S.H. ex rel. A.H. v. Plano Indep. Sch. Dist.
| Decision Date | 17 August 2012 |
| Docket Number | No. 11-40518,11-40518 |
| Parties | S. H., by next friend A. H., by next friend E. H., Plaintiff - Appellant Cross-Appellee v. PLANO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant - Appellee Cross-Appellant PLANO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Plaintiff - Appellee Cross-Appellant v. A. H., as next friend S. H.; E. H., as next friend S. H., Defendants - Appellants Cross-Appellees |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Texas
Before KING, PRADO, and HAYNES, Circuit Judges.
*
S.H., a child with severe autism and speech impairment, sought to recover the cost of his private schooling from Plano Independent School District through a due process hearing before a special education hearing officer. S.H. alleged that the School District had denied him a free appropriate public education in violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. The hearing officer ordered the School District to reimburse S.H. for educational expenses incurred during the summer of 2006 before S.H. began classes at the School District and for the first nine weeks of the 2006—2007 school year. The hearing officer denied reimbursement for the period of time that followed. S.H. and the School District each filed suit in federal district court challenging various aspects of the hearing officer's decision. The district court consolidated the lawsuits and ultimately affirmed the decision of the hearing officer, except that it reduced the compensation awarded to S.H. The district court also denied S.H.'s motion for attorneys' fees. S.H. appealed several aspects of the district court's judgment, and the School District filed a cross-appeal raising several challenges as well. For the reasons stated below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
The child at issue, S.H.,1 was born on May 21, 2003 and was diagnosed with severe autism on October 12, 2004. At the end of 2005, S.H. began attending Wayman Learning Center ("WLC"), a private school, where hereceived a program of applied behavior analysis—a method for teaching autistic children—on a one-on-one basis.
S.H.'s parents requested a meeting with Plano Independent School District ("PISD") to develop an Evaluation and Review Plan for S.H. The meeting was held on April 7, 2006, and PISD completed a Full Individual Evaluation ("FIE") of S.H. on May 12, 2006. PISD's evaluation confirmed that S.H. was at the severe end of the autism scale. The FIE recommended, inter alia, that S.H.'s Admission, Review, and Dismissal Committee ("ARDC") assess S.H.'s eligibility for special education services because of his autism and speech impairment.
On May 18, 2006, an ARDC developed an Individual Education Plan ("IEP") for S.H. that recommended that S.H. receive special education five days a week for two and a half hours each day at PISD's Beaty Early Childhood School ("Beaty") in an integrated pre-kindergarten classroom beginning in August 2006. The May 18, 2006 IEP did not recommend Extended School Year ("ESY") services during the summer preceding the 2006—2007 school year.
At the beginning of the 2006—2007 school year, S.H.'s parents enrolled S.H. in both Beaty and WLC. S.H. attended Beaty three days per week, as opposed to the five days recommended in his IEP. On days S.H. did attend classes at Beaty, he was often at least fifteen minutes late. Within the first three weeks of the 2006—2007 school year, PISD held another ARDC meeting on August 25, 2006 to review and modify the May 18, 2006 IEP at the suggestion of S.H.'s teacher and speech pathologist, who recognized the need to place S.H. in a smaller, more restrictive educational environment.
Several additional ARDC meetings were held, with the last occurring on September 5, 2007. Ultimately, S.H.'s parents did not agree with the ARDC's recommendations and decided not to use any of the services PISD offered. The recommended services were "(1) in-home training for three hours per week for two weeks to be followed by one hour sessions per week through May 13, 2008,(2) parent training for three hours, and (3) occupational therapy for 840 minutes per year of direct services and 840 minutes per year of staff consultation." S.H.'s parents chose not to re-enroll S.H. at Beaty for the 2007—2008 school year.
On July 27, 2007, S.H. requested a due process hearing under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. S.H. alleged, inter alia, that he had not progressed during the 2006—2007 school year and that PISD improperly failed to provide ESY services from his third birthday on May 21, 2006, until the 2006—2007 school year began in August 2006.
A Special Education Hearing Officer ("SEHO") conducted a due process hearing on September 24 and 26, 2007, and October 25, 2007. The SEHO issued a decision on November 27, 2007 but later withdrew that decision and issued an amended decision on January 7, 2008. In the amended decision, the SEHO found that procedural defects in the composition of the May 18, 2006 ARDC meeting resulted in the denial of a free appropriate public education ("FAPE") to S.H. According to the SEHO, as a consequence of the deficiencies in the composition of the ARDC, S.H. did not receive ESY services during the summer of 2006 or appropriate placement at the beginning of the 2006—2007 school year. The SEHO concluded that the deficiencies in the May 18, 2006 IEP were corrected by the IEP developed at the August 25, 2006 ARDC meeting, but found that S.H. did not show educational progress until the first nine weeks of the 2006—2007 school year had passed. Consequently, the SEHO ordered PISD to reimburse S.H.'s parents for the educational expenses they incurred at WLC during the summer of 2006 and the first nine weeks of the 2006—2007 school year. Ultimately, the amount the SEHO awarded S.H. was $20,475.00, which reflected 315 hours of educational services at the rate of $65 per hour. The SEHO further concluded that S.H. made educational progress and received a FAPE at all other relevant periods of time.
S.H., by next friends A.H and E.H., filed a lawsuit against PISD on March 24, 2008, and PISD filed suit against A.H. and E.H. as next friends of S.H. on April 8, 2008. Both S.H. and PISD challenged various aspects of the SEHO's decision. S.H. also sought to recover attorneys' fees. The two actions were consolidated on May 30, 2008. The district court agreed with the SEHO that the May 18, 2006 ARDC was not composed of the required members and that this defect resulted in a denial of a FAPE for S.H. during the summer of 2006, as well as the first three weeks of the 2006—2007 school year. The court did not require a showing of actual progress (which the SEHO found was apparent after the first nine weeks of the 2006—2007 school year) to support the conclusion that S.H. received adequate educational opportunities under the IDEA, and thus the court reduced the compensation awarded to S.H.'s parents to $14,625.00.
Regarding S.H.'s education during the 2006—2007 school year, the district court applied 19 Texas Administrative Code § 89.1096(f) in rejecting S.H.'s challenge to the implementation of his IEPs. Section 89.1096(f) limits parents' ability to raise such challenges when they choose to enroll a child in public and private schools. The court concluded that the parents' decision to enroll S.H. in both WLC and Beaty made the due process hearing an inappropriate forum under Texas law for raising such a challenge.
With regard to S.H.'s motion for attorneys' fees, the district court determined that S.H. was a prevailing party but was nonetheless not entitled to an award of fees. S.H. had rejected PISD's offer to settle the case for $15,500.00, which was greater than the amount that S.H. was ultimately awarded. Thus, the court concluded that the attorneys' fees S.H. incurred after the settlement offer were not recoverable under 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(D)(i) and that none of the exceptions to the fee bar applied. The court further concluded that fees were not recoverable for work performed before PISD offered to settle because S.H. unreasonably protracted the final resolution of the controversy.
On appeal, S.H. contends that (1) the district court erroneously applied 19 Texas Administrative Code § 89.1096(f) in determining the amount of compensation to award S.H.; (2) the district court erred by reducing the amount of relief awarded by the SEHO; and (3) the district court erred in denying an award of attorneys' fees to S.H. PISD filed a cross-appeal asserting that (1) the district court's judgment awarding relief to S.H. should be reversed because all claims related to the May 18, 2006 ARDC meeting are barred by the statute of limitations; (2) the judgment awarding relief to S.H. should be reversed because there were no procedural defects regarding the composition of the May 18, 2006 ARDC; (3) the district court erred by granting S.H. relief because, even if there were a defect in the composition of the May 18, 2006 ARDC, it did not harm S.H.; and (4) S.H. failed to prove that he was entitled to ESY services for the summer of 2006, and thus no relief should have been awarded compensating S.H. for expenses incurred during this period. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
A state receiving federal assistance under the IDEA must assure that "[a] free appropriate public education is available to all children with disabilities residing in the State between the ages of 3 and 21." 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(A). "The free appropriate public education that a disabled student is entitled to receive under the IDEA must be tailored to his particular needs by means of an individual educational program . . . ." Cypress-Fairbanks Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Michael F., 118 F.3d 245, 247 (5th Cir. 1997) (internal quotation marks...
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