I.R. ex rel. E.N. v. Los Angeles Unified School District

California Education Code § 56346(f) requires school districts to initiate a due process hearing if the school district determines that a portion of an Individualized Education Program (“IEP”) to which a parent does not consent is necessary to provide, a child with a Free Appropriate Public Education (“FAPE”) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400-1450 . This appeal raises the issue of a school district’s responsibility to initiate a due process hearing within a reasonable time after a child’s parents fail to consent to the provision of services necessary to. provide a FAPE. Because we conclude that a period of a year and a half is too long for a school district to wait to initiate a due process hearing pursuant to California Education Code § 56346(f), we reverse and remand.

I. BACKGROUND

Appellant I.R. is a child. I.R., through her mother (“Mother”), contends that Ap-pellee Los Angeles Unified School District (“LAUSD”) failed to provide I.R. with a FAPE for the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 school years in which I.R. was in second and third grade.

In 2006, in response to Mother’s request for an assessment, LAUSD found I.R. to *1166…