R. B. v. Hawaii Department of Education, No. 14-15895 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court's judgment in favor of DOE in a suit filed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Plaintiff, the parent of J.B., filed suit individually and on behalf of J.B., challenging J.B.'s individualized education plan (IEP). The panel held that the case was not moot; DOE violated the IDEA by failing to address transition services in the proposed IEP; DOE violated the IDEA by failing to specify in the IEP the Least Restrictive Environment during the regular and extended school year, and the IEP did not detail the anticipated frequency, location, and duration of the proposed specialized instruction in J.B.'s Science and Social Studies activities; nothing in 20 U.S.C. 1414(d) indicates that an IEP must specify the qualifications or training of service providers nor was it established in the record that DOE agreed to provide such an aide at the IEP meeting; and DOE violated the IDEA by failing to specify Applied Behavioral Analysis as a methodology in the IEP.
Court Description: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s judgment in favor of the Hawaii Department of Education in an action brought under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by a parent, individually and on behalf of his child, a student receiving special education and related services. Plaintiff objected to an individualized education plan for the student’s transition from a private school into public kindergarten. The panel held that the case was not moot because it could still grant effectual relief. On the merits, reversing in part, the panel held that transition services under the IDEA are not limited to students exiting the public school system. Rather, where transition services become necessary for disabled children to be educated and participate in new academic environments, these services must be included in individualized education programs in order to satisfy the IDEA’s “supplementary aids and services” requirement. The panel held that the Department of Education violated the IDEA by failing to address transition services in the proposed IEP. The panel held that the Department of Education also violated the IDEA by failing to specify in the IEP the least restrictive environment during the regular and extended R.E.B. V. STATE OF HAWAII DEP’T OF EDUC. 3 school year. This infringed the parent’s opportunity to participate in the IEP process and was therefore a denial of a free appropriate public education. Affirming in part, the panel held that the IEP was not required to specify the qualifications of a one-on-one aide. Finally, the panel held that the Department of Education violated the IDEA by failing to specify Applied Behavioral Analysis as a teaching methodology in the IEP because this methodology was integral to the student’s education. The panel remanded the case to the district court for determination of the proper remedy. Dissenting in part, Judge Bea agreed that the case was not moot, and he agreed with the portions of the majority opinion affirming the district court. Dissenting from the holdings that found error, Judge Bea wrote that the Department of Education responded to the plaintiff’s concerns about the student’s transition, did not violate the IDEA’s least restrictive environment requirement, and was not required to specify the particular teaching methodology. 4 R.E.B. V. STATE OF HAWAII DEP’T OF EDUC.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on April 3, 2018.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on May 9, 2019.
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