Gladys J. v. Pearland Independent School Dist.
| Decision Date | 17 August 1981 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. G-81-134. |
| Parties | GLADYS J. and Laura J., by and through her Parent and Next Friend, Gladys J., Plaintiffs, v. PEARLAND INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas |
Sarah Scott, Houston, Tex., Sandra Hale Adams, Advocacy, Incorporated, Austin, Tex., for plaintiffs.
Richard G. Sedgeley, Houston, Tex., for defendants Pearland Independent School District, et al.
C. Ed Davis, Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin, Tex., for defendants Texas Education Agency, et al.
After exhausting their state administrative remedies pursuant to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (EHCA), 20 U.S.C. § 1401 et seq., in a losing effort to secure what they believe to be an appropriate educational placement for Laura J., a severely and multipli-handicapped adolescent, plaintiffs brought this action under the EHCA, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq., the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the fourteenth amendment. Jurisdiction is alleged under 20 U.S.C. § 1415(e)(2), 29 U.S.C. § 794, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and 28 U.S.C. § 1343(4).
As they did at the administrative level, plaintiffs seek residential placement for Laura J., whose educational needs they contend cannot be met in her current educational placement in the Pearland Independent School District (Pearland). Additionally, they now seek other injunctive and declaratory relief, as well as damages.
The placement question, the sole issue presented administratively, has been severed from other issues in this action for trial on the merits. Fed.R.Civ.P. 42. Initially, plaintiffs applied for a preliminary injunction ordering the change in placement. That application was taken up by the Court on May 13, 1981, in conjunction with a hearing on plaintiffs' motion for a temporary restraining order.1 Because the placement question was to be submitted for decision largely on the basis of administrative record, with further evidence pertaining only to events subsequent to the administrative hearing, the Court consolidated the hearing of the application for preliminary relief with a trial on the merits of the issue. Fed.R.Civ.P. 65.
Trial was before the Court on June 8 and 9, 1981. The case was argued before the Court, and at the conclusion of arguments the Court ruled in favor of plaintiffs. The Court deferred entrance of an order until the parties had been afforded a reasonable opportunity to submit for consideration an agreed proposed order. The parties being unable to reach such agreement, the Court on July 30, 1981 entered an order requiring Pearland to place Laura J. in a residential facility capable of meeting the special educational needs of severely intellectually impaired schizophrenic children, and specifying further relief.2 Pursuant to Fed.R. Civ.P. 52(a), the Court now enters this Memorandum Opinion as its findings of facts and conclusions of law in the case.
Laura J. is the adopted child of Carl and Gladys J. Her early childhood development appeared fairly normal. At approximately age four, however, she began to manifest noticeable functional and behavioral difficulties. Her motor and self-help skills development lagged. She developed an unusual gait in her walk, ate sloppily and "ravenously," and displayed inappropriate, screaming verbalizations. She developed maladaptive behaviors, notably body clapping, picking, scratching, and suffered from apparent seizures. She became increasingly hyperactive and developed attention problems.
Laura's parents, understandably concerned, turned to the medical and educational professions for help. Initially, Laura was seen by a neurologist, who viewed Laura's condition as a seizure disorder and prescribed medication to control it. Later, she was examined by an endocrinologist, who believed her problems to stem from a chemical imbalance and prescribed a variety of medications. For the most part, these early efforts at diagnosing and treating Laura were ineffective.
Laura has been enrolled in special education courses in public school since age six. Her first placement was in a special education class for severely handicapped children administered by DeWalt Special Services in LaPorte, Texas. The educational program was designed to assist Laura in the development of self-help skills, improve her attention, and encourage group interaction. From 1975 to 1978 Laura was a special education student in the LaPorte Independent School District. At the time she entered LaPorte ISD, her intellectual functioning was that of a mildly mentally retarded child. LaPorte identified her as trainable mentally retarded (MR), and placed her in a self-contained special education class in an elementary school.
Between 1975 and 1977 Laura progressed at LaPorte in several areas. She acquired toileting skills, her use of nonsensical speech declined, she spoke at times in complete sentences, her eye contact improved, and her hyperactivity declined. In 1978, however, Laura withdrew severely into herself. Upon medical advice, Laura's parents took her to UTMB-Galveston for testing and evaluation. She remained at UTMB in the Psychiatric Behavioral Sciences Division from September 1978 to February 1979. That particular division of UTMB is essentially a psychiatric hospital for acute, acting-out psychotic children, and apparently Laura regressed in this restrictive environment. For the first time, however, a psychological evaluation was performed and Laura was diagnosed as a childhood schizophrenic.3
In anticipation of Laura's release from UTMB, Laura's mother spoke with Sarah Oliver, special education director at Pearland ISD, concerning Laura's placement in that district's special education programs. Mrs. J. provided Pearland with all information in her possession concerning Laura's past evaluations and educational programming. Apparently, this did not include the UTMB diagnosis of schizophrenia, of which Laura's parents were then unaware, although Pearland became aware of that evaluation at some point in time. Relying principally on the previous assessment of Laura J. by the LaPorte ISD, and without further evaluation and testing, Pearland identified Laura as MR and in February 1979 placed her in a self-contained special education class at Shadycrest Elementary School. Chronologically, Laura was significantly older than most of the children in the class, who were between seven and eight years of age.
In the year that followed, Laura's behavior at home deteriorated markedly. She became increasingly withdrawn and incommunicative. At other times she would strike out aggressively at her parents. Her self-care skills seemed to decline, maladaptive behaviors occurred at greater frequency, and her language became increasingly profane. Because of this, Laura's parents came increasingly to doubt whether Laura's placement at Shadycrest was appropriate for her special needs. Finally, in the spring of 1980, Laura's parents placed her in the Texas Elks Foundation for Handicapped Children, a residential diagnostic facility for severely multipli-handicapped children located in Gonzales, Texas.
Laura remained at the Elks facilities for six weeks, undergoing comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation and clinical observation. Adaptive behavior measurements performed at the Elks Foundation indicated that Laura had regressed intellectually and adaptively, functioning at the level of a severely mentally retarded child.4 Dr. Robert Currie, a psychologist and executive director of the Elks Foundation at the time of Laura's admission, diagnosed Laura as suffering from a childhood psychosis associated with a non-specific organic brain syndrome, in other words, organic childhood schizophrenia. This diagnosis concurred with that previously made at UTMB. Currie recommended that Laura be placed in a 24-hour, year round residential program for schizophrenic children.
Armed with the Elks' report and recommendations, Laura J.'s parents returned to Pearland ISD seeking residential placement for their child. Pearland declined to initiate such a change, believing that it could provide Laura J. with an appropriate education in a six-hour day program augmented by home support. Pearland did propose to initiate a change in Laura's placement in the day program, however, transferring her from Shadycrest to a prevocational program at the high school level.
Laura's parents, dissatisfied with the district's proposal, elected to pursue their state administrative remedies pursuant to the EHCA. On the basis of a lengthy and thorough administrative record, the impartial due process hearing officer below found that Pearland had failed to provide Laura J. with the "free appropriate public education" to which she was entitled, and recommended residential placement. The State Commissioner of Education adopted the recommendation of the hearing officer, and Pearland perfected an appeal to the State Board of Education, which reversed the Commissioner's decision, adopting findings of fact and conclusions of law submitted by Pearland.
Thus, the case of Laura J. is now before this Court. The issues the Court is called upon to decide may be stated quite simply:
(1) Whether Pearland ISD is providing to Laura J. in her current educational placement the "free appropriate public education" to which she is entitled under the EHCA and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and, if not,
(2) Whether Pearland must contract for the private residential placement of Laura J. to comply with the federal mandate.
The simplicity with which the issues may be defined belies the true complexion of the case. Difficult factual questions are raised in an area of special knowledge and experience into which courts traditionally have been reluctant to intervene. See Battle v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 629 F.2d 269, 277 (3rd Cir....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Department of Educ., State of Hawaii v. Katherine D. By and Through Kevin and Roberta D.
...educational justification constitutes discrimination and a denial of statutory benefits"); Gladys J. v. Pearland Independent School Dist., 520 F.Supp. 869, 874 n. 5 (S.D.Tex.1981) ("[m]ainstreaming is clearly a predominant thesis underlying the EAHCA"). The DOE's own regulations recognize a......
-
St. Louis Dev. Dis. Treatment Center v. Mallory
...1032, 1036-37 (W.D.Penn.1981), vacated and remanded in light of Rowley, 707 F.2d 1391 (3rd Cir. 1982); Gladys S. v. Pearland Indep. Sch. Dist. 520 F.Supp. 869, 879 (S.D.Tex.1981); North v. Dist. of Col. Bd. of Ed., 471 F.Supp. 136, 140 (D.D.C.1979); Lora v. Bd. of Ed. of Cty. of New York, 4......
-
J.B. v. Killingly Bd. of Educ., 3:97 CV 1900(GLG).
...Cir. 1983) (affirming the district court's decision to place child in a then-unidentified group home); Gladys J. v. Pearland Indep. Sch. Dist., 520 F.Supp. 869, 878-79 (S.D.Tex.1981) (ordering the placement of a disabled child in an unidentified facility with a year-round program and twenty......
-
David H. v. Spring Branch Independent School Dist.
...the Civil Rights Act. Brown v. Sibley, 650 F.2d 760, 767 (5th Cir.1981); Lloyd, supra, 548 F.2d at 1280; Gladys J. v. Pearland Ind. School Dist., 520 F.Supp. 869, 874 (S.D.Tex.1981). In Lau, the Supreme Court, relying solely on Title VI, upheld the right of Chinese children to have bilingua......
-
Challenges for the mentally ill: the "threat to safety" defense standard and the use of psychotropic medication under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
...text (examining Franklin in the context of the direct threat qualification). (90) See Gladys J. v. Pearland Indep. Sch. Dist., 520 F. Supp. 869, 876 (S.D. Tex. 1981) (describing childhood schizophrenia as a severe handicap). (91) See Doe v. Region 13 Mental Health-Mental Retardation Comm'n,......
-
Attack on the Eha: the Education for All Handicapped Children Act After Board of Education v. Rowley
..._ U.S. _, 102 S. Ct. 3505 (1982); Battle v. Pennsylvania, 629 F.2d 269, 277 (3rd Cir. 1980); Gladys J. v. Pearland Indep. School Dist. 520 F. Supp. 869, 875 (S.D. Tex. 1981); Espino v. Besteiro, 520 F. Supp. 905, 912-13 (S.D. Tex. 1981); Pinkerton v. Moye, 509 F. Supp. 107, 113 (W.D. Va. 19......