The dispute resolution mechanisms available to parents of students with disabilities sometimes work well. When both parties are willing to listen, to compromise, and to seek to restore trust, things can go well. This can lead to a stronger relationship between the school and the parents, and better outcomes for the student. But it doesn’t always go well.

In a case from New York, the first level hearing officer held five pre-hearing conferences (PHC) over six months and then conducted a seven-day hearing that stretched out over another six months. It then took the hearing officer another two months to craft a one-page decision. The first PHC was in December 2019. The decision was issued fourteen months later in February, 2021. And then the State Review Officer (NY has a two-tier system) had to conduct a thorough review of the entire record because the original ruling was “worthy of little deference.”

When it takes that much legal wrangling to reach a decision it doesn’t much matter who “won.” No one did. It’s L.J.B. v. North Rockland Central School District, decided by the federal court for the Southern District of New York83 IDELR 13 (S.D.N.Y. 2023)

DAWG BONE: JUST FOR THE RECORD, THE COURT RULED IN FAVOR OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.

Got a question or comment for the Dawg? Let me hear from you at jwalsh@wabsa.com.

Tomorrow: I do not think that word means what you think it means.