SRO reverses another reimbursement award

SRO 08-122: IHO awarded reimbursement for a private school placement. SRO Paul Kelly once again reversed. While finding that the CSE was improperly constituted, Kelly excused the district’s failure to have a regular ed or special ed teacher of the child or teachers who would be teaching the child at the CSE noting that the hearing record failed to demonstrate how this procedural deficiency resulted in the denial of a FAPE to the student. Kelly also excused the failure to perform a classroom observation and the failure to conduct an FBA, reasoning that the child had not yet attended the proposed placement and that therefore, it was unknown whether the child would exhibit interfering behaviors. Kelly then approved of the district’s development of the goals prior to the CSE meeting, followed by a cursory, less than complete review at the CSE, implying agreement by the parent based upon her presence and the absence of stated disagreement.