A.B., a minor, by his parent and next friend, D.B.; D.B., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Kenneth P. LAWSON, (officially as) Superintendent, Anne Arundel County Public Schools; Board of Education of Anne Arundel County, Defendants-Appellants.
No. 03-1046.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Decided: Jan. 6, 2004.
V.
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm Hodge‘s convictions and sentence.
AFFIRMED
Before WILKINSON and GREGORY, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Reversed and remanded by published opinion. Judge GREGORY wrote the opinion, in which Judge WILKINSON and Senior Judge HAMILTON joined.
OPINION
GREGORY, Circuit Judge:
Kenneth Lawson, in his capacity as Superintendent of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools (“AACPS“), and the Board of Education of Anne Arundel County appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (Bredar, M.J.), entered under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA“),
AACPS and the student‘s mother, DB, had engaged in a protracted dispute as to the nature and extent of AB‘s learning disability. An administrative law judge held that AACPS formulated an Individualized Education Program (“IEP“) for the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years that was reasonably calculated to provide AB with a FAPE under IDEA. The district court reversed the ALJ‘s ruling and granted summary judgment for the Bs. The lower court held that AB had not been provided a FAPE, and AACPS was obligated to reimburse DB for two years of private school education. Because, as explained below, AACPS complied with IDEA and formulated an IEP reasonably calculated to provide AB with some educational benefit, we reverse the district court and direct that summary judgment be entered for Appellants. We also vacate the district court‘s order insofar as it ordered AACPS to reimburse plaintiffs for AB‘s placement at the Summit School for the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years.
I.
A.
This case involves the application of IDEA, a statute designed to provide free appropriate educational services to millions of children with learning disabilities in the United States.
Under the act, the state must provide children with “meaningful access” to public education. Bd. of Ed. of Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 192 (1982). The FAPE must only be “calculated to confer some educational benefit on a disabled child.” MM, 303 F.3d at 526 (citing Rowley, 458 U.S. at 207) (emphasis added). The Supreme Court has held that under IDEA Congress intended to provide a satisfactory level of educational opportunity, not the best education that money could buy. See Rowley, 458 U.S. at 189. The Court noted that “[w]hatever Congress meant by an ‘appropriate’ education, it is clear that it did not mean a potential-maximizing education.” Id. at 197 n. 21; see also Hartmann v. Loudoun County Bd. of Ed., 118 F.3d 996, 1001 (4th Cir.1997) (“States must ... confer some educational benefit upon the handicapped child, but the Act does not require the furnishing of every special service necessary to maximize each handicapped child‘s potential.“) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted).
In addition to IDEA‘s requirement that the state provide each student with some educational benefit, the student must be placed in the least restrictive environment to achieve the FAPE. The disabled child is to participate in the same activities as non-disabled children to the “maximum extent ... appropriate.”
To assure that students with disabilities receive FAPEs, IDEA requires that school districts provide IEPs for each disabled child.
IDEA also establishes a series of procedural safeguards “designed to ensure that the parents or guardian of a child with a disability are both notified of decisions affecting their child and given an opportunity to object to those decisions.” MM, 303 F.3d at 527 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see also
When a state receiving IDEA funding fails to provide a FAPE, the child‘s parent may remove the child to a private school and then seek tuition reimbursement from the state. Sch. Comm. of Burlington v. Dep‘t of Ed., 471 U.S. 359, 369-70 (1985). The parent may recover if (1) the proposed IEP was inadequate to offer the child a FAPE and (2) the private education services obtained by the parents were appropriate to the child‘s needs. Id. at 370.
B.
AB is a student that all parties now agree is learning disabled in the areas of writing and reading, thus he is considered disabled under IDEA. The dispute between AACPS and DB arose because AB was not initially coded as learning disabled, and once coded, DB and her experts disagreed with the IEPs proposed by AACPS.
AB was born in 1990. He attended kindergarten through third grade at Annapolis Area Christian School (“Annapolis Christian“) during the school years from 1995-1999. During 1997-1998, because of AB‘s difficulties with reading, DB brought her son to AACPS for educational and psychological testing. The AACPS test results showed various IQ scores between 93 and 113, and its report noted that AB‘s full scale IQ placed him in the 58th percentile and that he was in the average range of intellectual ability. On educational tests, AB scored below average for his grade in writing and word recognition, but he scored above his grade level in mathematics. AACPS concluded that the student should be able to “perform academically at a level consistent with same-aged peers.” (J.A. 749.)
During the spring of 1998, Annapolis Christian administered multiple achievement tests, finding that while AB was at an advanced level in arithmetic, he had difficulties in written language and reading. The following spring, Annapolis Christian conducted more tests, and AB scored in the average range in reading but scored below his grade level in spelling. His arithmetic performance continued to be above his grade level. At the administrative hearing, DB testified that her son was frustrated at Annapolis Christian and he was “shutting down” and “withdrawing” at the end of the third grade. At the end of the 1998-1999 school year, Annapolis Christian recommended that AB repeat the third grade.
In July 1999, DB had AB evaluated by the Kennedy Krieger Institute (“KKI“). KKI tests results revealed AB‘s Verbal IQ (WISC-III) was in the high average range, Performance IQ in the superior range, and Full Scale IQ in the high average range. (J.A. 607.) By other testing indicia, however, KKI found that AB‘s “reading and writing skills [were] poor enough to qualify him as learning disabled.” (J.A. 611.)
Though Annapolis Christian recommended that AB repeat third grade, DB withdrew her son from that school and enrolled him in the fourth grade in AACPS at Millersville Elementary School for the 1999-2000 school year. Before the school year started, DB requested that AACPS identify AB‘s education needs and determine whether he had a disability that would qualify him for special education. AACPS held an IEP meeting on September 27, 1999. Based on the information presented at the meeting, AACPS recommended that AB receive further evaluations to be completed by November 22, 1999.
On October 5, 1999, AACPS‘s school psychologist Sabbino Strippoli (“Strippoli“) administered the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS) to AB, and he found all of AB‘s scores were within the average range. On October 18, 1999, the IEP Team held another meeting and determined that AB did not have a learning disability. On October 22, 1999, DB requested a due process hearing on AB‘s eligibility for special education services. That hearing was scheduled for December 2, 1999.
On November 8, 1999, the IEP Team held another meeting and concluded that the student did not have a special education disability. At the meeting, the IEP Team concluded that AB was making solid progress in school, noting satisfactory grades and favorable comments by AB‘s classroom teacher. DB, however, contended that AB would be “better off if he [was] identified as having a learning disability,” because she asserted her son was performing at a level below his potential as evidenced by his high KKI ability scores. DB further cited the KKI report as determinative evidence of a learning disability. (J.A. 631.)
On November 23, 1999, DB‘s counsel requested that the due process hearing be postponed so she could obtain an independent evaluation for AB. On November 29, 1999, AACPS opposed the request for postponement. On the same day, DB‘s attorney withdrew AB‘s petition for a due process hearing.
On January 5 and 10, 2000, Dr. Sue Antell conducted the independent evaluation. Dr. Antell concluded that AB was “a child of superior intellectual abilities with problems in complex language formulation giving rise to a Disorder of Written Expression, Reading Disabilities with problems in both vocabulary and comprehension.” (J.A. 702.) After AACPS belatedly received AB‘s scores on the tests conducted by Dr. Antell, AACPS offered to hold an IEP meeting on March 10 or March 17, 2000. DB found those dates inconvenient, thus the meeting was delayed.2
On March 22, 2000, the IEP Team reconvened and identified AB as having a “special education disability.” (J.A. 632.) The Team stated, however, that they had: some reservations regarding an adverse impact on this student‘s educational per
(J.A. 632.) On April 7, 2000, Strippoli prepared a report regarding the IEP Team‘s interpretation of the various assessment results. An IEP meeting originally scheduled for April 14, 2000 was again delayed to accommodate DB‘s expert Dr. Antell. At the rescheduled May 3 meeting, the Team presented the draft IEP, and the parties agreed to reconvene on May 30, 2000 to give DB time to review the draft. The draft IEP found AB had a disability limited to the area of written expression. (J.A. 16, 25, 48.)
On May 15, 2000, Dr. Antell sent AACPS‘s counsel a letter stating that the proposed IEP was unacceptable. She concluded that a mainstream public school education would not provide AB proper flexibility, but also that “[AB]‘s superior intelligence render [sic] it inappropriate to place him in a public school‘s ‘special class’ for children with far more severe and persuasive disabilities. Again, the only available option appears to be placement in a specialized private school for intelligent children with significant learning disabilities, such as Summit School.” (J.A. 709 (emphasis added).) At the May 30 IEP meeting, at DB‘s insistence supported by Dr. Antell and the KKI evaluation, the IEP Team agreed to further consider whether AB was also learning disabled in reading. DB, however, denied AACPS‘S request to conduct testing on an expedited basis because she contended the assessments already provided a basis for the diagnosis.
On June 6, 2000, DB filed another request for a due process hearing, arguing that AB should be coded learning disabled in reading. After AACPS moved to dismiss the hearing request as premature, DB‘s counsel withdrew her request for a hearing on July 27, 2000. On or around July 31, 2000, DB granted consent to conduct additional testing.
On August 12, 2000, AACPS administered the Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization (LAC) test to AB. The test showed that AB could read and spell at approximately the third grade level and his “phonemic ability” was not fully developed. On August 15, 2000, DB notified AACPS that she would be placing AB in the Summit School for the 2000-2001 school year at AACPS‘s expense. On August 23, 2000, AACPS administered the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test to AB. That test found reading difficulties; AB scored approximately two years below his grade level on each of the tests.
Again, per DB‘s request, the IEP meeting was scheduled for November 29, 2000. At the November 29 IEP meeting, the Team considered Dr. Antell‘s letter as well as a speech/language pathology evaluation from April 2000, which DB presented for the first time. DB additionally requested that AB be placed in a full-day special education program. The IEP Team agreed to review the April 2000 evaluation and discuss it at a follow-up meeting.
On February 8, 2001, DB proposed that an IEP meeting be held on March 14, 2001, and she stated that Dr. Joan McCarthy of the Summit School would attend. At the March 14, 2001 meeting, the IEP Team submitted a revised IEP which called for 10.5 hours of special education. DB again declined to accept the IEP because it did not entail full-time special education. Dissatisfied with AACPS‘s proposal, DB left AB enrolled at the Summit School and pursued her challenge to the proposed IEP through a due process hearing.
C.
On May 23 and June 6, 2001, an ALJ conducted the due process hearing at AACPS‘s offices in Annapolis to consider (1) whether the IEP offered by AACPS for the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years was reasonably calculated to provide a FAPE; and (2) if not, whether DB should be reimbursed for the cost of the Summit School. At the hearing, the ALJ admitted fifty-eight exhibits and heard testimony from eight witnesses.
On July 12, 2001, the ALJ issued an order holding that both IEPs were reasonably calculated to offer a FAPE and denying DB‘s request for reimbursement. In issuing its order, the ALJ considered the parties’ joint stipulated findings of fact, as presented at the hearing, and made numerous additional findings of fact based on a preponderance of the evidence. The ALJ first dismissed DB‘s claim that her son had been improperly evaluated and coded by AACPS, stating there was “no evidence presented at the hearing to show that the evaluation process was flawed, that the Parent was not provided with a meaningful opportunity to participate, or that any factors or considerations presented by the Parent were not duly considered during the process.” ALJ Op. at 24 (J.A. 29).
DB‘s claim rested on her assumption that AACPS should have immediately coded her son as learning disabled based on the KKI evaluation. Indeed, the ALJ considered DB‘s claim that the lengthy evaluation process impacted her child‘s academic progress, and found the measures taken by AACPS to diagnose the child
The ALJ concluded that the IEP was “reasonably calculated” to provide AB educational benefit, citing IDEA‘s mandate that “to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities be educated with children who are not disabled.” ALJ Op. at 33-34 (J.A. 38-39). In holding that the proposed IEP offered a FAPE, the ALJ credited the testimony of AACPS‘s experts, finding that the child did not require all-day special education and that the proposed IEP offered the least restrictive means of conferring educational benefit to the child. The judge cited AACPS‘s expert testimony, which she credited, finding that the Summit School program was “overly restrictive.” ALJ Op. at 29 (internal quotation marks omitted) (J.A. 34). Thus, the ALJ rejected the views of DB and her experts, who had maintained that AB required an entire school day with special educational services. In so holding, she rejected DB‘s contention that the child must “be placed in a private school that serves only students with learning disabilities.” (J.A. 41.)
In supporting her holding that the IEP offered a FAPE, the ALJ noted her reliance on testimony from Millersville personnel as well as evidence of AB‘s educational progress as measured by his report card and teacher‘s comments. ALJ Op. at 30-31 (J.A. 35-36). In reviewing such data, the ALJ noted that AB‘s reading ability increased nearly two grade levels while attending Millersville despite the fact that he was not receiving special education. See ALJ Opinion at 29 (J.A. 34). On the basis of such evidence, the ALJ concluded “there is no indication that the Child‘s needs cannot be met at Millersville Elementary School.” ALJ Op. at 30 (J.A. 35). The ALJ concluded that under IDEA, “[t]he issue is not whether the Summit School is better, or even appropriate, but whether AACPS has offered ... an appropriate program for the Child at Millersville Elementary.” ALJ Op. at 36-37 (J.A. 41-42). In denying DB‘s claim, the ALJ acknowledged that while she appreciated DB‘s concern that given AB‘s high IQ, he should have performed at a greater academic level at Millersville and in contrast was “thriving” at the Summit School, ALJ Op. at 30 (J.A. 35), “IDEA does not require a program that would maximize a student’ [s] potential, but instead simply a program that is appropriate,” id. at 36 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted) (J.A. 41).
D.
On January 8, 2002, DB filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, appealing the ALJ‘s decision and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief pursuant to
II.
Ordinarily, we review a district court‘s grant of summary judgment de
Finally, the court‘s role in reviewing the administrative proceeding concerning IDEA “is by no means an invitation to the courts to substitute their own notions of sound educational policy for those of the school authorities they review.” Rowley, 458 U.S. at 206; accord Hartmann, 118 F.3d at 999. The Supreme Court has directed that “courts must be careful to avoid imposing their view of preferable educational methods upon the States.” Rowley, 458 U.S. at 207.
III.
A.
On appeal, AACPS argues that the district court erred in finding a violation of IDEA. AACPS contends that, as the ALJ held, the IEP for the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years was (1) reasonably calculated to offer a FAPE and (2) it was the least restrictive environment for the child. We consider these arguments in turn. Overarching all of Appellants’ arguments is their contention that the district court erred in failing to accord the ALJ‘s findings proper deference. See generally Appellants’ Br. at 27-32. Appellees counter that the district court properly deviated from the ALJ‘s findings of fact and “made factual findings and legal conclusions de novo with explicit reasons therefore.” Appellees’ Br. at 22. They argue that AACPS‘s proposed IEPs did not offer AB a FAPE. Appellees further contend that the IEP was not the least restrictive environment, because-despite outward appearances-“[AB] did not make progress in the general education setting.” Id. at 33.
We find Appellees’ arguments wholly unconvincing. The district court ignored the principles animating IDEA and wrongfully dismissed the ALJ‘s findings of fact. The district court substituted its own views on educational policy-and those of DB and her experts-for the determinations of the local education officials charged with formulating an IEP. Accordingly, we reverse the district court and hold that the ALJ correctly recognized that AACPS offered AB an IEP that was reasonably calculated to provide him some educational benefit, thus providing a FAPE and satisfying IDEA‘s modest requirements. See Rowley, 458 U.S. at 203-04; MM, 303 F.3d at 532.
B.
In Tice v. Botetourt County Sch. Bd., 908 F.2d 1200 (4th Cir.1990), we held that “once a procedurally proper IEP has been formulated, a reviewing court should be reluctant indeed to second guess
C.
DB has nonetheless continuously maintained that the proposed IEPs did not offer a FAPE because AB did not make progress in the general educational setting. DB and her experts assert that AB would regress in general education, and that he required full-time special education
Whereas the ALJ found that the IEP was formulated to meet AB‘s educational needs and a general education setting was appropriate because, in part, “the Child made educational progress during the academic year he spent at Millersville, albeit not as great as the Parent had hoped for,” ALJ Op. at 30-31 (J.A. 35-36), the district court consistently reached diametrically opposing conclusions, see e.g., Dist. Ct. Op. at 19 (J.A. 73) (“[AB] require[s] full-time placement in special education services in order to make educational progress and to obtain some benefit“); id. at 20 (J.A. 74) (“[AB] would have regressed rather than progressed were [AACPS‘s proposed IEP] to have been implemented.“).
Appellees contend, however, that the district court properly discarded the ALJ‘s factual findings in reversing the administrative body. However, we find the district court repudiated the findings of the ALJ and discarded the expertise of the IEP Team without reason or explanation. Instead, the district court simply adopted the worldview of DB‘s experts and their perspectives on proper educational policy. Nowhere did the district court try to square its findings with those of the ALJ, although in this circuit the determination of whether an IEP is appropriate is a question of fact. See DiBuo v. Bd. of Ed. of Worcester County, 309 F.3d 184, n. 8 (4th Cir.2002); Doyle, 953 F.2d at 105. Nor did the district court explain how it, despite the fact that it was reviewing a cold record, reached a conclusion completely contrary to that of the ALJ, who conducted the proceedings. See Doyle, 953 F.2d at 105 (noting that the district court “if it is not going to follow [the ALJ‘s findings of fact], is required to explain why it does not“). Rather than providing the required explanations, the district court substituted its own credibility assessments for those of the ALJ, stating only that it found “the testimony provided by AACPS to have been externally and internally inconsistent, generally garbled and aimed primarily at self-justification. The testimony on behalf of the plaintiffs, in contrast, was clear and consistent.... [T]he court finds wholly competent the assessments from the plaintiffs’ witnesses ... and incompetent the assessment from AACPS.” Dist. Ct. Op. at 18 (J.A. 72).6
In doing so, the district court disregarded the ALJ‘s resolution of conflicting ex
In its sweeping dismissal of the ALJ‘s findings-with little explanation other than that on the basis of a cold record it found their experts “generally garbled and aimed primarily at self-justification“-the district court wholly disregarded IDEA‘s mandate that it “leave[] the substance and the details of [the proper education for a disabled child] to state and local officials.” Barnett v. Fairfax County Sch. Bd., 927 F.2d 146, 152 (4th Cir.1991). The ALJ correctly recognized that while AACPS and DB‘s experts disagreed, IDEA requires great deference to the views of the school system rather than those of even the most well-meaning parent. However, the district court failed to apply the proper standard of review to the ALJ‘s findings and incorrectly applied IDEA‘S FAPE standard.
First, the district court did not apply the proper standard in determining whether the IEP at Millersville would provide an educational benefit, rather it essentially assessed “whether the IEP would replicate the benefit to [AB] of the [Summit School program], which [the district court found] successful for him.” G ex rel. SSGT RG v. Ft. Bragg Dependent Sch., 324 F.3d 240, 253, amended on reh‘g, 343 F.3d 295 (4th Cir.2003). The district court ignored the fact that the ALJ found that AB was obtaining “some educational benefit” at AACPS even when he was receiving no special education. See ALJ Op. at 29 (noting AB‘s reading level had increased nearly two grade levels while at Millersville) (J.A. 34); id. at 30-31 (“the Child made educational progress during the academic year he spent at Millersville, albeit not as great as the Parent had hoped for“) (J.A. 35-36).8 Yet the district court did
The district court not only evaded the ALJ‘s findings without explanation, but it also credited the testimony of Dr. McCarthy though it was riddled with internal inconsistencies. Specifically, the Magistrate Judge chose to ignore that Dr. McCarthy acknowledged that AB had “at minimum a satisfactory year” academically at Millersville. (J.A. 353.) Indeed, that admission completely refutes the district court‘s favored reading of Dr. McCarthy‘s testimony, and wholly supports the ALJ‘s finding that AACPS offered a FAPE.
Appellees, however, have contended in their briefs and at oral argument that the district court gave proper deference to the ALJ‘s findings because the court‘s 180-degree turn stemmed from “unsupported weight afforded to evidence (rather than on the credibility of witnesses).” Appellees’ Br. at 26-27. Appellees’ arguments indicate that they simply do not understand the role of the fact finder. For they state: “The ALJ‘s failure to consider significant parts of testimony and exhibits is doubly of concern. For example, the administrative decision literally only mentions Dr. Antell in passing, though the district court opinion chiefly relies upon this expert‘s testimony, and quotes her opinions in unabridged detail.” Appellees’ Br. at 26 n. 8 (emphasis added). Appellees appear oblivious that this is precisely the role of a fact finder. The ALJ heard extensive testimony from Drs. Antell and McCarthy who claimed the IEP did not offer a FAPE, yet in holding that AACPS provided a FAPE and resting its opinion on an entirely contrary body of expert testimony, the ALJ obviously found the testimony of Appellees’ experts unpersuasive. In essence, Appellees’ argument is reducible to the sour grapes claim that the ALJ was simply wrong in failing to rely on the testimony of Drs. Antell and McCarthy. Accordingly, that argument merely illustrates just how far the district court had to deviate from the ALJ‘s findings to reach its result.9
IV.
Given that we find the district court erred in overturning the ALJ‘s findings that the IEP provided a FAPE, it follows a fortiori that the AACPS IEP, with its integrated curriculum, was less restrictive than the wholly segregated Summit School. IDEA requires mainstreaming that Summit School does not provide.
First, there was no evidence in the record as to whether AACPS had such a Gifted and Talented program for learning disabled students in which AB could be enrolled. Additionally, there was no evidence in the record showing that AB would be devoid of interaction with children of “above-average intelligence” in classes at Millersville. Finally, there was no evidence in the record regarding the program at Colonel E. Brooke Lee Middle School, which the district court so readily endorsed, despite the fact that AB was an elementary school student during the period at issue. Regardless of the educational efficacy of that program, or the schooling at Summit, the FAPE analysis amounts to
Even after skewing the proper analysis of whether AACPS provided some educational benefit, the district court still had to ignore the ALJ‘s factual findings regarding Summit to reach its result. The district court first disregarded the ALJ‘s clear factual finding that AB had “mixed” results at Summit.10 Instead, the district court conclusorily stated that at Summit: “[AB] vaulted three grade levels in mathematics, which tends to support the assessments of Drs. Antell and McCarthy that the alternative strategies employed at Summit, and not recommended by AACPS, were working and were permitting AB to obtain some benefit....” Dist. Ct. Op. at 19 (J.A. 73). In relying on this evidence and making such a determination, the district court made no mention of AB‘s inconsistent progress at Summit in the areas of reading and written language-the very areas in which all parties agree that he was learning disabled. Indeed, the record consistently reflects that throughout his educational history, AB regularly scored above his age and grade level in mathematics.
In sum, the magistrate judge ignored the congressional preference for mainstreaming, clearly and strongly substituted its views on education and IDEA for that of Congress, and failed to accord the ALJ‘s factual findings the requisite degree of deference. In reversing the ALJ, the district court consistently failed to heed “IDEA‘s recognition that federal courts cannot run local schools. Local educators deserve latitude in determining the individualized education program most appropriate for a disabled child. The IDEA does not deprive these educators of the right to apply their professional judgment.” Hartmann, 118 F.3d at 1001. As the ALJ determined, the AACPS IEP offered an integrated education, and AB had already made progress within that setting.11
Because we hold that AACPS offered AB a FAPE, the issue of reimbursement under Burlington, supra, and Florence County Sch. Dist. Four v. Carter, 510 U.S. 7 (1993), is clearly inapplicable.
VI.
For the reasons stated above, we reverse the judgment of the district court and remand with instructions that the district court enter summary judgment in favor of AACPS. Accordingly, we also vacate the district court‘s order that AACPS reimburse DB for the costs of educating her son at the Summit School during the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years.
REVERSED AND REMANDED