Independent School Dist. No. 283 v. S.D. by J.D.

• Decision Date: 16 May 1995
• Docket Number: Civil No. 3-93-SC-662.
• Parties: INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 283, ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA, Plaintiff, v. S.D., By and Through her parents, J.D. and N.D.; J.D. and N.D.; Minnesota Commissioner of Education Linda Powell; Past Minnesota Commissioner of Education Gene Mammenga; Acting Commissioner of Education Robert Wedl; and K.S., Hearing Review Officer, Defendants, and K.M., By and Through his parents, J.M. and M.M., Movant for Intervention.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

Page 860

948 F.Supp. 860

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 283, ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA, Plaintiff, v. S.D., By and Through her parents, J.D. and N.D.; J.D. and N.D.; Minnesota Commissioner of Education Linda Powell; Past Minnesota Commissioner of Education Gene Mammenga; Acting Commissioner of Education Robert Wedl; and K.S., Hearing Review Officer, Defendants and K.M., By and Through his parents, J.M. and M.M., Movant for Intervention.

Civil No. 3-93-SC-662.

United States District Court, D. Minnesota, Third Division.

May 16, 1995.

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Susan E. Torgerson, Charles E. Long, St. Paul, MN, for Ind. Sch. Dist. No. 283.

Sonya D. Kerr, St. Paul, MN, Dee Alpert, New York City, for S.D., J.D. and N.D.

Bernard E. Johnson, Stephen B. Liss, Asst. Minnesota Attys. Gen., St. Paul, MN, for Linda Powell, Gene Mammenga, and Robert Wedl.

Lewis A. Remele, Jr., Minneapolis, MN, for K.S.

Margaret O'Sullivan Kane, St. Paul, MN, for Movant.

ORDER

KYLE, District Judge.

This matter came before the Court on the parties' various motions and was referred to United States Magistrate Judge Raymond Erickson for a report and recommendation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). Currently before the Court are Defendant S.D.'s Objections to his March 13, 1995 Order and Report and Recommendation ("R & R").

A district court must make an independent determination of those portions of a report and recommendation to which objection is made and may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C).

The R & R in this matter is exhaustive, thorough, well-reasoned and exemplary. After independently reviewing the files, records, and proceeding herein, together with the memoranda provided by the parties, the Court concurs with the reasoning and conclusions reached by the Magistrate Judge and will not reiterate those reasons in response to S.D.'s Objections. The Court will note, however, that S.D.'s contention that the record was not sufficiently developed to permit the Magistrate Judge to grant summary judgment on several claims alleged in S.D.'s counterclaim and cross-claim misconstrues the nature of the Magistrate Judge's decision. Having reviewed the hearing transcript regarding this issue and the R & R, the Court is satisfied that the Magistrate Judge correctly applied principles of collateral estoppel to S.D.'s claims in concluding that "no viable claim can exist ... in the absence of a claim which, factually and legally, is distinct from those that have already been resolved." (R & R at 58-59.) Based upon that conclusion, dismissal of S.D.'s counterclaims and cross-claims is appropriate.

Based on the foregoing, the Court ADOPTS the March 13, 1995 Report and Recommendation (Doc. No. 81) and IT IS ORDERED¹ that:

(1) Plaintiff's Motion for Judgment on the Record (Doc. No. 14) is GRANTED;

(2) Defendant Commissioners' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. No. 6) is GRANTED;

(3) Defendant K.S.'s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. No. 13) is GRANTED;

(4) Defendant Commissioners' Motion to Dismiss S.D.'s Cross-Claim (Doc. No. 21) is DENIED AS MOOT; (5) Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss S.D.'s Counterclaims (Doc. No. 29) is GRANTED; and

(6) Defendant Commissioners' Motion to Dismiss the Amended Cross-Claim (Doc. No. 39) is GRANTED.

LET JUDGMENT BE ENTERED ACCORDINGLY.

ORDER and REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

ERICKSON, United States Magistrate Judge.

At Duluth, in the District of Minnesota, this 13th day of March, 1995.

I. Introduction

This matter came before the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to a special assignment, made in accordance with the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) and (B), upon a cavalcade of Motions by the various parties. Of these Motions, our analysis has been largely preoccupied by two: 1) The Motion by S.D., and her parents, for leave to present additional evidence;¹ and, 2) the Plaintiff's Motion for Judgment on the Record. Given our recommended disposition of the Motion for Judgment on the Record, our discussion of the remaining Motions will be somewhat truncated.

A Hearing on the first wave of the parties' Motions was conducted on March 18, 1994, at which time the Plaintiff Independent School District No. 283 ("School District") appeared by Susan E. Torgerson and Charles E. Long, Esqs.; the Defendants S.D., J.D. and N.D. (at times, collectively referred to as "S.D.") appeared by Sonya D. Kerr and Dee Alpert, Esqs.; the Defendants Linda Powell, Gene Mammenga and Robert Wedl ("the Defendant Commissioners") appeared by Bernard E. Johnson, Assistant Minnesota Attorney General; and the Defendant K.S. appeared by Lewis A. Remele, Jr., Esq. Thereafter, a Hearing on K.M.'s Motion to Intervene was conducted on May 26, 1994, at which time the Movant appeared by Margaret O'Sullivan Kane, Esq., and Stephen B. Liss, Assistant Minnesota Attorney General, made an additional appearance on behalf of the Defendant Commissioners.

During the pendency of these Motions, our ability to responsibly consider the parties' arguments was effectively precluded by the absence of a complete and verified Administrative Record. Accordingly, after informal attempts to secure such a Record proved ineffectual, we instructed the parties, by Order dated April 14, 1994, to confer and to agree upon a verified Record, or to submit any contested portions of the Record for our resolution. Thereafter, on June 14, 1994, this Court directed that the Certified Inventory, which had been submitted by the Defendant Commissioners and which constitutes the Administrative Record in this matter, be filed with the Clerk of Court. Upon that filing, the Administrative Record in this matter was provisionally closed, making the present Motions ready for decision.²

For reasons which follow, we deny S.D.'s Motion to augment the Record, and we recommend that the School District's Motion for Judgment on the Record be granted. As a consequence, we further recommend that the District's Motion to dismiss the Counterclaims of S.D. be granted, that the Motion to Intervene be denied, and that S.D.'s Motion for Attorney's fees be granted.³

II. Procedural and Factual Background

A. Procedural Posture. Consistent with our obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Title 20 U.S.C. § 1400, et seq. ("IDEA"),⁴ we have independently and painstakingly reviewed the Administrative Record, and have accorded such weight to the factual findings of the Administrative Officers below as is warranted by the circumstances. Hendrick Hudson Dist. Bd. of Ed. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 206, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 3050, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982) (Section 1415(e) of the IDEA carries implied requirement that "due weight" be given to the underlying administrative proceedings). Here, in accordance with Minnesota law, two levels of administrative review were completed. See, Minnesota Statutes Sections 120.17, Subdivision 3b(a) and 120.17, Subdivision 3b(g).

At the first level of the administrative process, a Hearing Officer ("HO"), who was appointed by the Minnesota Commissioner of Education, heard twelve days of testimony and concluded that the School District properly provided S.D. with a "free appropriate public education," as required by the IDEA. See, Title 20 U.S.C. § 1401(a)(18). Subsequently, a Hearing Review Officer ("HRO"), who was also appointed by Minnesota's Commissioner of Education, conducted an administrative review, considered additional evidence, and reversed the decision of the HO. While, in large measure, the factual findings of the HO were adopted by the HRO, some differences have emerged in the findings that each drew from a common Record.⁵ Given these layers of administrative processing, we wish to make clear that, on matters of fact, we have afforded greater weight to the factfindings of the HO in view of his opportunity to observe the demeanor of the witnesses and to render believability determinations.⁶ Doyle v. Arlington County School Bd., 953 F.2d 100, 104 (4th Cir.1991) (Court adopts factual findings of administrative officer who physically heard witness' testimony in preference to those of administrative review officer); Combs v. School Board of Rockingham County, 15 F.3d 357, 361 (4th Cir.1994); and cf., Delaware County Intermediate Unit # 25 v. Martin K., 831 F.Supp. 1206, 1220 n. 17 (E.D.Pa.1993). As a consequence, based upon our thorough assessment of the entire Record before us, we expressly adopt the factual findings of the HO as amply supported by the preponderance of the evidence. Petersen v. Hastings Public Schools, 31 F.3d 705, 707 (8th Cir.1994). However, in order to furnish a succinctly stated factual context for the discussion which follows, we briefly summarize the Administrative Record before us.

B. Factual Background. S.D., who was born on March 24, 1983, suffers from a condition of severe dyslexia⁷ — an impairment which has had a grave impact upon her ability to perform in the classroom and, particularly, in areas that involve reading and mathematics. S.D. entered the kindergarten in the 1988-89 school year at Peter Hobart Primary Center, which is one of the elementary educational facilities that is located in the School District. S.D. did not request or receive any special education services during that school year, although her kindergarten teacher did notice that she was having difficulty in letter recognition.⁸

During the period from 1989 through 1992, S.D. continued to attend regular education classes for her first, second and third grades at Peter Hobart. In each of these grades, her classes were divided into student groupings that remained together from year-to-year as a result of the school's participation in a program called VITAL. There was also a continuity in the teaching teams for these...