District seeking cuts in special ed hearing costs

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2002 | 9:17 a.m.

Clark County School District officials, citing cost concerns, want new limits on hearings for special education students, including a cap on costs and a one-year statute of limitations for filing complaints.

District officials said Tuesday they will ask the Legislature to make the changes when lawmakers convene in February. Parents of special education students and their advocates said the changes would be a blow to the rights of the students and their parents, families that already have a hard enough time obtaining fair treatment.

Aproximately 27,000 children, about 10.6 percent of the district's enrollment, are special education students, officials said. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act guarantees special education students free, appropriate instruction from public school districts. Parents who believe their child is not being treated fairly under the federal law may request a hearing to resolve the dispute.

District officials say they face about 50 of the due-process hearings each year -- ranging anywhere from three days to a week -- at a cost of about $5,000 per day. They were unable, however, to provide a total cost for the hearings.

The hearing costs that the district is required to pay include fees for its own attorney, the hearing officer and court reporter. If a parent prevails in a hearing, the district also has to pay the parent's attorney fees.

Because there are no limits on fees there is little incentive to move expeditiously, said William Hoffman, general counsel for the School District. In one case, a hearing officer was paid $40,000 for nine days of work, Hoffman said.

"We're not trying to cut into anyone's rights, we're just trying to keep things at a reasonable level," Hoffman said.

Robin Kincaid, director of training for the support network Parents Educating Parents in Las Vegas, said Tuesday she was dismayed by the School District's stance.

"Parents of children with disabilities already face enough obstacles without the School District adding more," Kincaid said. "As advocates, we oppose anything that would interfere with a parent's ability to secure the appropriate educational program for their child."

Kincaid said her organization encourages parents to resolve their disputes directly with school administrators. It's district officials who often force the need for a due-process hearing, Kincaid said.

Richard Daugherty, a hearing officer and an associate professor in the educational leadership department at the University of Nevada, Reno, said he believes the existing process is fair.

Setting limits on court costs would make it more difficult for parents to secure representation, Daugherty said. Clark County's legal aid office is already swamped with requests for help with IDEA hearings and private attorneys need to cover their own costs as well, Daugherty said.

As for lowering the statute of limitations, Daugherty called it an unnecessary step. Hearing officers already have the discretion to set a limit to the time frame for evidence, Daugherty said.

"That's a judgement call we're supposed to be making on a case-by-case basis," said Daugherty, who has been a hearing officer for eight years. "You don't want to cut off someone's right to go back to an incident 13 months ago that may actually be the source of the current problems."

But Michael Harley, chief compliance officer for the School District, said Nevada's current three-year statute of limitations for IDEA claims is too broad. Some states set the limit at one year or even six months, Harley said.

When parents come forward years after the fact, it puts the district in an "untenable position," Harley said.

"With stale claims, we're left looking for staff members who may not remember the circumstances of the situation or have left the district," Harley said. "It becomes extremely difficult for us to defend ourselves."

By lowering the statute of limitations to one school year, parents will be encouraged to come forward quickly rather than "sit on their rights," Harley said.

"When the adults work together to solve the problems, it's the children who wind up winning," Harley said.