Megan C. v. Independent School Dist. No. 625
| Citation | 57 F.Supp.2d 776 |
| Decision Date | 29 March 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV 98-1289 (MJD/AJB).,CIV 98-1289 (MJD/AJB). |
| Parties | MEGAN C. and Rebecca C. Plaintiffs/Petitioners, v. INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 625, Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul Board of Education, and Curman Gaines, Superintendent, in his representative capacity. Defendants/Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Margaret O'Sullivan Kane, Kane Law Office, St. Paul, MN, for Plaintiffs.
Nancy L. Cameron, Assistant General Counsel, St. Paul, MN, for Defendants.
On May 4, 1998 Plaintiffs Megan C., a disabled student, and Rebecca C., Megan C.'s mother, brought an action for attorneys' fees and costs against Independent School District No. 625 ("District"), the Saint Paul Board of Education, and Curman Gaines, Superintendent, in the amount of $5,137.50 for the services of Margaret O'Sullivan Kane and $13,980.91 for the services of James Mortenson. Plaintiffs' action is based on the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3). Defendants argue that Plaintiffs are not entitled to attorneys' fees and costs and move for summary judgment pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 56.
On July 9, 1996, Plaintiffs' attorney, James Mortenson, sent a demand letter to the District seeking, in relevant part, the following: (1) four years of compensatory education for denial of free, appropriate public education ("FAPE") since at least the fall of 1992; (2) reimbursement for travel to and from school and extracurricular activities prior to April 1994; and (3) damages as a result of intentional discrimination in the amount of $57,600. ISD No. 625 Ex. 3.
On September 26, 1996, Mortenson filed a complaint pursuant to 34 C.F.R. § 300.662 with the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning (MDCFL), and on October 2, 1996, the MDCFL sent a letter of complaint to the District setting forth the allegations made by Mortenson that:
(1) the District failed to identify Megan C. as a student with a disability in a timely manner;
(2) the District failed to assess Megan C.'s secondary transition needs and did not invite Megan C. to the Individualized Education Plan ("IEP") meeting in order to conduct a proper IEP meeting in June 1994
(3) the District failed to conduct an IEP meeting, develop an IEP, and provide written notice of the proposed District placement prior to the placement of Megan C. at New Heights charter school;
(4) the District failed to conduct a periodic review of the June 1994 IEP;
(5) the District failed to have an IEP in place for Megan C. at the beginning of the (a) 1995-96 school year or (b) the 1996-97 school year;
(6) the District failed to conduct an appropriate IEP meeting to develop an IEP in the fall of 1995;
(7) the District failed to provide the IEP for the 1995-96 school year to Megan C. and her mother in a timely manner and services were not timely implemented after the IEP meeting (8) the District failed to designate an IEP team composed of all required team members to develop an IEP for the 1996-97 school year;
(9) the District failed to provide transportation to allow Megan C. to have an equal opportunity to participate in nonacademic and extracurricular activities from 1992 to the present.
ISD No. 625 Ex. 11; see also, Pl.Ex. 1. On October 16, 1996, the District responded to Plaintiffs' complaint, and on December 23, 1996, the MDCFL issued findings of fact, conclusions of law, and orders as appropriate, to which both parties subsequently responded. While the parties' responses were before the MDCFL, the IEP team met on January 23, 1997 and drafted a proposed IEP that was ultimately accepted by Megan C. on March 16, 1997. ISD No. 625 Ex. 13.
On March 14, 1997, after considering the responses received from both parties to its December 23, 1996 decision, the MDCFL issued its final decision regarding the October 2, 1996 complaint. The final MDCFL decision found violations of law with respect to allegations (1), (2), (5a), (6), (7), and (8) and found no violations with respect to allegations (3), (4), (5b) and (9) set forth above. Pl.Ex. 6. Specifically, the March 14, 1997 decision found that: (1) the District was in violation for failing to initiate due process procedures to conduct an assessment of Megan C. within a reasonable time period; (2) the District was in violation for failing to provide comprehensive transition assessment data and failing to inform Megan C. and her mother that transition was to be discussed at the June 1994 IEP meeting; (3) the District was not in violation for failing to develop an IEP for use while Megan was at a charter school because Megan C.'s mother withdrew Megan C. from the District and enrolled her in the charter school, and the development of the new IEP was thus the responsibility of the charter school rather than the District; (4) the District was not in violation for failing to conduct the scheduled periodic review of the June 1994 IEP because Megan C. was not enrolled in the district at the time of said review, and the District was therefore not required to conduct the review; (5a) the District was in violation for failing to have a current IEP for the 1995-96 school year; (5b) the District was not in violation for not having a current IEP at the beginning of the 1996-97 school year; (6) the District was in violation for failing to include all of the required team members to develop the November 1995 IEP; (7) the District was in violation for delaying the implementation of the IEP for the 1995-96 school year and failing to specify the amount of service Megan C. was to receive; (8) the District was in violation for failing to include a representative of the general education program on the IEP teams from March 1996 to September 1996 and should consider inviting special needs and vocational rehabilitation counselors to become IEP team members and should plan and establish wrap-around services as part of Megan C.'s transition to community college; and (9) the District was not in violation for failing to provide transportation to on-the-job-training because it does not provide such transportation to any students and such transportation is not identified as a related service on any of Megan C.'s IEPs. Pl.Ex. 6.
In conjunction with the above findings, the March 14, 1997 MDCFL decision ordered that: (1) the District consult with Megan C. and her mother to select immediately outside, comprehensive, independent, qualified personnel who have expertise in the area of Megan C.'s disability to conduct an assessment, by April 15, 1997, conditional upon the cooperation of Megan C. and her mother, addressing the following areas: social, emotional, academic, intellectual, medical, and transition; (2) the District reconvene the IEP team by May 5, 1997 to consider the assessment data and develop a current IEP based on said data and consider the need for additional special education services to compensate for missed services. Pl.Ex. 6. In its order, the MDCFL set forth that if the IEP team was unable to reach a consensus regarding the issue of compensatory education, the decision would be remanded to the MDCFL for a determination on the issue. Id.
Responding to the requirement that the District perform an independent assessment of Megan C., the District responded that:
[i]n the spring of 1996, long before the MDCFL was involved, the School District agreed to pay for independent assessments, including assessments in the following areas: academic, intellectual and social/emotional ... Megan is due for her three-year reassessment. Because of this fact, and the fact that the School District already agreed to pay for an independent assessment, the District has no objection to completing the independent assessment in the areas specified by the MDCFL, i.e.... social/emotional, medical and transition.
The above described independent assessment by the District took longer than expected, and the IEP was unable to reconvene to evaluate the assessment data until January 9, 1998. Although the IEP team was unable to reach a decision regarding compensatory education, the team drafted an IEP on January 23, 1998, which established that the District would provide: tutoring services to assist with written language, spelling and organizational skills; a computer and software to assist with written assignments; a lumbar back support cushion; individual counseling; ten speech and language therapy sessions at the Courage Center; and reimbursement to the community college for taped books, note taker services provided by the disabilities center, and transportation to and from school. ISD No. 625 Ex. 16. Plaintiffs refused the January 23, 1998 IEP.
Prior to the IEP team meeting of January 9, 1998, the District contacted Plaintiffs' counsel, Mortenson, regarding the claim for compensatory education, requesting in a letter of April 2, 1997 that he submit the areas in which he felt compensatory education was required, how many hours were required, and how such information was calculated. ISD No. 625 Ex. 14. Mortenson responded that, "[o]ne possible solution to assist Megan, and end the ongoing dispute over services, is to provide Megan with the funds to complete the equivalent of 4 years post secondary education and continue to assist with transition." ISD No. 625 Ex. 15. Mortenson calculated the corresponding cost breakdown as $4,649.28 for two years at community college, $7,182.00 for two years at a four year public college, and $4,500.00 as estimated costs for books and materials for a total amount of $16,331.28. Id. Subsequent to receipt of Mortenson's proposal, the District received no further proposals from Plaintiffs or Mortenson regarding compensatory education.
On March 5, 1998, however, Plaintiffs' substitute counsel, Margaret O'Sullivan Kane, submitted a memorandum to the MDCFL in support of Plaintiffs' request for compensatory education and services...
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