James N. Van Duyn, for His Son, Christopher J. Van Duyn, a Minor & Incapacitated Person v. Baker School District 5j

This case arises from the difficult transition of Christopher J. Van Duyn (“Van Duyn”), a severely autistic child, from elementary to middle school. Van Duyn alleges that Baker School District 5J (“District”) failed to implement key portions of his individualized educational program (“IEP”) during the 2001-02 school year, his first year at Baker Middle School, thereby depriving him of the free appropriate public education guaranteed by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. 1 An administrative law judge (“ALJ”) ruled that the District failed to provide Van Duyn sufficient math instruction, but otherwise found that the District had adequately implemented the IEP. The district court affirmed the ALJ’s decision in all respects and declined to award any attorney’s fees to Van Duyn.

Van Duyn brings to us a detailed list of complaints about the District’s variances from his IEP, arguing that the ALJ and district court were much too forgiving of the District’s failures to provide him the special instructional and support services agreed to in the IEP. Accordingly, we must decide how much leeway a school district has in implementing an…

dissenting:

J.

The majority involves the judiciary in determining the “materiality” of a school district’s failure to implement a student’s Individualized Education Program (“IEP”). This standard is inconsistent with the text of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), inappropriate for the judiciary, and unworkably vague. Given the extensive process and expertise involved in crafting an IEP, the failure to implement any portion of the program to which the school has assented is necessarily material. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.

II.

Under the IDEA, once a school district identifies or assesses a student as learning disabled, it must convene an IEP Team to determine the special needs of the child. 20 U.S.C. § 1414 . The IEP Team consists of the child, the child’s parents, at least one regular education teacher (if mainstream participation is contemplated), at least one special education teacher, a specially qualified representative of the school district, an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results, and other individuals with expertise regarding the child’s needs and disability. § 1414(d)(1)(B).

Once convened,…

481 F.3d 770 James N. VAN DUYN, for his son, Christopher J. VAN DUYN, a minor & incapacitated person, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BAKER SCHOOL DISTRICT 5J, Defendant-Appellee. No. 05-35181. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted November 14, 2006. Filed April 3, 2007. Pamela C. Van Duyn (argued), Baker City, OR, and Damien R. Yervasi, Baker City, OR, for the plaintiff-appellant. Richard Cohn-Lee (argued) and Nancy J. Hungerford, The Hungerford Law Firm, Oregon City, OR, for the defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon; Michael W. Mosman, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-02-01060-MO. Before: FERGUSON, O'SCANNLAIN and FISHER, Circuit Judges. FISHER, Circuit Judge: 1 This case arises from the difficult transition of Christopher J. Van Duyn ("Van Duyn"), a severely autistic child, from elementary to middle school. Van Duyn alleges that Baker School District 5J ("District") failed to implement key portions of his individualized educational program ("IEP") during the 2001-02 school year, his first year at Baker Middle School, thereby depriving him of the free appropriate public education guaranteed by…