District Court overrules SRO on determination of Statute of Limitations

C.B. v. PITTSFORD CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT (W.D.N.Y. 4-15-2010): Parents sought reimbursement for two years at a private school. The IHO denied the claim. The SRO affirmed the denial as did the District Court. The parents also sought additional services for the failure to provide a FAPE in the year prior to the unilateral placement. This claim had been dismissed by the IHO and SRO as being beyond the applicable statute of limitations. Plaintiff parent sent an email in November 2005 complaining about the district's pace in implementing one aspect of the IEP. SRO Paul Kelly held that that triggered the accrual of the claim. The Court disagreed stating that “[t]he fact that Plaintiff sent an email in November 2005 complaining about the district's pace in implementing one aspect of the IEP does not support the conclusion that she knew about the injury of which she now complains.” Plaintiff alleged that the 2005-2006 IEP was deficient, because it did not provide "support for [EB's] deficits in executive functioning." Plaintiff maintained that she first became aware of such deficiency in March 2006. The Court found that the 2005-2006 claim for additional services accrued in March 2006 and that thus, the parents claim was timely filed.