El Paso Indep. School Dist. v. Richard R.

• Decision Date: 14 July 2008
• Docket Number: No. EP-07-CV-00125-KC.,EP-07-CV-00125-KC.
• Citation: 567 F.Supp.2d 918
• Parties: EL PASO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Plaintiff, v. RICHARD R., as next friend of R.R., et al., Defendants. R.R., by his next friend of E.R., Plaintiffs, v. El Paso Independent School District, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Texas

567 F.Supp.2d 918

EL PASO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Plaintiff, v. RICHARD R., as next friend of R.R., et al., Defendants.

R.R., by his next friend of E.R., Plaintiffs, v. El Paso Independent School District, Defendant.

No. EP-07-CV-00125-KC.

United States District Court, W.D. Texas, El Paso Division.

July 14, 2008.

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Joe Ruben Tanguma, Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Schulze & Aldridge, PC, for El Paso Independent School District.

Charles Mark Berry, Attorney at Law, El Paso, TX, for R.R., by his next friend of E.R. and Richard R., as next friend of R.R.

Colbert N. Coldwell, Guevara, Rebe, Bumann, Coldwell & Reedman, El Paso, TX, for Mark Berry.

ORDER

KATHLEEN CARDONE, District Judge.

On this day, the Court considered Plaintiff R.R.'s "Motion for Summary Judgment," ("Motion"), Defendant El Paso Independent School District's "Response to Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment" ("Response"), and Plaintiff R.R.'s "Reply to E.P.I.S.D[.]'s Opposition to Summary Judgment" ("Reply"). Having reviewed these submissions, the Court is of the opinion that Plaintiff R.R.'s Motion should be GRANTED in its entirety.

I. BACKGROUND

The instant Motion arises from two distinct lawsuits. Initially, Defendant El Paso Independent School District ("EPISD") brought suit against Richard R., as next friend of R.R. ("RR"), and Plaintiffs attorney, Mark Berry ("Berry"), pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400, et seq. ("IDEA"). Soon thereafter, RR filed his own IDEA suit, within which he named EPISD as Defendant.

The Court draws the following facts from the various pleadings submitted by both RR and EPISD. On September 26, 2006, RR, through his attorney, Berry, requested a due process hearing from the Texas Education Agency pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(6). Def. RR's Mot. to Dismiss 1-2.¹ At the time of the request, RR was a 14-year-old student attending EPISD and suffering from Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ("AD/HD"). Pl. EPISD's First Original Compl. 2. RR requested a hearing because EPISD allegedly violated the IDEA by: (1) failing to timely evaluate RR for special education services; (2) failing to provide RR with IDEA procedural safeguards; (3) failing to provide written notice of refusal to provide a special education referral; and (4) failing to comply with the "Child Find" provisions of the IDEA. Def. Berry's Mot. to Dismiss 9.

On October 11, 2006, during a resolution session, EPISD offered to: (1) conduct a full individual evaluation within sixty (60) days of the parents' consent to evaluate; (2) convene an Admission, Review, and Dismissal ("ARD") Committee meeting within thirty (30) calendar days from the completion of the evaluation; (3) continue to comply with the applicable federal and state laws regarding the provision of prior written notice to parents; (4) continue to comply with the applicable federal and state laws regarding the provision of procedural safeguards to the parents; and (5) pay attorney's fees in the amount of $3,000.00. Pl. EPISD's First Original Compl. 2-3. RR and Berry refused this offer. Id. Furthermore, in September 2006, EPISD set up a Student Teacher Assessment Team ("STAT") committee² meeting to address RR's request for an evaluation. Administrative Record ("AR") Vol. I, 4. RR cancelled the meeting and sought instead to have the case decided by a Special Education Hearing Officer ("SEHO"). Pl. EPISD's First Original Compl. 3. On January 19, 2007, a SEHO for the State of Texas returned a decision in favor of RR on three of the four allegations. Id. at 4. The SEHO found that: (1) EPISD failed in its obligation to conduct a timely evaluation; (2) EPISD should have provided RR with a copy of the procedural safeguards as required by federal regulation; (3) EPISD failed to send RR the required written notification of its refusal to provide a special education referral; and (4) EPISD met its Child Find obligation. Def. Berry's Mot. to Dismiss 14.

On April 19, 2007, EPISD filed a complaint appealing the SEHO's decision and alleged that it was the prevailing party. Pl. EPISD's First Original Compl. 1. EPISD also alleged that the Court should grant EPISD attorney fees pursuant to 20 U.S.C. §§ 1415(i)(3)(B)(i)(II) and (III) because RR and Berry's suit was frivolous and brought for an improper purpose. Id. Conversely, on April 19, 2007, RR filed a complaint alleging that he was the prevailing party and entitled to attorney's fees. PI. RR's Original Compl. 4.

On May 30, 2007, this Court consolidated both actions. Doc. No. 12.³ On July 24, 2007, this Court granted RR and Berry's Motions to Dismiss as they related to EPISD's claim of attorney fees against them. Doc. No. 22. In so doing, the Court dismissed all claims against Berry as a Defendant. Id.; see Pl. EPISD's First Original Compl. 7-8. The Court did not, however, grant RR and Berry's Motions to Dismiss as to the right of EPISD to appeal. Court Order, Sept. 24, 2007. As a result, EPISD's appeal of the SEHO's decision remains active. PI. EPISD's First Original Compl. 1.

Following a dispute over supplementing the administrative record for purposes of proceedings before this Court,⁴ RR filed his Motion for Summary Judgment. Within the Motion, RR requests that the Court "render a judgment for plaintiff for all the relief set forth in [RR's] Original Complaint."⁵ Pl. RR's Mot. for Summ. J. 1. Fundamentally, RR argues that he "is entitled to summary judgment based on the administrative record on file herein and on the declaration as to attorney's fees that are submitted herewith." Id. at 2.

Soon after RR entered his Motion, EPISD filed its Response, wherein EPISD articulates multiple theories opposing RR's Motion.⁶ Subsequent to this Response, RR also filed a Reply to these arguments.⁷

The Court will now address the various argument of the parties in turn.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard

This case arises under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"). 20 U.S.C. § 1400, et seq. Congress enacted the IDEA "to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education ["FAPE"] that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living." 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A) (2006). To achieve this aim, the IDEA compels those states receiving federal funding to educate children with disabilities "to the maximum extent appropriate .... with children who are not disabled,"⁸ and to do so "in the least restrictive environment consistent with their needs." Teague Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Todd L., 999 F.2d 127, 128 (5th Cir.1993) (citing Sherri A.D. v. Kirby, 975 F.2d 193, 207 n. 23 (5th Cir.1992) (explaining that least restrictive environment connotes "not only freedom from restraint, but the freedom of the child to associate with his or her family and able-bodied peers")). Although the FAPE that the IDEA demands of the states "need not be the best possible one, nor one that will maximize the child's educational potential," it must "be an education that is specifically designed to meet the child's unique needs, supported by services that will permit him `to benefit' from the instruction." Cypress-Fairbanks Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Michael F., 118 F.3d 245, 247 (5th Cir.1997) (quoting Bd. of Educ. of Hendrick Hudson Central Sch. Dist. Westchester County v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 188-89, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982)).

Because the State of Texas receives federal education funding, all school districts within its borders must comply with the IDEA. See Michael F., 118 F.3d at 247. To meet these strictures, the various school districts must provide each disabled student on their rolls with a FAPE. Id. The FAPE provided must be tailored to each disabled child's needs through an "individual educational program" ("IEP"), which is a written statement prepared at a meeting attended by a "qualified" and "knowledgeable" school district representative, a teacher, the child's parents or guardians, and, when appropriate, the child himself. See 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(1)(B). In Texas, the committee responsible for preparing an IEP is known as an Admissions, Review, and Dismissal Committee ("ARD Committee"). 19 TEX. ADMIN. CODE § 89.1050; see Michael F., 118 F.3d at 247.

The IDEA further provides a "comprehensive system of procedural safeguards" designed to promote compliance with its mandates. See Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305, 308, 108 S.Ct. 592, 98 L.Ed.2d 686 (1988); Rowley, 458 U.S. at 205, 102 S.Ct. 3034 (explaining the "elaborate and highly specific procedural safeguards embodied in § 1415" of the IDEA); 20 U.S.C. § 1415 (outlining a series of detailed procedural safeguards). Among these safeguards, the parents of the disabled child must be provided with "[a]n opportunity to present a complaint .... with respect to any matter relating to the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child, or the provision of a [FAPE] to such child." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(6). The IDEA also provides as follows:

Whenever a complaint has been received under subsection (b)(6) .... of this section, the parents or the local educational agency involved in such complaint shall have an opportunity for an impartial due process hearing, which shall be conducted by the State educational agency or by the local educational agency, as determined by State law or by the State educational agency.

20 U.S.C. § 1415(f)(1)(A).

When a state allows for these hearings to be conducted by a local educational agency, the IDEA permits "any party aggrieved by the findings and decision rendered in such a hearing" to appeal to the state's educational agency, which must then conduct an "impartial review of such decision" and "make an independent decision upon completion of such review." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(g).

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