Learning Disabilities Ass'n v. Board of Educ., Civ. A. No. HAR 93-2154.

• Decision Date: 19 October 1993
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. HAR 93-2154.
• Parties: LEARNING DISABILITIES ASSOCIATION OF MARYLAND, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. The BOARD OF EDUCATION OF BALTIMORE COUNTY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

837 F. Supp. 717

LEARNING DISABILITIES ASSOCIATION OF MARYLAND, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. The BOARD OF EDUCATION OF BALTIMORE COUNTY, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. HAR 93-2154.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

October 19, 1993.

Beth Goodman, Tanya Harvey, Feldesman, Tucker, Leifer, Fidell & Bank, Washington, DC, for plaintiffs.

Leslie R. Stellman, Littler, Mendelson, Fastiff, Tichy & Mathiason, Jo Ann Goedert, Office of Atty. Gen., Educational Affairs Div., Baltimore, MD, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

HARGROVE, District Judge.

The parents of five children with learning disabilities,¹ along with three non-profit organizations,² initiated the above-captioned action alleging that the Board of Education of Baltimore County, Maryland violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400, et seq. in deciding to transfer for the 1993-1994 academic year approximately 350 students from separate special education centers and self-contained special education classrooms to regular education settings. Seeking to maintain 1992-1993 special education placements, on August 10, 1993, just eighteen (18) working days before the 1993-1994 academic year was to commence, the Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order ("TRO") and Preliminary Injunction urging the Court, among other things, to enjoin Baltimore County from effectuating the transfers. Two days later, Judge Alexander Harvey, II, sitting as Chambers Judge, after lengthy oral argument, declined to issue the TRO; he expressly left Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Defendants' Motions³ to Dismiss for this Court to resolve.⁴

The Court has reviewed the record, the transcript of Judge Harvey's oral opinion, the parties' respective memoranda and the exhibits attached thereto; no hearing is deemed necessary. Local Rule 105(6) (D.Md.1992). For purposes of resolving the instant motion to dismiss, the Court deems all material allegations made in the Complaint to be true, and construes all facts, and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs. Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 89 S.Ct. 1843, 23 L.Ed.2d 404 (1969); Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). For the reasons articulated more fully herein, Plaintiffs' claims will be dismissed.

I. Legal Framework

Originally enacted in 1975 as the Education of the Handicapped Act ("EHA"),⁵ the IDEA embodies Congress' response to the more than four million "handicapped" children in the United States who were not receiving appropriate public educations. "The IDEA is a comprehensive educational scheme, conferring on disabled students a substantive right to public education and providing financial assistance to enable states to meet their educational needs." Hoeft v. Tucson Unified School Dist., 967 F.2d 1298, 1300 (9th Cir.1992). The IDEA reflects Congress' recognition of and respect for the unique pedagogical needs of children with disabilities as well as the legitimate concerns of their parents.⁶ With teachers and school district representatives, parents participate in a process of designing a "free appropriate public education"⁷ tailored to meet the unique academic needs of their child. This process culminates with the development of an "Individual Education Program" ("IEP").

The IEP sets out the child's present educational performance, establishes annual and short term objectives for improvement in that performance, and describes the specially designed instruction and services that will enable the child to meet those objectives. The IEP must be reviewed, and, where necessary, revised at least once a year in order to ensure that local agencies tailor the statutorily required "free appropriate public education to each child's unique needs." 20 U.S.C. § 1414(a)(5).

Barnett v. Fairfax County School Bd., 927 F.2d 146, 150 (4th Cir.1991). In Board of Education v. Rowley, the Supreme Court emphasized the importance of ensuring meaningful parental participation in formulating and implementing a child's IEP:

It seems to us no exaggeration to say that Congress placed every bit as much emphasis upon compliance with the procedures giving parents and guardians a large measure of participation at every stage of the administrative process ... as it did upon the measurement of the resulting IEP against a substantive standard.

458 U.S. 176, 205-206, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 3050, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982).

In addition to championing the individual rights of children with disabilities and their parents, the IDEA articulates anti-discriminatory principles which transcend the case-by-case examination of an appropriate curriculum for each disabled child. The IDEA requires public school systems receiving federal funds, "to the maximum extent appropriate," to educate children with disabilities in regular classrooms with children who are not disabled. Required to place students with disabilities in "the least restrictive environment," 34 C.F.R. § 300.552(d), public school systems are cautioned "that special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment should occur only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily." 20 U.S.C. § 1412(5)(B). "Mainstreaming of handicapped children into regular school programs where they might have opportunities to study and to socialize with non-handicapped children is not only a laudable goal but is also a requirement of the Act." Barnett, supra 927 F.2d at 153, citing DeVries v. Fairfax County School Bd., 882 F.2d 876, 878 (4th Cir. 1989).

II. Factual Framework

The inherent tension created by IDEA's mandate to mainstream children with disabilities while simultaneously considering their individual concerns provides the legal context for the instant dispute. In 1991, the United States Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights ("OCR") investigated allegations that the Baltimore County Public Schools ("BCPS") systematically deprived students with disabilities from an education in the least restrictive environment by segregating such students in special education centers and classrooms. An OCR compliance review issued in November 1992 confirmed that there were students in special schools in Baltimore County who should be placed in regular schools. In response, BCPS decided that during the 1993-1994 academic year, approximately 375 students from five (5) special education centers would be mainstreamed.⁸ BCPS contacted the parents or guardians of the children slated for transfer in "early Spring 1993," (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 37), and in mid-June 1993, "parents were notified of new school assignments for their children." (August 12, 1993 Oral Opinion of J. Harvey at 8.16-18). On July 23, 1993, without submitting their concerns to the Baltimore County Board of Education or to the Maryland State Department of Education, the Plaintiffs filed a complaint in this federal court.

In broad-brushed, conclusory fashion, the Plaintiffs contend that "BCPS has embarked on a sweeping program of wholesale dismantling of the special education centers ... thus depriving Plaintiffs of their statutory right to a full continuum of alternative placements, including special schools." (Second Amended Complaint ¶¶ 30, 35). According to the Plaintiffs,

BCPS' action evidences an administrative decision that, as a general proposition, students with learning disabilities no longer are entitled to the types of programs and levels of services provided to them in special education centers and previously determined through the IDEA process to be required to meet those students' individual needs.

(Second Amended Complaint ¶ 32). Specifically, the Plaintiffs claim that BCPS mainstreamed children with disabilities in violation of the procedural safeguards which the IDEA guarantees.⁹

III. Discussion

The IDEA contains an elaborate scheme of procedural requirements designed to protect parents' rights to participate meaningfully in all decisions affecting their child's special education. Under the IDEA, parents must receive "written prior notice ... whenever a state educational agency proposes to initiate or change, or refuses to initiate or change, the identification, evaluation or educational placement of their child." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(1)(C). This notice must contain an explanation of the reasons behind the decision, 34 C.F.R. § 300.505, and must fully inform parents of the procedural safeguards available to them, 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(1)(D), including their right to "present complaints with respect to any matter relating to the identification, evaluation or educational placement of their child." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(1)(E).

The preliminary forum for complaints of IDEA violations is an "impartial due process hearing" conducted by the local school district or by the state. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(2). This hearing must be held, and a final decision must be reached, not later than 45 days after the public agency receives a request for the hearing. 34 C.F.R. § 300.512. During an administrative hearing, the IDEA grants complainants

(1) the right to be accompanied and advised by counsel and by individuals with special knowledge or training with respect to the problems of children with disabilities, (2) the right to present evidence and confront, cross-examine, and compel the attendance of witnesses, (3) the right to a written electronic verbatim record of such hearing, and (4) the right to written findings of fact and decisions.

20 U.S.C. § 1415(d). If the local school district conducts the initial hearing, persons dissatisfied with its conclusion may appeal to the state level. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(c); "any party aggrieved by the State's findings and decision shall have the right to bring a civil action with...