tripps' determination. Childs mailed a copy of his evaluation to Kate's parents, but school officials apparently did not provide Kate's parents with information about their rights under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act at that time; nor did school officials then present Kate's parents with an "accommodation plan" (presumably an Individualized Education Plan ("IEP")). In late October, 1996, approximately a year and a half after Child's performed his evaluation, Kate's parents met with several of Kate's teachers. Following the meeting, Childs told Judith Frazier, Kate's mother ("Kate's mother"), that he was changing Kate's "504 plan." After Kate's mother informed Childs that she knew nothing of the plan, Childs provided her with information concerning the plan the next day.

In the autumn of 1996, a number of incidents occurred that caused Kate distress. She was confronted by Morency, the "discipline matron," who "leer[ed] at her and invade[d] her privacy" when she telephoned her mother from school. The school nurse mentioned Kate's medication in the presence of other school staff, and the school secretary refused to give Kate lunch money that her mother had left for her, until Kate went to the nurse for medication. In November, Morency took Kate to the principal's office, where Kate was questioned. Feeling "agitated and claustrophobic," Kate left the principal's office and was subsequently suspended for her actions and for insubordination.² When Kate's mother asked Newburn, the school principal, whether this last incident was related to Kate's disability, Newburn laughed at the suggestion, prompting Kate's parents to write a letter to the school complaining about Kate's treatment. Following the sending of that letter, Kate's parents, in December, 1996, met with Newburn, Childs, and Tripp. At this meeting, Newburn stated his belief that Kate had a behavior problem, rather than a disability.

Additional incidents occurred in the spring of 1997. In January, the vice-principal of the school told Kate she would be suspended for excessive absences and asked Kate to attend a School Committee meeting. In the plaintiffs' view, the School Committee was attempting to place Kate on probation and then expel her, rather than to provide the services to which Kate was entitled. Kate's parents and the plaintiffs' counsel met with Newburn, Tripp, and other school administrators and teachers to discuss Kate's attendance. At that meeting, one of Kate's teachers established that Kate's attendance record in fact was incorrect: Kate had not missed the number of classes indicated in that record. The school thereafter corrected Kate's attendance record. At the meeting, Kate's parents also were given a report from Kate's gym teacher that described Kate as a "troublemaker" and a "non student." Although the report was removed from Kate's file at the plaintiffs' request, the plaintiffs assert that the report demonstrates that school meetings were held to discuss Kate at which her parents were not present.

In February, 1997, an incident occurred in the girls' bathroom at the school. Morency looked directly into a bathroom stall that Kate was occupying, causing Kate great distress. The plaintiffs reported this incident, but no action was taken by the school. Following the plaintiffs' report of the incident, Morency "continued her practices" of "stalking," "approaching" and "scowling" at Kate.

Additional events giving rise to the plaintiffs' claims occurred in the 1997-98 school year. In the fall of 1997, McCabe, Kate's guidance counselor, refused to allow Kate to transfer from one class to another, despite earlier assurances that the system was flexible as to transfers. During a meeting with Kate to discuss the transfer, McCabe told someone on the telephone that Kate had not taken her medication. When Kate's father later asked McCabe to identify the person to whom McCabe had spoken, McCabe refused.

At some point thereafter, a meeting was held to discuss Kate's educational program. The school's attorney, "Mr. Sullivan;" Kate's parents; Lynne G. Turner M.Ed., identified in the complaint as the Frazier's "advocate;" and Tripp all were present. At that meeting, Sullivan stated that Kate was not "safe" at school and presented to Kate's parents the option of off-site tutoring. Kate's parents reluctantly accepted this proposal. In the fall of 1997, Kate's parents received an unsigned copy of an IEP. Kate's parents accepted the plan, but Newburn refused to sign it until "ordered" to do so by Sullivan. On November 13, 1997, the plaintiffs' attorney sent a letter to the Fairhaven Board of Selectmen giving notice that the plaintiffs believed the Fairhaven School Department was negligent and in violation of M.G.L. c. 258 in its treatment of Kate. In the fall of 1998, Kate was offered and accepted an IEP for the 1998-99 academic year to allow her to complete graduation requirements. Kate's parents rejected portions of the IEP; their rejection was reported to the Massachusetts Bureau of Special Education Appeals, but the issues were resolved before a hearing was held.

Kate received a high school diploma in the spring of 1999.

Discussion

I. Standard: Motion to Dismiss.

On a motion to dismiss, the court "must accept the complaint's allegations as true, indulging all reasonable inferences in favor of [the plaintiff]." Kiely v. Raytheon, 105 F.3d 734, 735 (1st Cir.1997). Dismissal is proper only if "the factual averments do not justify recovery on some theory adumbrated in the complaint." Rogan v. Menino, 175 F.3d 75, 77 (1st Cir.1999), cert denied, 528 U.S. 1062, 120 S.Ct. 616, 145 L.Ed.2d 511 (1999).

II. Plaintiffs' Federal Claims.

A. Claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Count I of the complaint alleges that the defendants "deprived [Kate] of her statutorily protected, civil rights to a F.A.P.E. [free appropriate public education]," in violation of section 1983. To address this claim, it is necessary that I discuss first the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.

The IDEA is a "comprehensive education statute that seeks to ensure that children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education." Rose v. Yeaw, 214 F.3d 206, 209 (1st Cir.2000). The IDEA permits judicial review of disputes regarding educational programs, but specifies an administrative process that aggrieved parties must pursue before judicial review becomes available. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(f)-(g). This process includes a hearing that is broad in scope, "encompassing `complaints with respect to 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.'" Rose, supra, 214 F.3d at 210 (quoting 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(6)). Moreover, while the IDEA does not restrict the rights of children with disabilities to sue under other federal statutes, it does require that "before the filing of a civil action under such law seeking relief that is also available under [the IDEA]," the IDEA's own administrative procedures "shall be...