1 Colleen Snyder (SBN 274064) colleen@snydershaw.com 2 Daniel R. Shaw (SBN 281387) daniel@snydershaw.com 3 Snyder & Shaw LLP 3196 S. Higuera St. Suite E 4 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Phone: (805) 439-4646 5 Facsimile: (805) 301-8030

6 Attorneys for Plaintiff

7 Marcella L. Gutierrez, SBN 214224 John Louis Chiappe, SBN 345981 8 GUTIERREZ, PERRY & VILLARREAL, LLP 1610 R St., Ste. 300 9 Sacramento, CA 95811 Telephone: (916) 546-7774 10 Email: marcy@gpvlaw.com Email: johnlouis@gpvlaw.com 11 Attorneys for Defendant 12

13

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

14

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

15

16 N.R.S., a minor, by and through her Case No. 2:23−CV−01282−MCE−JDP 17 guardian ad litem A.S.,

ORDER GRANTING JOINT REQUEST TO

18 Plaintiff, SEAL ADMINSTRATIVE RECORD

19 v. Judge: Hon. Morrison C. England

20 TWIN RIVERS UNIFIED SCHOOL

DISTRICT,

21 Defendant. 22

23

24 This matter arises under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). The 25 student, Plaintiff N.R.S., is currently fourteen years old and has been diagnosed with autism, 26 Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (“ADHD”), and multiple learning disorders. Plaintiff 27 is seeking judicial review of portions of the final administrative decision by the California Office 28 of Administrative Hearings (“OAH”) in the underlying due process hearing. 1 The administrative record is voluminous, containing 2,677 pages. Nearly all, if not all, of 2 the documents in the administrative record are educational records which contain the minor 3 child’s name and other personally identifying information. These documents further contain 4 highly sensitive and private information about the minor child’s health, disabilities, intellectual 5 functioning, and adaptive functioning. These documents include multiple psychological 6 assessments, speech and language assessments, occupational therapy assessments, and 7 behavioral assessments of the child. 8 The request to seal documents is controlled by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). 9 The Rule permits the Court to issue orders to “protect a party or person from annoyance, 10 embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense, including . . . requiring that a trade 11 secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information not be revealed or 12 be revealed only in a specified way.” The Court may seal the information from public view for 13 good cause after balancing “the needs for discovery against the need for confidentiality.’” Pintos 14 v. Pac. Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 678 (9th Cir. Cal. 2010) (quoting Phillips ex rel. Estates 15 of Byrd v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1213 (9th Cir. 2002)). 16 In evaluating a request to seal, the Court considers the “public interest in understanding 17 the judicial process and whether disclosure of the material could result in improper use of the 18 material for scandalous or libelous purposes or infringement upon trade secrets.” Valley 19 Broadcasting Co. v. United States District Court, 798 F.2d 1289, 1294 (9th Cir. 1986). 20 The Parties have jointly requested the sealing of the administrative record. This Court 21 finds that compelling reasons exist to seal the administrative record because it consists of private 22 and sensitive educational and medical records of a child, which are protected from public 23 disclosure under the IDEA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), and 24 California Education Code § 49076. The record has this information listed throughout making 25 redaction impractical. 26 27 28 2 1 Accordingly, the parties’ joint motion to seal the administrative record is GRANTED. 2 IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 Dated: October 19, 2023 4 Er 5 tp AOA, □□ 6 SENIOR UNITED STATES UR IRICT JUDGE 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 |) Case No. 2:23-CV-01282-MCE-JDP Order Granting Joint Request to Seal Administrative Record