Mr. & Mrs. D. v. Southington Bd. of Educ.

• Decision Date: 20 October 2000
• Docket Number: No. 3:99CV453 DJS.,3:99CV453 DJS.
• Citation: 119 F.Supp.2d 105
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: MR. & MRS. D., Plaintiffs, v. SOUTHINGTON BOARD OF EDUCATION, Defendant.

119 F.Supp.2d 105

MR. & MRS. D., Plaintiffs, v. SOUTHINGTON BOARD OF EDUCATION, Defendant.

No. 3:99CV453 DJS.

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

October 20, 2000.

Michael Mc Keon; Lawrence J. Campane; Nicole Alexandra Bernabo; Sullivan,

Schoen, Campane & Connan, Hartford, CT, for Defendants.

Winona Wellman Zimberlin, Hartford, CT, for Plaintiffs.

ORDER

SQUATRITO, District Judge.

Upon review and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Rule 2 of the Local Rules for United States Magistrate Judges (D.Conn.), Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith's Recommended Ruling is APPROVED and ADOPTED as the Ruling of this Court, over objection. The Clerk shall enter judgment and close this case.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

RECOMMENDED RULING ON MOTION TO DISMISS

I. INTRODUCTION

This action is brought by Mr. and Mrs. D., on behalf of their daughter, M.D., pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. ("IDEA"), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 795 et seq., and section 10-76a et seq. of the Connecticut General Statutes.

Plaintiffs seek tuition reimbursement from the Southington Board of Education for the three and one-half years M.D. was unilaterally placed in the Cheshire school system on a tuition basis. In count one of their complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the defendant violated the IDEA, the Rehabilitation Act, and the due process rights secured to the plaintiffs by state and federal constitutions when it failed to provide M.D. with a free appropriate public education ("FAPE"). Count two alleges violations of the same authorities for failure to reimburse the plaintiffs for educational costs they incurred by transferring their daughter to the Cheshire school district. Count three alleges that the plaintiffs' procedural due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution were violated when the state hearing officer ("hearing officer") applied the statute of limitations codified at section 10-76h(a)(3) of the Connecticut General Statutes. In the fourth count the plaintiffs claim that section 10-76h(a)(3) of the Connecticut General Statutes violates the equal protection and due process rights provided by the constitutions of Connecticut and the United States. The fifth count alleges a violation of 29 U.S.C. § 795 et seq.

The defendant moves for dismissal of all counts pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). (docket no. 10). For the following reasons, the court recommends that the motion be GRANTED, and that the complaint be dismissed in its entirety.

II. DISCUSSION

A. STANDARD

The defendant moves to dismiss the entire complaint in this case pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). When the basis for the motion to dismiss is the applicability of a statute of limitations, the motion is considered under the standard set forth in Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules. See Ghartey v. St. John's Queens Hospital, 869 F.2d 160, 162 (2d Cir.1989); Joslin v. Grossman, 107 F.Supp.2d 150, 154 (D.Conn. 2000).

Under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a court should not grant a motion to dismiss unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim that would entitle him to relief. See Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). A motion to dismiss "merely ... assess[es] the legal feasibility of the complaint. [It does] not ... assay the weight of the evidence which might be offered in support thereof." Geisler v. Petrocelli, 616 F.2d 636, 639 (2d Cir.1980).

In deciding a motion to dismiss, the court must accept all well-pleaded allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the pleader. See Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). Dismissal is warranted only if, under any set of facts that the plaintiff can prove consistent with the allegations, it is clear that no relief can be granted. See Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984); Frasier v. General Elec. Co., 930 F.2d 1004, 1007 (2d Cir.1991). "The issue on a motion to dismiss is not whether the plaintiff will prevail, but whether the plaintiff is entitled to offer evidence to support his or her claims." United States v. Yale New Haven Hosp., 727 F.Supp. 784, 786 (D.Conn.1990)(citing Scheuer, 416 U.S. at 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683).

Ordinarily, the subject matter of the court's review in deciding a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) is confined to the complaint itself, but the court may expand the scope of its review in the appropriate circumstances. See Brass v. American Film Technologies, Inc., 987 F.2d 142, 150 (2d Cir.1993) (holding that court may consider, in addition to the complaint, "matters of which judicial notice may be taken, or to documents either in plaintiffs' possession or of which plaintiffs had knowledge and relied on in bringing suit"). Specifically, the court can consider administrative materials if they serve as the basis for the plaintiffs' claim. See Cortec Industries, Inc. v. Sum Holding L.P., 949 F.2d 42, 48 (2d Cir.1991) ("Where plaintiff has actual notice of all then information in the movant's papers and has relied upon these documents in framing the necessity of translating a Rule 12(b)(6) motion into one under Rule 56 is largely dissipated"); In re Hunter Environmental Services, Inc. Securities Litigation, 921 F.Supp. 914, 918 n. 3 (D.Conn.1996) (stating that a court may consider administrative materials). Thus, in consideration of the instant motion, the court will take judicial notice of the state Board of Education Final Decision and Order 98-217, dated February 1, 1999 ("Final Decision"), (Def.'s Mot. Dismiss, Ex. B).

B. FACTS

The court's examination of the complaint and the Final Decision, construed most favorably to the plaintiff, reveals the following facts. M.D. was adopted into the family of Mr. and Mrs. D. at age three. Prior to the adoption, M.D. had already been in three different homes. She suffered from an attachment disorder and a speech and language disorder. M.D. was a special education student in the defendant's schools from 1983 to 1994; from preschool until the middle of ninth grade. The complaint alleges that M.D. was not always in an appropriate program, the Southington schools did not always follow the program outlined for her, and the quality of the Southington education continued to deteriorate.

Throughout this time period, the parents became disenchanted with Southington's efforts to meet their child's education needs. The parents expressed these concerns in a letter, dated November 30, 1993, to Mr. Langdon, the assistant principal of M.D.'s school, and in a conference pertaining to M.D.'s individual educational plans ("IEPs") with the Southington Board of Education ("Board"). Despite the parents' concerns, the Board did not take action to correct the perceived deficiency in M.D.'s education.

On January 12, 1994, the parents responded to the Board's alleged inaction by unilaterally placing M.D. out of the Southington district into the special education program in Cheshire, on a tuition basis. According to the complaint, sometime after the enrollment at Cheshire, the plaintiffs realized the alleged inferiority of the Southington education as a result of M.D.'s vast improvement.

M.D. graduated from Cheshire High School in June of 1997. The plaintiffs requested a hearing seeking tuition reimbursement for M.D.'s three years in Cheshire from defendant on April 19, 1998, and the hearing was held on May 29, 1998. On May 29, 1998, the planning and placement team ("PPT") denied the plaintiffs' request for reimbursement of tuition paid to Cheshire on the ground that the placement was a unilateral decision and notice was not given to Southington regarding their decision or disagreement with the IEP. On July 31, 1998, the plaintiffs filed for a due process hearing before a hearing officer in order to contest the PPT decision to deny tuition reimbursement. On November 15, 1998, the hearing officer issued a decision on a motion to dismiss, which limited the time frame for which the plaintiffs could recover tuition. On February 1, 1999 the officer issued a Final Decision dismissing the plaintiffs' claims in their entirety. This lawsuit was filed on March 12, 1999.

C. IDEA CLAIMS

The instant action is an appeal of the Connecticut State Department of Education due process hearing decision. The plaintiffs have brought suit under the IDEA in order to be reimbursed for tuition they paid for the special education program in Cheshire.

The IDEA creates a statutory scheme for monitoring a disabled child's educational progress by which both the school board and the parents or guardian of the child are active participants. See Mrs. M. v. Bridgeport Bd. Of Ed., 96 F.Supp.2d 124, 128 (D.Conn.2000). As such, the parents and the school board meet annually to discuss an individual education plan ("IEP") for the child, pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(4)(A)(I). See M.C. ex rel. Mrs. C. v. Voluntown Bd. of Ed., No. 99-9282, 2000 WL 1253759, at *1 (2d Cir. Sept.1, 2000). Should the parents disagree with this IEP, they are entitled to a due process hearing with the state or local agency challenging the educational body's decision. See id. Once the parents have exhausted their state remedies, they may seek review of any adverse decision in state or federal court. See id.

The IDEA grants the court the ability to "grant such relief as the court determines is appropriate," 20 U.S.C. § 1415(I)(2)(B)(iii), and the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted this language to include the authority to issue "a prospective injunction directing the school officials to develop and implement at public expense an IEP plating the child in a private school." School Committee of the Town of Burlington v. Dept. of Ed. Of Mass., 471 U.S. 359, 370, 105...