Houston v. Encinitas Union School District

MEMORANDUM **

Claudia Houston and her children, Cassandra and Brittany Houston, appeal pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing their claims under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and various state laws. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo, Leong v. Potter, 347 F.3d 1117, 1121 (9th Cir.2003), and we affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand.

The district court properly dismissed appellants’ claims under the IDEA and the Rehabilitation Act because they failed to exhaust administrative due process procedures or substantiate their claims that exhaustion was futile. See 20 U.S.C. § 1415 (f), (i)(2)(A), (l) (requiring exhaustion); Kutasi v. Las Virgenes Unified Sch. Dist., 494 F.3d 1162, 1167 (9th Cir.2007) (explaining that plaintiff who alleges a violation of Title V of the Rehabilitation Act must exhaust the IDEA’S due process hearing procedure if the action “seek[s] relief that is also available under” the IDEA); Robb v. Bethel Sch. Dist. #403, 308 F.3d 1047 , 1050 n. 2 (9th Cir.2002) (noting that plaintiff bears the burden of proving that exhaustion of the IDEA’S procedures…