District Must Pay Full Transportation Costs When Parents Can No Longer Drive

What Happened

Student was a student with a specific learning disability and a speech and language impairment who attended Bayhill High School, a nonpublic school in Oakland. Her placement there had been established through a prior settlement agreement with West Contra Costa Unified School District, which also required the district to reimburse the family for one round trip per day of transportation. Because Student did not have a driver's license, her mother and sister drove her to and from school each day — which required them to make two separate round trips (one to drop her off in the morning and one to pick her up in the afternoon).

At an IEP meeting on March 5, 2014, Student's attorney told the district that the family could no longer keep providing transportation because of the economic hardship it caused — they were missing work to do it. The family asked the district to take over transportation directly. The IEP team discussed options like public transit and carpooling but ruled them out. Rather than arranging district transportation, West Contra Costa offered to keep reimbursing the family for just one round trip per day, the same amount set in the old settlement agreement. The family had no choice but to keep driving Student themselves, making two round trips every day, for the rest of that school year, the summer extended school year, and the entire 2014-2015 school year until Student graduated in June 2015.

What the District Did Wrong

Refusing to provide transportation when the family said they could no longer do it. Under special education law, transportation is a "related service" that must be provided at no cost to the family if a student needs it to benefit from their education. Before March 5, 2014, the family had agreed to provide transportation in exchange for mileage reimbursement. But once they said that arrangement was no longer workable, the district was legally required to step in — either by arranging a district bus or a private transportation provider. Instead, it did nothing different.

Reimbursing for only half the actual miles driven. Even setting aside the failure to arrange direct transportation, the district's reimbursement offer was inadequate. The family had to make two round trips every school day (68 miles total), but the district only paid for one (34 miles). The ALJ found this shortfall — amounting to thousands of dollars over two school years — was itself a denial of a free appropriate public education. A child's education is not truly "free" if the family is left to absorb thousands of dollars in transportation costs.

The prior settlement agreement did not lock in the one-round-trip limit forever. The district argued it was just following the terms of the 2013 settlement agreement. The ALJ rejected this, finding that the settlement only governed the IEP issued in December 2013. Once the March 5, 2014 annual IEP rolled around, the IEP team was required to evaluate Student's transportation needs fresh — and it could not hide behind a year-old agreement to avoid doing so.

The ALJ ruled in the district's favor on two other issues. On the question of mileage reimbursement before March 5, 2014, OAH found it had no authority to enforce the terms of a settlement agreement — that is handled through a different complaint process with the California Department of Education. And on the three independent educational evaluations that Student's attorney had requested, the ALJ found the district actually approved the request in writing, but Student and her family never followed up to schedule the evaluations, so the claim was denied.

What Was Ordered

1. West Contra Costa Unified School District must pay Student $4,972.76 within 45 days of the decision. This represents reimbursement for one additional round trip per day of attendance at Bayhill from March 6, 2014, through June 3, 2015 (covering the rest of the 2013-2014 school year, the extended school year, and the full 2014-2015 school year), calculated at the IRS mileage rate.
2. All other requests for relief — including the independent educational evaluations and reimbursement before March 5, 2014 — were denied.

Why This Matters for Parents

1. Tell the district in writing when you can no longer provide transportation. This case turned on the moment the family formally asked the district to take over transportation at the IEP meeting. That request — made on the record — triggered the district's legal obligation. If your family is struggling to provide transportation, raise it at an IEP meeting and make sure it is documented in the meeting notes.

2. Reimbursement for only part of your actual driving costs can itself be a FAPE violation. If the district offers mileage reimbursement but the amount doesn't cover what you actually have to drive, that gap matters legally. Keep records of every trip you make and the exact mileage, and push back if the offer doesn't match reality.

3. A settlement agreement doesn't freeze your child's IEP forever. Districts sometimes act as if terms from a prior settlement are permanently locked in. As this case shows, each annual IEP is a fresh opportunity to address your child's current needs — including transportation — and the IEP team must evaluate those needs on their own terms, not just rubber-stamp an old agreement.

4. Follow up on every request you make, including independent evaluations. The student's IEE claim was lost entirely because no one — not the family and not even the attorney — followed up after the district approved the request. If you ask for something and the district agrees to provide it, put a reminder on your calendar and follow up in writing. Don't assume silence means the process is moving forward.