A recent Massachusetts Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA) decision shows that blaming parents and external system failures is unlikely to be a district’s best strategy. Moreover, attempting to pass the buck to another agency, such as the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS), won’t absolve the district of its responsibilities to the student.
In In Re: Student v. Attleboro Public Schools and Department of Developmental Services BSEA # 26-01402, hearing officer Rosa Figueroa ordered a district to fund a residential placement for a 19-year-old student with schizophrenia and an intellectual disability, among other diagnoses associated with trauma. The hearing officer held that the existing district-funded private day program was insufficient to provide the student with FAPE based on the student’s lack of skill generalization and ongoing inability to access the program.
The district’s primary arguments against funding a residential placement were that 1) the student needed a place to live for non-academic reasons, and 2) another agency should fund the program. Although the student was unhoused at the time of the hearing, the hearing officer emphasized that her decision was solely based on the student’s diagnoses, dysregulated behaviors, and significant needs, not his living situation.
A strong piece of supporting evidence was that, as of the hearing in February, the student had only attended one day of school since April of the prior year.
The attendance issues were due to several factors, including hospitalizations and difficulties accessing transportation services. The district’s position that the student was performing well at the day school and therefore receiving FAPE was substantially undermined by this very sparse attendance record.
The hearing officer was equally unpersuaded by the district’s argument that if DDS had funded a residential placement, the district-funded private day school placement would have been more accessible to the student. While the hearing officer did not order DDS to fund any portion of the student’s education, due to the student’s substantial needs, she did order DDS to begin an assessment of the student’s competency and the guardianship process.
The district was ordered to fund the student’s residential placement and a new evaluation to help the IEP Team better understand the student’s areas of need.