n.b. v. hellgate elementary - Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

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12160 N.B. v. HELLGATE ELEMENTARY COUNSEL Andrée Larose, Montana Advocacy Program, Helena, Montana, for the plaintiffs-appellants. Elizabeth A. Kaleva, Missoula, Montana, for the defendantappellee. Brett M. Schuman, Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLP, San Francisco, California, for amici curiae. ALARCÓN, Circuit Judge: OPINION I Appellants, minor C.B. and his parents (collectively “Appellants”), allege that Hellgate Elementary School District (“Hellgate”) violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), 20 U.S.C.§ 1400, by failing to provide minor C.B. with a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”). Appellants appeal from the district court’s order, affirming the hearing officer’s findings of fact, conclusions of law, and order that found Hellgate did not violate the IDEA. On appeal, Appellants argue that C.B.’s procedural and substantive rights under the IDEA were violated. Appellants assert that Hellgate failed to meet its procedural obligation under the IDEA to evaluate C.B. to determine whether he was autistic. Appellants also contend that C.B. was denied his sub-
N.B. v. HELLGATE ELEMENTARY stantive rights under the IDEA when Hellgate denied him extended school year (“ESY”) services. We vacate and remand the district court’s order that Hellgate was not liable for violating C.B.’s procedural rights under the IDEA. We conclude that Hellgate did not fulfill its procedural requirements under the IDEA to evaluate C.B. We affirm the district court’s decision that Hellgate did not violate C.B.’s substantive rights in denying ESY services. II C.B. lives with his parents within the Hellgate School District in Missoula, Montana. Hellgate is a local educational agency. It receives federal funding to fulfill its responsibility to provide its students a FAPE. A Prior to moving to Missoula, Montana, in August 2003, C.B. and his parents resided in Sparta Township, New Jersey. On January 3, 2003, when C.B. was two years and ten months old, he was examined by Dr. Arnold Gold. Dr. Gold concluded that an “autistic component appears to be complicating [C.B.]’s performance” and that speech therapy was mandatory. The Sparta School District (“Sparta”) designed an Individualized Education Program (“IEP”) for C.B. on June 4, 2003, to be implemented from the period of July 1 to September 3, 2003, and the following school year. The IEP provided for twelve and a half-hours of special instruction, including speech/language therapy two times per week for thirty minutes, plus individual speech/language therapy two times per week for thirty minutes. B 12161 After Appellants moved to Missoula, Montana, in the summer of 2003, C.B. enrolled in Hellgate Elementary School. In
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n.b. v. hellgate elementary - Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

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