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Thursday, October 8, 2009

SRO rejects Connors claim and reimbursement claim

SRO 09-079: This case was litigated as both a reimbursement case and a Connors prospective funding case. First, SRO Paul Kelly rejected the parent’s reimbursement claim noting that although there was contract language purportedly obligating the parent to pay the school in full, no payments had been made and there was no evidence that the school would seek payment. Kelly also found that the notice of intent to make a reimbursement claim was defective in that the parent utilized a form that did not provide specific details of the parent’s concerns.

As for the Connors claim, Kelly found that it was the private school that incurred the financial burden for the child’s education going forward, that the private school has no entitlement to relief, and that the parent cannot assert a claim on behalf of a private entity that lacks standing under the IDEA to maintain a claim against a school district in its own right.