Natchez-Adams School Dist. v. Searing, Civil Action No. 5:94-cv-97BN.

• Decision Date: 08 March 1996
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 5:94-cv-97BN.
• Citation: 918 F. Supp. 1028
• Parties: NATCHEZ-ADAMS SCHOOL DISTRICT, Plaintiff, v. Evan Michael SEARING, a Minor, by His Parents and Next Friends, Pamela S. Searing and Michael A. Searing, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi

918 F. Supp. 1028

NATCHEZ-ADAMS SCHOOL DISTRICT, Plaintiff, v. Evan Michael SEARING, a Minor, by His Parents and Next Friends, Pamela S. Searing and Michael A. Searing, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 5:94-cv-97BN.

United States District Court, S.D. Mississippi, Jackson Division.

March 8, 1996.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Bruce M. Kuehnle, Jr., Adams, Forman, Truly & Smith, Natchez, MS, for plaintiff.

John J. Bach, Mississippi Protection & Advocacy, Jackson, MS, for Michael A. Searing, Pamela S. Searing.

OPINION AND ORDER¹

BARBOUR, Chief Judge.

In this action, Plaintiff, a local public school district, seeks reversal of an administrative hearing officer's conclusion that Defendant, a disabled student enrolled by his parents in a private school, is entitled to occupational therapy under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 — 1485 (1990 & Supp.1995). This cause is before the Court pursuant to § 1415(e)(4)(A) of the IDEA on the Motion of the Plaintiff Natchez-Adams School District ("Natchez-Adams") to Overturn Administrative Hearing Decision. The Defendants, Evan Michael Searing ("Evan"), by his parents, Pamela S. and Michael A. Searing, have responded to the Motion and have filed a Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment to Affirm Administrative Hearing Decision. The Court, having considered the motions, the responses, supporting and opposing memoranda and the exhibits attached thereto in conjunction with the administrative record, rules that Plaintiff's Motion is not well taken and should be denied and that Defendants' Cross-Motion is well taken and should be granted in part.

I. Background

A. The IDEA

By enacting the IDEA,² Congress endeavored to provide federal money to assist state and local agencies in educating children with disabilities. Board of Educ. of Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 179, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 3037, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982). As a condition of federal funding, the IDEA requires states to provide all disabled children with a "free appropriate public education³ which emphasizes special education and related services⁴ designed to meet their unique needs." 20 U.S.C. § 1400(c); see 20 U.S.C. § 1412(1). The primary means of assuring that each disabled child is given a meaningful opportunity to benefit educationally under the IDEA is the "individualized education program" or IEP.⁵

An IEP is a written assessment of each child with a disability which includes a plan specifically tailored to meet the child's unique needs. 20 U.S.C. § 1401(a)(20). An IEP must set out the child's present educational performance, establish annual and short-term objectives for improvements in that performance and describe the specially designed instruction and related services that will enable the child to meet those objectives. 20 U.S.C. § 1401(a)(20)(A)-(F). The IDEA requires that an IEP be the product of a meeting between a representative of the local school district, the child's teacher and the child's parents or guardian. 20 U.S.C. § 1401(a)(20). An IEP must be reviewed and, if necessary, revised at least once a year. 20 U.S.C. § 1414(a)(5).

B. Factual Background

This case involves the education of Evan Searing, a seven year old student at the Cathedral School ("Cathedral") in Natchez, Mississippi. At eighteen months of age, Evan was diagnosed with ataxic cerebral palsy at the Modern Development Center in Houston, Texas. Following this diagnosis, it was recommended that Evan receive occupational, physical and speech therapy. Evan initially received these treatments at the Cerebral Palsy School in Houston. When he was three years old, Evan became eligible for, and his parents enrolled him in, the Early Childhood Program in the Texas School System. In accordance with the IDEA, the local school district developed and implemented an IEP for Evan. Through this program, Evan attended public school and was provided with the "related services" of speech, occupational and physical therapy by the local school district. See 20 U.S.C. § 1401(a)(17).

In December, 1992, the Searings transferred from Houston to Natchez. Upon their arrival, the Searings enrolled Evan in a public school in the Natchez-Adams School District where he was placed in the pre-school Developmental Remedial Delay Program. Natchez-Adams adopted the IEP developed for Evan in Texas and, as part of this program, provided him with occupational and physical therapy during the remainder of the 1992-93 school year and during the summer of 1993. These services did not take place at a particular public school site but at the Natchez Regional Hospital ("NRH"). Evan's mother was responsible for transporting Evan from his school to the NRH where he received thirty minutes of occupational therapy per week. This occupational therapy consisted of activities designed to improve Evan's fine and gross motor skills such as writing and cutting.

At some point during the summer of 1993, Natchez-Adams was in the process of preparing a revised IEP for Evan to be implemented during the 1993-94 school year. Prior to the finalization of this program, the Searings decided to enroll Evan in Cathedral, a private, religious school. According to the Searings, this decision was based on academic and religious reasons and had nothing to do with whether the public school was capable of providing Evan with the educational services which he needed. Natchez-Adams informed the Searings that if they placed Evan in the private school, the school district would no longer provide related services as part of a free appropriate public education. The Searings enrolled Evan at Cathedral anyway, and Natchez-Adams discontinued the provision of occupational therapy. During the 1993-94 school year at Cathedral, Natchez-Adams did not develop or implement an IEP for Evan, and Evan did not receive occupational therapy at NRH as he had when he attended the public school.

Toward the end of the 1993-94 school year, two IEP meetings were held regarding the placement of Evan at Cathedral. At both meetings, Natchez-Adams offered to provide Evan with a free appropriate public education if his parents would re-enroll him in the public schools. However, the district continued to abide by its position that it was not required by the IDEA to provide Evan with occupational therapy while he was attending a private school.

In an effort to resolve this dispute between the Searings and Natchez-Adams, a due process hearing was conducted on August 16, 1994. See 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b). During this hearing, both parties were given an opportunity to present testimonial and documentary evidence before an impartial hearing officer. In his report dated August 22, 1994, the hearing officer first concluded that children with disabilities who are placed by their parents in private schools are entitled to special educational services under the IDEA. He then ordered Natchez-Adams to provide occupational therapy for Evan in accordance with an evaluation to be performed by occupational therapist. See Report of Due Process Hearing at 5-6, attached as Exhibit D to Plaintiff's Motion.

Aggrieved by the results of the due process hearing, Natchez-Adams commenced this action on September 16, 1994, by filing a Complaint in federal court pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1415(e)(2). At a case management conference held in December, 1994, the parties agreed to submit this matter for resolution on motions.⁶ The issues presently before the Court are: (1) whether the IDEA requires the Natchez-Adams School District to provide educational services to a child voluntarily enrolled by his parents in a private school, and if so, (2) whether occupational therapy is required for Evan to benefit educationally.⁷

II. Discussion

A. Standard of Review

The IDEA permits "any party aggrieved by the findings and decision" of state administrative hearings "to bring a civil action in ... a district court of the United States without regard to the amount in controversy." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(e)(2). Section 1415(e)(2) also provides that:

In any action brought under this paragraph the court shall receive the records of the administrative proceedings, shall hear additional evidence at the request of a party, and, basing its decision on the preponderance of the evidence, shall grant such relief as the court determines is appropriate.

20 U.S.C. § 1415(e)(2). According to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the standard of review applied to a hearing officer's decision is "virtually de novo." Teague Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Todd L., 999 F.2d 127, 130-31 (5th Cir.1993). Although the hearing officer's findings should be given "due weight," the Court should not defer to those findings when its independent review of the evidence indicates that the hearing officer erroneously assessed the facts or erroneously applied the law to the facts. Id. at 131. Within this framework, the burden of proof is on the Plaintiff who is the party challenging the ruling of the hearing officer.⁸

B. Analysis

1. Is Natchez-Adams Obligated to Provide IDEA Benefits for Private School Students?

There is no question that the IDEA confers substantive rights on private school students. The IDEA provides that if a particular child's needs cannot be met in the public school system, that system is still responsible for the child's special education and related services, even if it places the child in or refers the child to a private school or facility. 20 U.S.C. § 1413(a)(4)(B); see also 34 C.F.R. §§ 300.400-300.402. If a disabled child's needs can be met in the public school system, and the parents voluntarily place the child in a private school, the public agencies are not required to pay for the child's tuition⁹ and need not provide the child with a free appropriate public education at the private school facility. 34 C.F.R. § 300.403. However, with respect to such children, section 1413(a)(4) specifically states:

That, to the

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