July 23, 2009

An administrative law judge ruled in favor of Moreno Valley Unified School District in a special education case handled by Jack B. Clarke, Jr. of Best Best & Krieger.

In a due process request filed by the student last December, a student accused the district of failing to provide him a free appropriate public education, known as FAPE, for his special education needs. The district filed its own due process request a month later.

The district alleged that its individual education plan issued on Nov. 13 had provided a FAPE. The district further claimed that it should be allowed to conduct its own medical assessment of the student, over the parents’ objection, if the parents wanted the district to provide special education and related services to the student.

After a 14-day hearing that spanned over three months, the judge issued her decision on July 14, ruling entirely in favor of Clarke's arguments. She denied all of the student’s claims for relief, and said the district may obtain a medical assessment of the student.