COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW APPEALS
BUREAU OF SPECIAL EDUCATION APPEALS
In Re: Student v. Revere Public Schools
BSEA# 26-04600
RULING ON PARENT’S MOTION TO EXPEDITE DISCOVERY
This matter comes before the Hearing Officer on Parent’s Motion to Expedite Discovery (the Motion), filed via email on November 21, 2025, with the Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA). Parents seek an Order “shortening the time for [Revere Public Schools, or] the District to respond to the Parent’s First Request for Production of Documents (served [on November 21, 2025]) from thirty (30) days to ten (10) days” on the grounds that
- The evidentiary hearing is scheduled for January 26, 2026.
- The Parent needs adequate time to review documents and prepare for hearing.
- The requested documents have been sought since October 20, 2025.
- The District has had ample time to identify and compile responsive materials.
- [The] November 21, 2025 Ruling confirmed the BSEA’s authority to address discovery obligations in pending matters.”
On November 28, 2025, the District filed Opposition To Motion To Shorten Time For Discovery Responses arguing that Parent has not set forth a sufficient basis to shorten the time for discovery responses; that, as of the date of this Opposition, the issues for the January 26th hearing have yet to be identified[1]; and that the request as written is so overly broad that the District could not conceivably comply with the typical thirty day timeframe, let alone a ten day timeframe
Because neither testimony nor oral argument would advance the Hearing Officer’s understanding of the issues involved, this Ruling is issued without a hearing, pursuant to Bureau of Special Education Appeals Hearing Rule VII(D).
For the reasons articulated below, Parent’s Motion is DENIED.
RELEVANT FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY:
On October 27, 2025, Parent filed a Hearing Request with the BSEA alleging stay-put and other procedural violations by Revere. On November 13, 2025, at the joint request of the parties and for good cause, the matter was postponed until January 26, 2026.
On October 20, 2025, Parent’s representative submitted the following public records request to the District:
- All email communications, memoranda, meeting notes, or written records that reference Student (DOB 04/23/2017) or any discussion of her IEP, placement, transportation, or “IGNITE” program assignment, from September 1 through the time of the execution of this request. This includes communications among district administrators, special-education staff, building principals, and transportation or zoning personnel concerning A.C. Whelan Elementary, Beachmont Elementary, or any “redesign” initiative or non-neighborhood reassignment.
- All internal and external correspondence — including emails, drafts, attachments, or talking points — containing or referencing any of the following keywords: “IGNITE,” “redesign,” “program,” “neighborhood,” “non-neighborhood,” “zoning,” “assignment,” “attendance area,” “transportation,” “door-to-door,” “1 Gibson Way,” “bus route,” “cost,” “sustainable,” “budget,” “added expense,” “efficiency,” “placement,” “transfer,” “Beachmont,” “Whelan,” “out-of-district,” “program move,” “pickup,” “drop-off,” “stop location,” “routing,” “resources,” “allocation,” “feasibility,” “staffing,” “reassignment,” “drafting,” “PWN,” “Prior Written Notice,” “addendum,” “stay-put,” “stay put,” “BSEA,” “mediation,” “due process,” “DESE,” “complaint,” “records request,” “parent advocate.”
- All records, directives, or meeting notes documenting administrative or policy-level decisions about the redesign or reassignment of the IGNITE program between district schools, including rationales or justifications related to cost, staffing, zoning, or proximity.
On October 31, 2025, the District responded to the request. Due to the ongoing BSEA proceedings, the District declined to issue a substantive response based on 950 CMR 32.08(2)(b)(1) which allows the Supervisor of Public Records (“SPR”) to deny a request for records which “are the subject of disputes in active litigation, administrative hearings or mediation.” Parent timely appealed the District’s response to SPR. In its determination, SPR declined to opine based on the pending matters before the BSEA. Parent filed a Motion to Compel with the BSEA arising out of this request, which was denied on November 14, 2025, for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
On November 14, 2025, Parent served her First Request for Production of Documents (“RPOD”) on the District. The RPOD was substantially similar to the public records request, albeit with two additional categories of requested documents.
The hearing in this matter is scheduled for January 26, 2025.
LEGAL STANDARDS:
Rule V of the BSEA Hearing Rules governs the discovery process before the BSEA. Rule V(A) advises that “the parties are encouraged to exchange information cooperatively and by agreement prior to the hearing.” Additionally, parties can request of other parties that they produce documents or answer up to 25 interrogatories within thirty (30) calendar days of being served such requests, unless a Hearing Officer orders otherwise.[2] Where the information or the documents requested are “not subject to any sort of privilege, the accessibility of the documents requested and their relevance to the dispute may militate in favor or against production.”[3] Objections to any discovery requests can be made within ten calendar days of service of the request, or parties can move for a protective order within that timeframe as well.[4]
APPLICATION OF LEGAL STANDARDS AND CONCLUSIONS:
Here, after consideration of the relevant procedural history set forth above and the applicable legal standards delineated supra, I find that Parent’s Motion must be DENIED. Here, Parent served discovery on Revere Public Schools on November 21, 2025. As such, the District must respond to Parents by December 21, 2025, almost one month before the start of the Hearing in this matter, which should be “adequate time [for Parent] to review documents and prepare for hearing.”
ORDER:
Parent’s Motion is hereby DENIED.
So Ordered by the Hearing Officer
/s/ Alina Kantor Nir
Alina Kantor Nir, Hearing Officer
Dated: December 1, 2025
[1] A Decision in BSEA # 2604601 is pending which should help clarify and limit the issues for the instant matter.
[2] See Rule V(B)(1) and (2).
[3] In Re: Dorian and Waltham Public Schools (Ruling), BSEA # 17-02306 (Reichbach, 2017).
[4] See Rule V(C).