District's Exit Assessment Was Flawed, But Parent Claims Mostly Failed — ADHD Student Gets IEE and Tutoring

A Brea Olinda student with ADHD was improperly exited from special education based on a psychoeducational assessment the ALJ found inadequate — it failed to formally assess pragmatic language skills and did not fully account for the student's severe homework struggles due to medication side effects. The district was blocked from exiting the student, and the student was awarded independent evaluations and compensatory tutoring. However, the parent's claims of predetermination, inadequate prior written notice, and failure to address needs during the 2007-2008 school year were all denied.

What Happened

Student is a sixth-grade boy with ADHD who had been receiving special education services under the "Other Health Impaired" (OHI) category since first grade. The district had consistently placed him in general education with occupational therapy (OT) as his primary related service. In November 2008, the IEP team — including Parents — agreed that the district would conduct a psychoeducational assessment to determine whether Student still qualified for special education. If he did not qualify, the team planned to exit him and provide accommodations under a Section 504 plan instead. Parents signed consent for the assessment.

The district completed the assessment in January 2009 and concluded that Student's ADHD no longer adversely affected his ability to access the curriculum — pointing to his good grades, high standardized test scores, and his teacher's positive reports. The district convened an exit IEP meeting on January 15, 2009, and proposed to remove Student from special education entirely. Parents disagreed with the conclusion and refused to consent. The district then filed for due process to authorize the exit, and Parents filed their own complaint raising multiple issues about the adequacy of the assessment and the district's failure to address Student's needs over two school years.

What the ALJ Found

The ALJ found the district's assessment flawed in two important ways, blocking the exit from special education. First, the district failed to formally assess Student's pragmatic language and social skills, even though parents had provided information — including a prior private evaluation from Circle of Friends — documenting significant difficulties in those areas. The district's school psychologist only informally observed Student on the playground and in class, without conducting any standardized speech-language testing. Second, the assessment failed to adequately account for Student's severe difficulty completing homework. Because Student had to remove his ADHD medication patch after school to be able to eat and sleep, his ability to focus collapsed in the evening hours. Homework that should have taken an hour could take four hours — yet the assessment relied heavily on passing classroom grades without noting that the teacher had accommodated the homework struggles. The district could not use this flawed assessment as a basis for exiting Student from special education.

However, the ALJ rejected most of the parent's other claims. Parents' claim that the district failed to address Student's needs during the 2007-2008 school year failed because Parents had themselves refused the district's offer of a full assessment at the March 2008 IEP meeting. Without an assessment, the district had no basis to identify needs. The predetermination claim also failed — the ALJ found that Parents attended the IEP meeting, voiced their concerns, and were heard, even if the team ultimately disagreed with them. The prior written notice claim failed because the IEP document and assessment report together satisfied the written notice requirements. The teacher absence claims (Ms. Carlberg was absent from both IEP meetings) failed because the law does not require the student's current teacher to be present, only a general education teacher, and the teacher's input was relayed by the school psychologist.

What Was Ordered

The district's request to exit Student from special education was denied.
Student is entitled to an independent psychoeducational assessment at public expense, selected by Parents, evaluating the full impact of ADHD on Student's academic, social, and emotional status.
Student is entitled to an independent speech and language assessment at public expense, selected by Parents, with a formal evaluation of pragmatic language skills.
Each independent assessor must include specific service recommendations in their reports.
The district must pay any professional fees for the independent assessors to present their findings at an IEP meeting.
The district must provide Student with a one-to-one trained tutor (a district employee) for 7.5 hours per week to assist with homework at school — including organizational and study skills instruction — through the end of the 2009-2010 school year, excluding school vacations.

Why This Matters for Parents

Passing grades do not automatically mean a student no longer needs special education. The ALJ found that Student's acceptable grades were partly the result of his teacher quietly accommodating his homework struggles. When a district uses grades as evidence that a student is fine, parents should ask whether those grades reflect genuine independent performance or informal accommodations that may disappear with a different teacher.
A district must formally assess every area of suspected disability — informal observation is not enough. Because parents had previously provided a private evaluation documenting pragmatic language deficits, the district was on notice that this was a suspected area of disability. Watching a student on the playground is not a substitute for standardized speech-language testing. If you have raised a concern in writing, the district must address it with a real assessment tool.
Medication side effects that affect schoolwork are educationally relevant and must be factored into any assessment. The ALJ found it significant that the district knew Student removed his ADHD patch each evening and knew Parents reported severe homework difficulties, yet the assessment did not explore whether medication-off periods were causing the problems. When your child's medication schedule affects their ability to do schoolwork, document it in writing and make sure it is part of any evaluation.
If you refuse a district's offer to assess your child, you may lose the right to complain about that school year later. Parents declined the district's offer of a full assessment at the 2008 IEP meeting. The ALJ held that this meant the district had no obligation to identify or address Student's needs during that school year. Accepting an assessment offer does not mean you agree with what the district finds — you can always challenge the results afterward with an independent evaluation.

What Happened

What the ALJ Found

What Was Ordered

The district's request to exit Student from special education was denied.
Student is entitled to an independent psychoeducational assessment at public expense, selected by Parents, evaluating the full impact of ADHD on Student's academic, social, and emotional status.
Student is entitled to an independent speech and language assessment at public expense, selected by Parents, with a formal evaluation of pragmatic language skills.
Each independent assessor must include specific service recommendations in their reports.
The district must pay any professional fees for the independent assessors to present their findings at an IEP meeting.
The district must provide Student with a one-to-one trained tutor (a district employee) for 7.5 hours per week to assist with homework at school — including organizational and study skills instruction — through the end of the 2009-2010 school year, excluding school vacations.

Why This Matters for Parents

Passing grades do not automatically mean a student no longer needs special education. The ALJ found that Student's acceptable grades were partly the result of his teacher quietly accommodating his homework struggles. When a district uses grades as evidence that a student is fine, parents should ask whether those grades reflect genuine independent performance or informal accommodations that may disappear with a different teacher.
A district must formally assess every area of suspected disability — informal observation is not enough. Because parents had previously provided a private evaluation documenting pragmatic language deficits, the district was on notice that this was a suspected area of disability. Watching a student on the playground is not a substitute for standardized speech-language testing. If you have raised a concern in writing, the district must address it with a real assessment tool.
Medication side effects that affect schoolwork are educationally relevant and must be factored into any assessment. The ALJ found it significant that the district knew Student removed his ADHD patch each evening and knew Parents reported severe homework difficulties, yet the assessment did not explore whether medication-off periods were causing the problems. When your child's medication schedule affects their ability to do schoolwork, document it in writing and make sure it is part of any evaluation.
If you refuse a district's offer to assess your child, you may lose the right to complain about that school year later. Parents declined the district's offer of a full assessment at the 2008 IEP meeting. The ALJ held that this meant the district had no obligation to identify or address Student's needs during that school year. Accepting an assessment offer does not mean you agree with what the district finds — you can always challenge the results afterward with an independent evaluation.