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What happens in a due process hearing?  To answer your questions about due process hearings and special education
cases, we wrote Anatomy
of a Special Education Case. This article tells the story of Stefan
Jaynes, a young child with autism. As you read this article, you will
learn how Stefan's case unfolded, from the due process hearing to
the final decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Anatomy of a Special Education Case includes links to all decisions in Stefan's case (due process, review, federal court, court of appeals) and the complaint filed in federal court by Pete Wright, the attorney who represented Stefan. NOTE: These decisions are in pdf format. To read these decisions, you must have Adobe PDF Reader software loaded in your computer. (You can download Adobe PDF Reader software free from the Adobe site.) Background of the Case Stefan
Jaynes was diagnosed with autism soon after his second birthday. Stefan's
pediatric neurologist advised his parents to get early intervention
services through their local school district. But when Brian and Julianna
Jaynes went to the school and requested early intervention services
for Stefan, they ran into a wall of resistance.
Eventually,
the school developed an IEP for Stefan – but they did not involve
the parents in the IEP process. After developing this IEP, the school
district failed to implement the IEP for several months. During these
months, the parents continued to request services for Stefan. These
delays had tragic consequences for Stefan.
Although
Stefan had autism and needed intensive early intervention services,
the school district placed him in a typical preschool program for
about 12 hours a week. Because this program was not designed to meet
Stefan’s unique needs as a child with autism, the child regressed.
When
the parents realized that Stefan was regressing, they withdrew him
from the preschool program and began an intensive home-based ABA/Lovaas
program. In this home-based ABA program, trained tutors worked one-on-one
with Stefan for several hours a day. Later, the parents learned that
they had a right to a due process hearing.
Due Process Hearing After
Brian and Julianna retained Pete Wright, they
requested a due process hearing to resolve issues about their son's
special education.
Their due process hearing was held on December 9 and December 10, 1998. On June 11, 1999, the Hearing Officer issued a decision in favor of Stefan and his parents. He awarded the parents $117,979.78 to reimburse them for the cost of their son's ABA program. The Hearing Officer found that Stefan was damaged by the acts and omissions of the public school staff: "The mishandling of this case by Newport News Public Schools is inexcusable and tragic." Read the Hearing Officer’s decision at: https://www.wrightslaw.com/virginia/jaynes_newportnews_dp.pdf
(File size: 682kb)
When you read the Hearing Officer's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, you will learn about tuition reimbursement, legal requirements for the continuum of alternative placements, the requirement to involve the child's parents in the IEP process, appropriate IEP goals and objectives, “loss of educational opportunity,” and damages. Review Officer's Decision The
next chapter began when the State Review Officer affirmed the Hearing
Officer's decision -- but reduced the award of reimbursement by half.
The
State Review Officer found it "obvious" that school personnel "predetermined
that Stefan be placed in a self-contained classroom and receive the
PEEP program." He found that the preschool program was "little more
than a nursery school" and that the school personnel showed "woeful
disregard" of Stefan's needs as a child with autism.
The
Review Officer also found that the school's IEP was deficient and
that the school made no attempt to involve Stefan's parents in developing
his IEP. Why did the Review Officer reduce the award? You will have
to read the Review
Officer's decision to find out.
https://www.wrightslaw.com/virginia/jaynes_newportnews_review.pdf (File: 290 kb) School
District Appeals to Federal Court
On December 6, 1999, the case was appealed to U. S. District Court. You can read the Complaint filed in Stefan's case: https://www.wrightslaw.com/virginia/jaynes_newportnews_complaint.pdf (File size: 30 kb) Judge
Awards Parents $103,000
On September 7, 2000, U. S. District Court Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. issued a favorable decision in Stefan’s case and awarded the parents $103,000. He found that the Newport News IEPs contained many deficiencies and that the district unilaterally “eliminated numerous programs from the IEP [and] provided no explanation or justification for striking these programs.”He
discussed the importance of procedural safeguards. He found that the
district failed to notify the parents of their rights including the
right to a due process hearing. He discussed the need for “meaningful
parental participation in the formulation and implementation of the
IEP . . .”
He
ordered the school district to reimburse Stefan’s parents for his
educational expenses from July 1, 1995 to the present. Judge
Morgan's decision is at: School District Appeals to Fourth Circuit Newport
News appealed Judge Morgan's decision to the United States Court
of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Update
on Stefan Pete Wright represented Stefan Jaynes in this case. Pete
also represented Shannon Carter before the U. S. Court of Appeals
for the Fourth Circuit and the U. S. Supreme Court in Florence
County School District Four v. Shannon Carter, and received
a unanimous decision in Shannon’s favor. Pete also represented Danny Lawyer in Lawyer v. Chesterfield Sch. Bd., Joe James in James v. Upper Arlington Sch. Bd, and James Brody in Brody v. Dare County Sch. Bd. Pete
and Pam Wright are co-authors of the best-selling law book, Wrightslaw:
Special Education Law and the parent advocacy book, Wrightslaw:
From Emotions to Advocacy (both books published by Harbor House
Law Press) Revised: 02/21/07
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