Murphy v. Timberlane Regional School Dist.

• Decision Date: 05 June 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-2272,91-2272
• Citation: 973 F.2d 13
• Parties: 77 Ed. Law Rep. 28 Kevin W. MURPHY, et al., Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. TIMBERLANE REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant, Appellee. . Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 13

973 F.2d 13

77 Ed. Law Rep. 28

Kevin W. MURPHY, et al., Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. TIMBERLANE REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant, Appellee.

No. 91-2272.

United States Court of Appeals First Circuit.

Heard June 5, 1992.

Decided Aug. 19, 1992.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc

Denied Oct. 15, 1992.

Michael R. Chamberlain with whom Chamberlain and Connor were on brief for plaintiffs, appellants.

Diane M. Gorrow with whom Gerald M. Zelin and Soule, Leslie, Zelin, Sayward and Loughman were on brief for defendant, appellee.

Before CYR, Circuit Judge, RONEY, ^* Senior Circuit Judge, and PIERAS, ^** District Judge.

RONEY, Senior Circuit Judge:

This case arises under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Act), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. Kevin W. Murphy, along with his parents and guardians, Janice and Kevin C. Murphy, are seeking compensatory education for a two-year period during which Kevin received no special educational services. Both the administrative hearing officer and the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire entered orders for defendant Timberlane Regional School District, ruling by way of summary judgment that the Murphys' compensatory education claim was barred by laches. Since the parents' delay in filing suit was not unreasonable and factual disputes remain concerning the school district's claim of prejudice, we vacate and remand to the district court for further proceedings.

The Act requires that to qualify for federal financial assistance, participating states must adopt policies assuring all students with disabilities the right to a "free appropriate public education." 20 U.S.C. § 1412(1). New Hampshire has adopted the required policies and attempts to comply with the requirements of the Act.

As defined by the Act, the term "free appropriate public education" refers to the special education and related services that must be provided in conformity with an individualized education program (IEP). 20 U.S.C. § 1401(a)(20). An IEP is a statement of the educational program which must be written for each child and designed to meet each child's unique needs. 20 U.S.C. § 1401(a)(19). The IEP is developed by a team including a qualified representative of the local educational agency, the teacher, the parents or guardian, and, where appropriate, the student. Id. In New Hampshire, this team is referred to as the Pupil Placement Team. The IEP must be reviewed at least annually and revised when necessary. 20 U.S.C. § 1414(a)(5). An IEP is appropriate under the Act if it provides instruction and support services which are reasonably calculated to confer educational benefits to the student. Board of Education v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 203-07, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 3049-51, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982); Abrahamson v. Hershman, 701 F.2d 223, 226-27 (1st Cir.1983).

The Act further requires states to establish and maintain certain procedures "to assure that children with disabilities and their parents or guardians are guaranteed procedural safeguards with respect to the provision of free appropriate public education." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(a). Parents who believe that a proposed IEP is inappropriate are entitled to an impartial due process hearing. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(2). Any party aggrieved by the decision of the administrative hearing officer may appeal to either state or federal court. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(e)(2).

Kevin W. Murphy was born on July 9, 1968. He is a disabled individual who is entitled to special educational services under the Act. Kevin's disabilities include spastic paraplegia, cortical blindness (difficulty processing visual stimuli), tactile agnosia (difficulty processing tactile input), and mild mental retardation.

In 1976, the Murphys moved to Plaistow, New Hampshire, which is in the Timberlane Regional School District (Timberlane or the district). In September 1981, Kevin was transferred from his previous placement to a special program at Charlotte Avenue School, a public elementary school in Nashua, New Hampshire. Although Kevin's parents had originally agreed to this new placement, they soon became concerned about the appropriateness of the placement, and expressed their objections to Kevin's teacher and to Timberlane's special education administrators. In December 1981, Kevin suffered a seizure at home, and his parents decided not to return Kevin to school after the winter break.

In January 1982, the school superintendent authorized the director of special education to provide tutorial services to Kevin in his home. A year later, the State Department of Education strongly recommended that the district provide Kevin with home-based instruction. No such services were ever provided.

Mr. Murphy wrote letters to Timberlane in January and February 1982, notifying the school district of his decision to keep Kevin at home, complaining that Kevin was being denied an education, and threatening to bring an action against the district. Kevin remained at home throughout 1982 and 1983.

Between January 1982 and January 1984, numerous IEP meetings were held between Kevin's parents and district officials in an attempt to develop an appropriate program for Kevin. Although the parties' accounts of the facts differ on who was cooperative and who was obstinate, it is clear that there were a number of disagreements over the appropriateness of different proposed placements and evaluations. The Murphys rejected a number of IEPs presented to them by the district. In June 1982, Kevin attended school in a third grade classroom for the last two weeks of the school year. The purpose of this placement was to allow Timberlane an opportunity to evaluate Kevin and assess his needs so that an appropriate IEP could be developed for the following school year.

In November 1982, the district initiated truancy proceedings against Kevin's parents because of Kevin's absence from school. These proceedings were never completed. In January 1984, the Pupil Placement Team finally agreed on a placement for Kevin in the Get Set Program at Pinkerton High School. Although Kevin's May 1985 IEP indicated that Kevin might complete the Get Set Program as early as June 1987, Kevin remained in the program through the end of 1988-89 school year.

In May 1988, Kevin's Pupil Placement Team met to develop an IEP for the 1988-89 school year. Although Kevin would turn 21 in July 1989, there was evidence that the Team assumed that this was not the final IEP to be developed for Kevin and that Kevin would be permitted to continue his education until he completed the program at Pinkerton High School. In November 1988, Mr. Murphy met with Timberlane's Superintendent, Terrance Holmes, to discuss whether Timberlane would provide schooling beyond Kevin's 21st birthday. Mr. Holmes agreed to present Mr. Murphy's request to the School Board. On January 5, 1989, the Superintendent recommended to the School Board that Kevin be allowed to continue at Pinkerton High School beyond his 21st birthday. The Board rejected the recommendation by a vote of six to three.

Kevin turned 21 on July 9, 1989. On July 24, 1989, George Wright, Timberlane's local education agency representative and a member of Kevin's IEP team, wrote to Kevin's parents enclosing an Annual Statement of Placement discharging Kevin as a special education student. In August 1989, the Murphys appealed the discharge and requested an administrative hearing. The Murphys sought compensatory education for Kevin beyond the statutorily required age of 21 because of the district's failure to provide special education and related services from January 1982 through January 1984.

On February 27, 1990, an administrative hearing officer denied Timberlane's motion for summary judgment, rejecting the district's laches argument and applying a six-year statute of limitations. Upon the district's motion for reconsideration, the hearing officer reversed himself, and on April 23, 1990, found that laches barred the Murphys' claim. The parents appealed to the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. On August 26, 1991, that court ruled that compensatory education is available under the Act, but granted summary judgment for the district based on its laches defense. The court denied the Murphys' motion to reconsider and entered its judgment on October 31, 1991.

This circuit has not yet decided whether compensatory education is a permissible form of relief under the Act. Other circuits which have addressed the issue have allowed compensatory education, likening this form of relief to the reimbursement we permitted in Town of Burlington v. Department of Education, 736 F.2d 773, (1st Cir.1984), aff'd, 471 U.S. 359, 105 S.Ct. 1996, 85 L.Ed.2d 385 (1985). Indeed, according to our research, every circuit which has addressed this issue since our decision in Burlington was affirmed by the Supreme Court has found that compensatory education is available under the Act. See, e.g., Lester H. v. Gilhool, 916 F.2d 865 (3d Cir.1990), cert. denied sub nom. Chester Upland Sch. Dist. v. Lester H., --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1317, 113 L.Ed.2d 250 (1991); Burr v. Ambach, 863 F.2d 1071 (2d Cir.), vacated and remanded sub nom. Sobol v. Burr, 492 U.S. 902, 109 S.Ct. 3209, 106 L.Ed.2d 560 (1988), reaff'd, 888 F.2d 258 (2d Cir.1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1005, 110 S.Ct. 1298, 108 L.Ed.2d 475 (1990); Jefferson County Bd. of Educ. v. Breen, 853 F.2d 853 (11th Cir.1988); Miener v. State of Missouri, 800 F.2d 749 (8th Cir.1986).

Assuming that compensatory education is available in this circuit, it, like reimbursement, is a form of equitable relief. See Burlington, 736 F.2d at 799, 801-02; Jefferson County Bd. of Educ., 853 F.2d at 857-58. Thus equitable defenses are available to a claim for compensatory education.

The equitable doctrine of laches is an affirmative defense that serves as a bar to a claim for equitable relief "where a party's delay in bringing suit was (1) unreasonable, and (2)...