District Must Offer Placement Promptly After IEP — Delay Triggers Tuition Reimbursement

What Happened

Student was an 11-year-old boy eligible for special education due to severe dyslexia, significant processing deficits, and attention difficulties (Other Health Impaired). His parents had previously reached a settlement agreement with the District in early 2014 that funded his private placement at Banyan Tree Foundations Academy through December 19, 2014, pending a triennial IEP meeting. The settlement specified that if the District failed to timely offer a placement, Parents could seek full reimbursement for private school costs beyond that date. The District held the triennial IEP meeting on December 15, 2014 — four days before the deadline — but the team ran out of time and did not discuss placement, related services, or goals. No placement was offered at that meeting or at a follow-up meeting on January 23, 2015. It was not until April 26, 2015 — more than four months later — that the District formally offered Student a placement at Sierra Academy, a non-public school.

During that four-month gap, Student had no publicly funded school to attend. His parents kept him enrolled at Banyan Tree, which agreed to defer billing while the dispute was resolved. Parents ultimately filed for due process, raising a wide range of claims including the placement delay, predetermination, denial of vision therapy, insufficient speech-language and occupational therapy, and failure to have a Sierra representative at a May 2015 IEP meeting. The District cross-filed, arguing its IEP offers provided a FAPE and that the settlement agreement and Parents' litigation conduct should limit any remedy.

What the ALJ Found

The ALJ ruled in favor of Student on one key issue: the District's four-month delay in offering any specific non-public school placement was a denial of FAPE. Once the IEP team agreed at the January 23, 2015 meeting that Student needed a non-public school, the District was obligated to identify and offer one promptly. It failed to do so until late April 2015. During that entire period, Student was entitled to a free public education that the District simply did not provide.

However, the ALJ rejected the majority of Student's other claims. The ALJ found no predetermination — the District did not have Sierra in mind before the IEP process concluded, and Parents actively participated in every meeting. The ALJ found it was not a procedural violation for the District to communicate its placement offer through attorney correspondence rather than at an IEP meeting. The absence of a Sierra representative at the May 2015 meeting was a technical violation, but not a denial of FAPE because Parents had already toured the school and made up their minds to reject it. The ALJ also rejected the vision therapy claims, finding that District's comprehensive triennial assessments had adequately evaluated Student's visual processing needs, and that Student had not demonstrated meaningful benefit from over a year of private vision therapy. Claims about insufficient speech-language and occupational therapy were denied because Student presented no expert evidence to counter the District's therapists' recommendations. Requests for NewBridge tuition reimbursement and compensatory education for related services were also denied.

What Was Ordered

1. The District must reimburse Parents $27,030 in Banyan Tree tuition for the period January 5, 2015 through June 10, 2015, paid directly to Banyan Tree within 45 days.
2. The District must reimburse Parents $1,604.67 in transportation costs for driving Student to and from Banyan Tree during that same period, within 45 days.
3. The District's May 20, 2015 IEP offer of placement at Sierra Academy was found to provide Student a FAPE.
4. All other relief requested by either party was denied.

Why This Matters for Parents

1. A district cannot leave a student without a placement after an IEP meeting ends without one. When the December 2014 IEP meeting ran out of time and no placement was offered, the clock started ticking. Four months of inaction cost the District over $28,000 in reimbursement. If your district concludes an IEP meeting without offering a placement, document it immediately and demand a prompt follow-up meeting.

2. Settlement agreements that limit "stay put" can leave your child in a funding gap — plan ahead. This family's settlement specified that a District special day class would be stay put if they rejected the IEP. But because no IEP was ever offered, there was no stay put to trigger. Be very careful when signing agreements that waive standard stay-put rights, and ensure any settlement specifies what happens if the district misses its own deadlines.

3. To win on claims like vision therapy or inadequate related services, you must present your own expert evidence. The ALJ repeatedly noted that Student provided no occupational therapist, speech-language pathologist, or independent expert to counter the District's witnesses. Bringing an issue to hearing without supporting expert testimony is not enough — you need evidence, not just argument.

4. Districts are not required to offer your preferred private school — only an appropriate one. Parents wanted NewBridge; the District offered Sierra. Student's own attorneys stipulated that Sierra was appropriate. Because the District's offer met the legal standard, Parents were responsible for NewBridge costs after the District made its FAPE offer. If you believe your child needs a specific school, gather evidence showing why the district's proposed school cannot provide a FAPE — not just that your preferred school is better.