An administrative law judge (ALJ) has ordered that a student with disabilities return to his local public high school, and that his suspension through the end of the school year 2017-2018, including the prohibition from being on school premises, participation in athletics and other extracurricular activities, including graduation and senior prom be reversed.
The case involves a high school senior classified as Other Health Impaired (OHI) due to his Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. He had no prior disciplinary history and was described by school staff as “polite” and “a model student.” In the fall of his senior year, other students reported seeing the teen using electronic cigarettes on school grounds. During the course of inquiry about the incident, he was asked to consent to a voluntary search of his locker and car. Prior to the search of his car, he informed school leaders that he had a knife locked in his glove compartment, which he used for his part-time landscaping job. They also found drug paraphernalia; the student later consented to drug testing for which results were positive. The district suspended the student and placed him on 10 hours a week of home instruction. The manifestation determination concluded that his conduct was NOT related to his disability.
In his review of the evidence and the manifestation determination finding, however, the ALJ found that the district had failed to identify and specify the “conduct” it considered in making the determination. (The district later clarified that the conduct in question was the presence of the knife in the student’s glove compartment). The ALJ further found that the record was devoid of any consideration of the teen’s home stressor’s and his ADHD diagnosis, which includes forgetfulness and disorganization, with the alleged misconduct. He concluded that the school board failed to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence, that the student’s alleged misconduct was not a manifestation of his diagnosis of ADHD, when factoring in all information provided by the parent and student. The judge ordered that the teen be allowed to return to school, and that all suspensions be reversed.
(OAL DKT. NO. EDS 18095-17)
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