Walker v. District of Columbia

• Decision Date: 29 June 2001
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. 96-1267(PLF).,CIV.A. 96-1267(PLF).
• Citation: 157 F.Supp.2d 11
• Parties: Phillip WALKER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

157 F.Supp.2d 11

Phillip WALKER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al., Defendants.

No. CIV.A. 96-1267(PLF).

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

June 29, 2001.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Paul S. Dalton, William Houston, Dalton & Dalton, Alexandria, VA, for Plaintiffs.

Melvin W. Bolden, Jr., Assist. Corp. Counsel, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

OPINION, FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

PAUL L. FRIEDMAN, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Phillip Walker and Norma Jackson brought this action for compensatory damages against the District of Columbia, claiming that the District of Columbia Public Schools ("DCPS") failed to provide Phillip with the special education to which he was entitled under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.¹ Plaintiffs argue that DCPS denied Phillip a free appropriate public education by failing to discover Phillip's disability in a timely manner upon his entry into the school system in 1986, misdiagnosing Phillip in 1991 as mildly mentally retarded (instead of learning disabled), failing to conduct a timely tri-annual evaluation, failing to provide Phillip with an appropriate individual education plan ("IEP") for the 1994-95 and 1995-96 school years, failing to provide Phillip with a proper placement from 1991 to 1996, failing to hold a due process hearing in a timely manner, and failing to provide the transportation services required by the IDEA. Defendants contend that Phillip was not misdiagnosed, that his IEPs and placements were appropriate, and that if anything adversely affected Phillip's educational opportunities it was a dysfunctional home life and extensive absenteeism.

Plaintiffs initially sought compensatory and punitive damages for the District's alleged transgressions under the IDEA; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794; the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983; and the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12131. Prior to trial, the Court concluded that although damages were not available to plaintiffs under the IDEA itself, compensatory damages could still be pursued by maintaining a Section 1983 claim to vindicate rights under the IDEA. See Walker v. District of Columbia, 969 F.Supp. 794, 795 (D.D.C.1997). The Court also found that compensatory damages could be sought under the Rehabilitation Act. Id. at 797-98. The Court determined, however, that under no set of facts could plaintiffs obtain punitive damages, since such damages are not available against the District of Columbia as a matter of law. Id. at 798.²

The case was tried before the Court without a jury over a period of seven days in May and September 2000. At trial, plaintiffs Phillip Walker and Norma Jackson testified on their own behalf. Plaintiffs also called as witnesses Phillip's mother, Rosella Walker; five individuals employed by DCPS who testified about the customs, policies and practices of DCPS, Michael Snipes, Jeff Myers, Dr. Robert Burch, Elizabeth White, and Arlene King-Berry; two administrators at private schools who testified about the customs, policies and practices of DCPS, Sharon Raimo and Gail Hilliard-Nelson (who also was Phillip's principal for a year); an expert in psychology, Dr. Raphael Minsky; an expert in economics, Dr. Richard Lurito; an expert in special education, Dr. Raymond Holmes; and an expert in clinical psychology, Dr. Macletus Dejoie-Smith.

Defendants called as witnesses four of Phillip's former teachers, Carol Bennett, Theresa Gasaway, Lucy Herndon and Melvin Thomas; two school psychologists who had evaluated Phillip, Dr. Frank Grant and Dr. Carole Barksdale; Phillip's child advocate and the advocate's supervisor, Blondell Washington and Mary Lou Tietz; an expert in clinical psychology, Dr. Richard Ruth; an expert in child neurology, Dr. Miryam Davis; an expert in clinical social work, Janet Burton; an expert in economics, Dr. Charles Betsey; and an individual who served as DCPS's custodian of records, Michael Snipes. After carefully considering the testimony of the witnesses, the evidence introduced at trial, and the post-trial written arguments of counsel, the Court concludes that plaintiffs have proven none of their claims by a preponderance of the evidence and it therefore will enter judgment for the defendants.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT REGARDING PHILLIP WALKER'S EDUCATION

Upon a careful consideration and evaluation of the testimony of all the witnesses and the documentary evidence admitted at trial, and making credibility findings as necessary and appropriate to resolve any material discrepancies in the testimony, the Court makes the following findings of fact:

A. John Tyler School (Dec.1986-1988)

1986-87 School Year

1. Phillip Walker enrolled at the John Tyler School in the District of Columbia Public School System in the Fall of 1986, at age 6. DEX 3A; DEX 3C.³ Phillip's mother testified that she attempted to enroll Phillip at John Tyler in the Fall of 1985, but there is no corroborative testimony or evidence of such an attempt. R. Walker Tr. 326-28. Ms. Walker testified that she decided to wait until 1986 to enroll Phillip because an individual at John Tyler told her in 1985 that the classes were overcrowded, that Phillip would be learning nothing more than what Ms. Walker was already teaching Phillip at home, and that Phillip would not be harmed educationally if she chose to wait a year to enroll him. R. Walker Tr. 327-28. Plaintiffs offered no testimony or evidence to support Ms. Walker's assertion that she attempted to enroll Phillip in 1985 or that this conversation ever took place.

2. For the 1986-87 school year, Phillip was assigned to Ms. C. Sloane's pre-kindergarten class. Bennett Tr. 57-58; DEX 3A; DEX 3C. Ms. Walker, however, insisted that Phillip started the 1986-87 school year not in pre-kindergarten but in the first grade. R. Walker Tr. 328-29. She testified that Phillip had trouble keeping up in the first grade class and that his teacher demoted him to the pre-kindergarten class in the middle of the year. R. Walker Tr. 329-30, 332-33. At another point, Ms. Walker testified that Phillip was in the second grade during the 1986-87 school year. R. Walker Tr. 340-41. Ms. Walker said that she could not remember any of the teachers' names during this period or exactly when the demotion took place. R. Walker Tr. 337-39, 341. Plaintiffs offered no corroborative evidence or testimony to support Ms. Walker's uncertain and contradictory assertions. By all accounts other than Ms. Walker's, Phillip spent the full 1986-87 school year enrolled in Ms. C. Sloan's pre-kindergarten class, and the Court finds this as a fact.

3. Ms. Walker also testified that she spoke with one of Phillip's teachers, and perhaps his principal, during the 1986-87 school year about Phillip's difficulty in reading and his need for special education. R. Walker Tr. 330-34. Ms. Walker testified that the teacher told her that Phillip might need special education. R. Walker Tr. 331. Again, other than Ms. Walker's testimony, nothing was offered by the plaintiffs in support of this assertion. Based on the untrustworthiness and lack of clarity of Ms. Walker's testimony on this point, the Court cannot find that such a conversation ever occurred.

4. According to Phillip's 1986-87 Early Childhood Progress Report, Phillip was absent 65 days and tardy 10 days over the course of the 1986-87 school year. DEX 3A. The Progress Report also contains the comment, "Please make an appointment for a conference," and indicates that Phillip should be promoted to kindergarten for the 1987-88 school year. DEX 3A.

5. Ms. Walker and Phillip both testified that Phillip really wasn't absent that often, and that when he was it was almost always related to Phillip's asthma. R. Walker Tr. 338-40, 342; P. Walker Tr. 21-22. Defendants elicited testimony, however, that suggests several other reasons for Phillip's excessive absenteeism during this time period and in subsequent years, including the death of Phillip's grandparents, with whom he and his mother resided and who played major supporting roles in Phillip's early upbringing; Ms. Walker's depression and drug addiction; frequent moves, residing at up to seven different locations between 1986 and 1994, including homeless shelters and transitional housing; and the time Ms. Walker spent in drug rehabilitation programs which forced Phillip to live with out-of-state relatives who could not transport Phillip to school. Burton Tr. 79-91.

1987-88 School Year

6. Carol Bennett testified that for the 1987-88 school year, Phillip was assigned to her kindergarten class at John Tyler School. Bennett Tr. 59; DEX 3B; DEX 3C. Ms. Walker, however, gave testimony that conflicted with Ms. Bennett's testimony and Phillip's records from John Tyler, asserting that Phillip went directly from pre-kindergarten in 1986-87 to the second grade in 1987-88. R. Walker Tr. 333. At another point, Ms. Walker insisted that Phillip attended Garrison Elementary, not John Tyler, during the 1987-88 school year. R. Walker Tr. 341. Phillip's testimony conflicted with his mother's; he testified that he attended John Tyler and had Ms. Bennett as a teacher, although he couldn't remember exactly when he attended or for how long. P. Walker Tr. 8-9. The testimony of Phillip and the testimony and exhibits offered by the defendants weigh heavily against Ms. Walker's uncertain and unreliable recollection of the events of the 1987-88 school year. The Court credits Ms. Bennett's testimony and finds that Phillip was in her kindergarten class at John Tyler during the 1987-88 school year.

7. According to his 1987-88 Early Childhood Progress Report, Phillip was absent 95½ days and tardy seven days over the course of the 1987-88 school year. Bennett Tr. 59; DEX 3B. In a comment to the Progress Report, Ms. Bennett encouraged Ms. Walker to participate in Phillip's education and requested that she meet with the...