ROCKFORD ― Lori L. Hoadley, a Partner in the firm’s Rockford, Illinois, office, recently concluded her assistance of an Illinois school district with a series of special education challenges that arose out of the client’s decision to change the physical location of its separate public facility program for severely disabled students. The program move was part of a larger reorganization of the district's use of its physical facilities that affected four separate programs.
After the district had taken substantial steps and expended large sums of money with regard to the move, three parents joined in filing a federal lawsuit, and sued individually, alleging due process violations. The parents sought to force the district to preserve the use of the original facility for students with disabilities and, ultimately, to convert that property to a charter school. Such a conversion would have been a significant disruption to the client.
Ms. Hoadley and Thomas J. Lester, also of Hinshaw’s Rockford office, prevailed in getting the federal complaint dismissed. Thereafter, Ms. Hoadley readily resolved two of the three pendent administrative due process cases.
The subject student in the remaining due process case was living in a residential facility located within the defendant school district's jurisdiction. His parents lived in another district, which was the student's resident district, and for several years had contracted with the defendant school district to meet the child’s special education needs. The student, however, had turned 18 years old during the school year at issue in the case. Approximately eight months elapsed before the parents obtained legal guardianship of him.
A motion to dismiss was subsequently filed in which Ms. Hoadley argued that, as her client was not the resident district, it was not an appropriate party. The parent disagreed, arguing that the defendant school district was the student’s resident district from the time he turned 18 until the time that his parents obtained legal guardianship over him. The parent also contended that the ability of a student whose residency changes during the school year to remain at that school for the rest of the school year did not apply for special education students.
The administrative law judge rejected those arguments on several grounds, including: (1) the student's lack of ability to make decisions on his own behalf or form the intent necessary to change his place of residency; (2) lack of any action by the parents supporting an intent to change the student's district of residence to the defendant school district once he reached the age of 18; and (3) school choice available to homeless students.
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is a national law firm with 475 lawyers in 25 offices. The firm offers a full-service practice, with an emphasis in litigation, corporate and business law, environmental, labor and employment law, professional liability defense, and wealth preservation and taxation matters. The firm provides services to a range of for-profit and not-for-profit clients in industries that include construction, financial services, health care, insurance, legal, manufacturing, real estate, retail and transportation. Firm clients also include government agencies, municipalities and schools.
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