M.A.F
M.A.F v. Ripon Unified School District
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
Plaintiffs appeal the district court’s dismissal of their suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to a failure to exhaust their administrative remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400-1482 . We affirm.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
In reviewing a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, this court accepts the allegations in Plaintiffs’ complaint as true and draws all reasonable inferences in their favor. Wolfe v. Strankman, 392 F.3d 358, 362 (9th Cir.2004). Whether exhaustion is required under the IDEA is a question of law that this court reviews de novo. Kutasi v. Las Virgenes Unified Sch. Dist., 494 F.3d 1162, 1166 (9th Cir.2007).
DISCUSSION
I. Exhaustion
The principal difficulty with Plaintiffs’ position on appeal is the IDEA’S mandate that they exhaust their administrative remedies prior to filing a civil action:
20 U.S.C. § 1415 (Z) (emphasis added); see also Hoeft v. Tucson Unified Sch. Dist., 967 F.2d 1298 , 1302 (9th Cir.1992) (“The IDEA ... does provide administrative appeal procedures to be pursued before seeking judicial review.”). Here, the only…