COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW APPEALS
BUREAU OF SPECIAL EDUCATION APPEALS
MEMORANDUM
TO: Matthew Engel, Attorney for Parents, and Alisia St. Florian, Attorney for Hampshire
FROM: Alina Kantor Nir, Esq., Hearing Officer, AKN
DATE: March 10, 2021
RE: In Re: Student v. Hampshire Public Schools, BSEA #2103975
Please note the following correction to the first page of the Ruling issued on January 19, 2021 on
Parent’s Motion to Enforce Stay-Put in the above-referenced matter.
Uncorrected version:
“This matter comes before the Hearing Officer on Parents’ Motion to Enforce Stay-Put, which was filed with the BSEA on December 2, 2020. Hampshire Regional School District (the “District”) filed an Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss on December 4, 2021, and on December 7, 2020 Parents filed Parents’ Reply to Hampshire Regional School District’s Opposition to Parents’ Motion to Enforce Stay-Put. The Parties argued the Motion on January 11, 2020. The arguments and testimony given were recorded by a stenographer, who is in the process of producing a transcript.”
Corrected version:
“This matter comes before the Hearing Officer on Parents’ Motion to Enforce Stay-Put, which was filed with the BSEA on December 2, 2020. Hampshire Regional School District (the “District”) filed an Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss on December 4, 2020, and on December 7, 2020 Parents filed Parents’ Reply to Hampshire Regional School District’s Opposition to Parents’ Motion to Enforce Stay-Put. The Parties argued the Motion on January 11, 2021. The arguments and testimony given were recorded by a stenographer, who is in the process of producing a transcript.”
The corrected page is enclosed for your records.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW APPEALS
BUREAU OF SPECIAL EDUCATION APPEALS
In re: Student v. Hampshire Regional School District
BSEA # 2103975
RULING ON PARENTS’ MOTION TO ENFORCE STAY-PUT
This matter comes before the Hearing Officer on Parents’ Motion to Enforce Stay-Put, which was filed with the BSEA on December 2, 2020. Hampshire Regional School District (the “District”) filed an Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss on December 4, 2020, and on December 7, 2020 Parents filed Parents’ Reply to Hampshire Regional School District’s Opposition to Parents’ Motion to Enforce Stay-Put. The Parties argued the Motion on January 11, 2021. The arguments and testimony given were recorded by a stenographer, who is in the process of producing a transcript.
For the reasons set forth below, the Parents’ Motion is hereby DENIED.
RELEVANT PROCEDURAL HISTORY AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND
On November 23, 2020, Parents filed a Hearing Request alleging, in part, that Student’s current placement at William E. Norris Elementary School in Southampton, Massachusetts fails to provide him with a FAPE. Parents’ Hearing Request seeks placement for Student at White Oak School in Westfield, Massachusetts.
On December 2, 2020, Parents filed the instant Motion to Enforce Stay-Put in which they assert that Student’s “most recent IEP dated 02/05/20 to 02/04/20 was accepted by the Parents” and called for 40 minutes of specially designed instruction in Reading from a Special Education Teacher 2 times per day. However, in an IEP Amendment dated November 16, 2020, the service was reduced to 1 time per day without prior discussion at the November 12, 2020 Team meeting. Parents further allege that they “were not provided with Prior Written Notice of the reduction and [that] Parents [did] not agree[] to the reduction.” Parents, hence, assert that they are “entitled to a restoration of the total amount of Reading services which were in the IEP prior to the IEP Amendment.”