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FINDINGS OF FACT AND DECISION
Case Number: 129911
Student’s Name:
Date of Birth:
District: 21
Hearing Requested By: Parent
Date of Hearing: January 18, 2011
Hearing Officer: Barbara J. Edenstein, Esq.
NAMES AND TITLES OF PERSONS WHO APPEARED JANUARY 18, 2011
For the Student:
Parents
For the Department of Education:
Chairperson Designee for CSE 7 — DOE
This is New York City case #129911. On January 18, 2011, I conducted an impartial hearing pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) 2004, 20 U.S.C. Section 1415(f)(3), regarding the special education of at the New York City Department of Education Impartial Hearing Office at 131 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201. The New York City Department of Education was represented by , , chairperson designee for CSE 7, and the appeared pro se.
A list of witnesses who testified and documents received into evidence is attached to this decision.
ISSUE
The parties stipulated to the fact that the sole issue before me is whether the Department of Education is providing appropriate education for the 2010 – 2011 school year. (Tr. 15)
THE PARENTS’ POSITION
The parents allege that the Department of Education failed to provide appropriate bus transportation for their son from September 2010 to date. They request a new route. Furthermore, they request reimbursement of some of their own expenses.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S POSITION
The Department of Education concedes that transportation has been “inconsistent,” and that “changes did need to be made.” (Tr. 16-7)
FINDINGS OF FACT
The parties stipulated to the following facts: is a year old student with a disability that has been classified as “ ” (“ ”). (Tr. 14) The parents unilaterally placed him at ,a school where he is in the grade. (Tr. 14-5)
Last school year, any establishing appropriate were resolved by October or November. (Tr. 25-6) This school year, problems still persist even in January. The has had a number of communications with the Department of Education about the frequent changes in this Student’s bus transportation. (Ex. B)
The school starts at and the gets there at . The conceded that the school does not actually start until (Tr. 29-30) I find that the gets to his school on time in the morning.
The problems involve afternoon to his and on when the school closes early. (Tr. 8, 9, 17) Currently, the Student has no afternoon service. (Tr. 8-9) Apparently, another student who is well outside the general must be switched to another route so that will be picked up at his school and returned in a timely manner.
The Department of Education representative admitted that “ should be ‘ ’ for the afternoon. What that means is that it should be a direct route so that the child should not have many stops between being picked up at school and being off at .” (Tr. 19)
At the impartial hearing, the requested reimbursement for the and that she has used for this school year. (Tr. 25, 28-9) She used a car service once when there was a and the was delayed and there was another time. (Tr. 31)
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The established, and the Department of Education conceded, that there were inconsistencies in the provision of to this school year. Although the morning bus service is sufficient, there is no current in the afternoons and the services is not provided in a timely manner.
The requests reimbursement of her transportation expenses.
(ii) Subject matter of the impartial due process hearing. The party requesting the due process hearing shall not be allowed to raise issues at the impartial due process hearing that were not raised in the notice filed under subdivision (i) of this section, unless the other party agrees otherwise.
New York State Commissioner of Education regulation §200.5(j)(ii)
In the instant case, I find that the did raise this issue in her impartial hearing complaint letter. (Ex. A at 2)
The IDEA requires that the parents give the school district notice of their intent to obtain private services and seek reimbursement. Upon review of the hearing record, I find that the parents failed to provide the district with the notice required by the IDEA of their intent to provide Tor with private car service or other private transportation. (See 20 U.S.C. §1412[a][10][C][iii][I]; 34 C.F.R. § 300.148[d][1]; Application for Review, State Review Office (“SRO”) Appeal No. 10-099). Furthermore, the parents did not provide any documentary evidence or particulars of any of their expenses.
I find that the parents are not entitled to reimbursement of any of their transportation expenses.
SUMMARY AND ORDER
I find that the Department of Education has not provided appropriate for for the 2010 – 2011 school year.
I hereby order the Department of Education to “ ” from his school to his in the afternoons and to arrange to do so within a reasonable time on Friday afternoons when the private school closes early.
Dated: January 27, 2011
BARBARA J. EBENSTEIN, ESQ.
Impartial Hearing Officer
BE:dl
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE
Within 35 days of the date of this decision, the parent and/or the New York City Department of Education has a right to appeal the decision to the State Review Officer of the New York State Education Department under Section 4404 of the Education Law and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
“The notice of intention to seek review shall be served upon the school district not less than 10 days before service of a copy of the petition for review upon such school district, and within 25 days from the date of the decision sought to be reviewed. The petition for review shall be served upon the school district within 35 days from the date of the decision sought to be reviewed. If the decision has been served by mail upon petitioner, the date of mailing and the four days subsequent thereto shall be excluded in computing the 25- or 35-day period.”
(8NYCRR279.2[b]) Failure to file the notice of intention to seek review is a waiver of the right to appeal this decision.
Directions and sample forms for filing an appeal are included with this decision. Directions and forms can also be found in the Office of State Review website: www.sro.nysed.gov/appeals.htm.
DOCUMENTATION ENTERED INTO THE RECORD ON JANUARY 18, 2011
PARENT
A Hearing Request Letter, dated 10/12/10, 2 pages
B Student, dated 10/5/10, 10/12/10, 11/15/10 and 12/30/10, 4 pages
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
None