Pachl v. Seagren, 05-2665.
| Decision Date | 14 July 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-2665.,05-2665. |
| Citation | 453 F.3d 1064 |
| Parties | Sarah PACHL, a minor, by her parents, Kevin and Susanne Pachl, Appellants, v. Alice SEAGREN, in her capacity as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education; School Board of Anoka-Hennepin Independent School District No. 11, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Judith A. Gran, argued, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for appellant.
Nancy Ellen Blumstein, argued, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Sonya J. Guggemos, on the brief), for appellee.
Before BYE, HEANEY, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.
Sarah Pachl is a disabled child who resides within the Anoka-Hennepin Independent School District No. 11 ("School District") in Minnesota. In this suit, she and her parents allege that the School District and the Minnesota Department of Education ("Department") violated her rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. The district court1 dismissed the claims against the Department and granted judgment on the administrative record in favor of the School District on the remaining claims. The Pachls appeal, and we affirm.
Sarah Pachl's developmental and physical disabilities include epilepsy, Dandy Walker syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, scoliosis, and bilateral hearing loss. To address these challenges, she receives occupational and physical therapy, speech therapy, and adaptive physical education services. She also wears hearing aids and uses a communication device.
While Pachl was in elementary school, she was in an integrated mainstream classroom for most of her school day, taking time away only for individual therapy. In the fall of 2003, however, when she entered the sixth grade at Coon Rapids Middle School, the School District determined that she should spend part of her day in a center-based Structured Teaching and Related Strategies ("STARS") special education program. The School District implemented an interim placement under which Pachl would spend some time in the mainstream classrooms, but most of her day in the STARS classroom.
At her parents' behest, Pachl was observed by an expert, Dr. Alice Udvari-Solner, in the interim setting. Dr. Udvari-Solner then prepared a report suggesting that Sarah Pachl's educational needs could be met most appropriately by spending the majority of her school day in general education classes with supplementary aids and services. Dr. Udvari-Solner opined that Pachl should not spend any time in the STARS classroom, believing that it limited "age appropriate interaction and communication skills," and that the tasks Sarah Pachl was asked to perform in the STARS setting were "non-functional in nature and of little or no use to future functioning." (Appellant's App. at 65-66). Dr. Udvari-Solner also criticized the mainstream time as lacking effective inclusive practices and "characterized by missed opportunities for learning new skills, using her present skills, working on her IEP goals, or interacting with her age mates." (Appellant's App. at 66-67).
In March 2004, after input from Dr. Udvari-Solner and from Sarah's parents, the School District proposed a new Individualized Education Plan ("IEP") that increased her mainstream classroom time to approximately 280 minutes each day and limited the time in the STARS classroom to approximately 120 minutes per day. The School District also implemented some of Dr. Udvari-Solner's suggestions for integrating Sarah among her peers, such as providing a more age-appropriate schedule book and reading materials and placing her locker nearer to the homeroom classroom.2 The School District, however, declined to follow Dr. Udvari-Solner's recommendation that Sarah not spend any time in the STARS classroom. Finding that recommendation to be in conflict with the assessments of other experts who had observed Sarah, the IEP team concluded that she "need[s] to have skills presented to her in [a] repetitive and structured manner" and that she "has shown progress in response to these strategies." (Appellant's App. at 97).
Although Pachl's time in the STARS classroom had been reduced in the new IEP, her parents objected to the IEP's inclusion of any STARS program time and argued that it did not provide the "least restrictive environment" for their daughter. The parents and School District also disagreed over the length of time proposed for the Extended School Year program for Sarah, and whether the School District should pay for tuition in a private summer program. The School District requested an administrative due process hearing to resolve the conflicts.
At the due process hearing, an administrative hearing officer considered evidence, including Dr. Udvari-Solner's report and the testimony of another expert, Dr. Robert J. Miller, who had observed Sarah in the classroom. Several professionals from Sarah's school also testified. After reviewing the evidence, the hearing officer agreed with the School District that the IEP was appropriate and consistent with the IDEA's requirements, and that "[t]he District proved that the program it provided in the March 17 IEP will place the student in the least restrictive environment." (Appellant's App. at 43). The hearing officer also found that the School District was not required to pay any additional costs for Extended School Year services in a private setting.
After the unfavorable administrative decision, the Pachls filed suit against the School District and the Department, alleging that the IEP implemented by the School District is not compliant with the IDEA. See 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2)(A). Addressing the claims against the Department, the district court concluded that the Pachls had not alleged any act or omission by the State that could constitute a violation of the IDEA and thus granted the Department's motion to dismiss. In a separate order, the district court also entered judgment in favor of the School District. Reviewing the evidence presented to the administrative hearing officer and giving due weight to the results of those proceedings, the district court concluded that "the hearing officer did not err when finding that the School District proved that the combination of mainstream and STARS learning environments will provide Sarah a meaningful education in the least restrictive environment." (Mem. and Order, R. Doc. No. 64, at 16; Appellant's App. at 24). The district court also found that the parties had agreed that the School District would pay the tuition portion of Sarah Pachl's private Extended School Year services for the summer 2004, and rejected the Pachls' allegations that the hearing officer had committed procedural violations during the administrative hearing.
On appeal, the Pachls no longer challenge the Extended School Year services provided to their daughter, but maintain that the School District's IEP violates Sarah's right to be educated in the "least restrictive environment," which, under the IDEA, requires that she be educated with non-disabled students to the "maximum extent appropriate." 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(5). As the Pachls note, the IDEA creates a preference for mainstream education, and a disabled student should be separated from her peers only if the services that make segregated placement superior cannot "be feasibly provided in a non-segregated setting." Roncker v. Walter, 700 F.2d 1058, 1063 (6th Cir.1983). Nevertheless, while endorsing Roncker, we have emphasized that the statutory language A.W. v. Northwest R-1 Sch. Dist., 813 F.2d 158, 163 (8th Cir.1987). Thus, removing a child from the mainstream setting is permissible when "the handicapped child would not benefit from mainstreaming," when "any marginal benefits received from mainstreaming are far outweighed by the benefits gained from services which could not feasibly be provided in the non-segregated setting," and when "the handicapped child is a disruptive force in the non-segregated setting." Roncker, 700 F.2d at 1063.
When reviewing a school district's compliance with the IDEA's requirements after an administrative hearing, the district court should make an "independent decision," based on a preponderance of the evidence, whether the IDEA was violated. Neosho R-V Sch. Dist. v. Clark, 315 F.3d 1022, 1027-28 (8th Cir.2003). The court must nonetheless give "due weight" to the administrative proceedings and should not "substitute [its] own notions of sound educational policy for those of the school authorities" which it is reviewing. Id. at 1028 (quoting Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 206, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982)). "Because judges are not trained educators, judicial review under the IDEA is limited." E.S. v. Indep. Sch. Dist., No. 196, 135 F.3d 566, 569 (8th Cir.1998). We review the district court's findings of fact for clear error and its conclusions of law de novo. Neosho, 315 F.3d at 1027.
The Pachls argue that the district court applied the wrong legal standard to Sarah's IEP by inquiring whether the inclusion of STARS time was the most appropriate alternative, rather than determining whether there was a way feasibly to provide supplementary services in the regular classroom environment. We disagree. The district court described the correct legal standard in detail and discussed the appropriate governing cases, including Roncker. The court's conclusion — that the IEP at issue provides "a meaningful education in the least restrictive environment" (Mem. and Order, R. Doc. No. 64, at 16; Appellant's App. at 24) — also accords with the applicable law. Contrary to the Pachls' argument, the court...
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