Joseph Park, by and Through His Guardian Ad Litem, Kyung Hee Park Kyung Hee Park v. Anaheim Union High School District Greater Anaheim Selpa

Joseph Park (“Joseph”) and his mother, Kyung Hee Park, bring this action against the Anaheim Union High School District (“District”) and the Greater Anaheim Special Education Local Plan Area. The complaint alleges that defendants have failed to comply with procedural and substantive requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. 1 The Parks expressly challenge the award of compensatory services and the denial of attorney’s fees. The district court affirmed the decisions of the Hearing Officer of the California Special Education Hearing Office in part and modified minor details in part.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

I

Joseph was born in 1990 with a genetic defect known as cri du chat, cry of the cat, or 5p-syndrome. Deficits attributed to his disability include developmental delay, deficient cognitive ability, poor muscle tone, speech and language delay, gross and fine motor delay, difficulty in muscle training and coordination, difficulty assimilating toilet training, self-care difficulty, drooling and behavioral difficulties. Joseph has below average cognitive ability; his I.Q. is below 70. His…

concurring

in part and dissenting in part:

I respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusions that (1) Park prevailed only on “minor” issues, and (2) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying his attorney’s fees. The district court’s determination that Park was not the prevailing party was an abuse of discretion. See Shapiro v. Paradise Valley Unified Sch. Dist. No. 69, 374 F.3d 857 , 865 (9th Cir.2004). The majority mischaracterizes the issues on which Park prevailed as “minor” or “de minimis,” even while conceding that “the district court might have been within its discretion to award [Joseph] attorney’s fees.” Given the very narrow discretion a district court has to deny fees in claims brought under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the majority opinion ignores not only the letter of the law, but also the spirit and purpose of allowing attorney’s fees in cases where parents have been forced to litigate for years against school districts to get all or part of what the IDEA requires in the first place.

I.

When Joseph Park was three years old, he was diagnosed with a rare genetic defect known as 5p-syndrome (also known as Cri du Chat…

444 F.3d 1149 Joseph PARK, by and through his Guardian ad Litem, Kyung Hee Park; Kyung Hee Park, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. ANAHEIM UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT; Greater Anaheim Selpa, Defendants-Appellees. No. 04-55569. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted December 7, 2005. Filed April 17, 2006. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Benjamin Y. Kim, Torrance, CA, Paula D. Pearlman, Shawna L. Parks, Western Law Center for Disability Rights, Los Angeles, CA, for the plaintiffs-appellants. Jonathan J. Mott, Parker & Covert LLP, Tustin, CA, for the defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Dale S. Fischer, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-03-02222-DSF. Before: ROBERT R. BEEZER, CYNTHIA HOLCOMB HALL, and KIM McLANE WARDLAW, Circuit Judges. BEEZER, Circuit Judge. 1 Joseph Park ("Joseph") and his mother, Kyung Hee Park, bring this action against the Anaheim Union High School District ("District") and the Greater Anaheim Special Education Local Plan Area. The complaint alleges that defendants have failed to comply with procedural and substantive requirements of the…