Pollack v. Reg'l Sch. Unit 75, 2:13-cv-109-NT
| Decision Date | 28 April 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 2:13-cv-109-NT,2:13-cv-109-NT |
| Parties | MATTHEW POLLACK and JANE QUIRION, individually and as next friends of B.P., Plaintiffs, v. REGIONAL SCHOOL UNIT 75, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maine |
Before me are the Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment, the Defendant's motion for summary judgment, and the Defendant's supplemental motion for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. (ECF Nos. 158, 160, 258). For the reasons stated below, the Plaintiffs' motion is DENIED and the District's motions are GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.
Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine dispute of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). On cross-motions for summary judgment, courts "view each motion separately and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the respective non-moving party." Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield v. City of Springfield, 724 F.3d 78, 89 (1st Cir. 2013). Faced with cross-motions, courts must "decide 'whether either of the parties deserves judgment as a matter of law on the facts that are not disputed.' " Fid. Co-op Bank v. Nova Cas. Co., 726 F.3d 31, 36 (1st Cir. 2013) (quoting Barnes v. Fleet Nat'l Bank, N.A., 370 F.3d 164, 170 (1st Cir. 2004)).
The Plaintiffs in this case are Matthew Pollack and Jane Quirion (the "Parents"), as the parents and next friends of their eighteen-year-old son B.P. Unified Statement of Facts Submissions for Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. with Citations to Joint Summ. J. R. ¶ 3 ("DSF") (ECF No. 213). The remaining Defendant is Regional School Unit 75 ("RSU 75" or the "District"), which has been B.P.'s school district since kindergarten. DSF ¶ 5.
B.P. is diagnosed with autism and a language disorder that is a variant of Landau-Kleffner Syndrome. DSF ¶ 3. He is nonverbal and has very limited expressive communication skills. DSF ¶ 3. B.P. is happy, loves school, and has made some progress toward his educational goals. DSF ¶ 5. By the time B.P. began attending Mt. Ararat Middle School, however, the relationship between his Parents and District officials had grown tense. DSF ¶ 21.
Although the Parents and District officials have butted heads numerous times over the years, an incident that occurred in February of 2012 is of particular relevance for purposes of this motion. On the morning of February 10, 2012, Pollack met with Patrick Moore, RSU 75's director of special education, and Kelly Allen, B.P.'s case manager. DSF ¶¶ 7-11, 40. During the meeting:
Pollack was informed that Quirion had been "spying" on a community field trip to a public library. Pollack called Quirion immediately who insisted that she had simply gotten caught behind the school bus on her way to the grocery store. Later that morning, Quirion e-mailed Mooreand Allen a scanned copy of her time-stamped grocery receipt to refute the accusation.
DSF ¶ 40. Moore later apologized for the misunderstanding. DSF ¶ 41.
When Quirion picked up B.P. at the end of school that day, he acted uncharacteristically upset and cried for approximately an hour and a half. DSF ¶ 42. Pollack and Quirion sought an explanation for B.P.'s aberrant behavior, but the school was unable to provide one. DSF ¶¶ 43-44, 47-48. None of the staff members who worked with B.P. that day reported noticing anything unusual. DSF ¶ 47. Quirion came to suspect there might be a connection between the accusation that she had been "spying" on the field trip and B.P.'s crying spell.1 DSF ¶ 49.
In March of 2012, Quirion first wrote a letter to school officials informing them that she planned to send B.P. to school with an audio recording device so she could "have a semblance of peace that he is safe." DSF ¶ 78. An RSU 75 attorney sent Quirion a letter the following day informing her that the District would not allow B.P. to attend school with a recording device. DSF ¶ 81. The letter stated that permitting B.P. to record at school would violate the District's personal electronics policies, astate wiretap statute, other students' personal privacy rights, and the school's collective bargaining agreement with its teachers.2 DSF ¶ 81.
On June 12, 2012, Quirion wrote a letter to Bill Zima, Mt. Ararat Middle School's principal, again requesting that B.P. be allowed to wear a recording device to school "as an accommodation under the ADA." DSF ¶ 83. Quirion specifically asked that the District "provide a reasonable accommodation for [B.P.]'s communication disability by allowing him to carry and use a voice recording device so that [she] can review it daily for announcements and other information that the students are expected to convey to their parents, as well as for [B.P.] to be able to 'tell' [her] about his day at school." DSF ¶ 344. "On July 13, 2012, Patrick Moore acknowledged Quirion's June 12, 2012, letter, 'assuring her that he would review her ADA request and schedule a time to meet.' " DSF ¶ 84. Quirion wrote back the next day to say she would be willing to attend such a meeting but wanted to know the agenda ahead of time. DSF ¶ 84. "If the point of a meeting is to ask me to withdraw my request, I will not withdraw it," she wrote. DSF ¶ 84.
On August 30, 2012, with a new school year about to start, Quirion e-mailed Moore and Zima to tell them that she would interpret their failure to respond as an implicit approval of her request. DSF ¶ 85. Moore wrote back immediately to request that Quirion not send B.P. to school with a recording device. DSF ¶ 86. Moore also wrote:
I would like the IEP team to review this accommodation request and have an IEP determination prior to any action on your part. If the IEP team decides that the accommodation is necessary and reasonable, request approved. If not, you have the opportunity for all your due process safeguards.
DSF ¶ 347. Quirion declined the offer of an IEP meeting. Summary Judgment Record ("SJR") 6415 (ECF No. 199-7). To Quirion, the request for the recording device as an ADA accommodation was different from an educational accommodation under the IDEA. DSF ¶ 348. She explained that "[w]hether [B.P.] is entitled to use the device as an accommodation for his disability that prevents him from telling us what happened in school is a separate question from whether the device is necessary to further his education." DSF ¶ 348.
On September 1, 2012, Moore sent Quirion a letter reiterating the District's earlier objections, as outlined in the March 6, 2012 letter from District counsel. DSF ¶ 87. Moore's letter concluded by stating that the District SJR 6418 (ECF No. 199-7); DSF ¶ 351.
Two years later, in September of 2014, Pollack made "another ADA request to equip B.P. with a recording device or body camera to be able to tell Plaintiffs what happens to him in school." DSF ¶ 91. The District responded by "requesting additional information, and reminding Plaintiffs of the concerns the District has expressed about the impact on the educational environment, and the problems the District facesin protecting the rights and confidentiality of other students and employees and requested proposals for addressing those concerns." DSF ¶ 92.
In November of 2014, Pollack provided Superintendent Smith with information regarding the body camera and recording device and disputed the District's "views concerning the impact on the educational environment, and confidentiality of staff and other students." DSF ¶ 93. Smith responded in January of 2015, writing that "he disagreed with Pollack's assertion that the presence of audio and video recording devices on B.P. would have no impact on the educational environment, of the concerns about the impact that such devices have had and will have on the educators in the school, and indicated his willingness to meet with Pollack in early 2015 to discuss Pollack's request." DSF ¶ 94. Smith did not receive a response from the Parents regarding his invitation to meet. DSF ¶ 95.
In denying the Parents' requests for B.P. to wear a recording device, the District has consistently relied upon its written policy covering employee and student use of cellular telephones and other privately-owned electronic devices. SJR 6151 (ECF No. 199-6); DSF ¶ 332. The policy provides:
SJR 6151 (ECF No. 199-6). The District has disciplined students for unauthorized use of electronic devices. DSF ¶ 104.3 The District has not permitted B.P. to use a recording device because it determined the recording was not for an instructional benefit and "the purpose of the policy is to support the teaching and learning environment." DSF ¶ 101.4 The District also had "concerns about the educational efficacy and necessity" of the recording device and its impact on staff and other students. DSF ¶ 102.5
Students, however, have been permitted to make recordings for educational purposes, such as recording specific lessons with the permission of...
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