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Christopher J. Conrad

Co-Chair, Special Education Law Practice Group

CJConrad@mdwcg.com

Portrait of Christopher J. Conrad

Legal Updates for Special Education Law

Legal Update for Special Education Law – Case Law Update

Legal Update for Special Education Law – January 2025

January 1, 2025

by Christopher J. Conrad

Due to the situation-specific nature of parental involvement in educational decisions, nonparticipation in one decision due to a procedural inadequacy is not automatically a major barrier to a parent’s input in the overall decision-making process.
J.L. by and through Holly M. v. East Stroudsburg Area School District, 2024 WL 4763868 (3rd Cir. Nov. 13, 2024)

J.L., an IDEA-eligible fifteen-year-old student with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and a specific learning disability in listening comprehension, brought a three-inch pocketknife to school. As a consequence, J.L. was suspended out of school for 45 days, and he was placed in a cyber program for the remainder of the school year. The suspension carried over into the next school year, and he started the school year at Colonial Academy, an intermediate unit program. Before the 45-day suspension expired, the high school principal met with J.L.’s grandfather, one of his legal guardians, and they agreed that J.L. would remain at Colonial Academy through the end of the first quarter in order to avoid disruption to J.L.’s academics and routine. J.L.’s grandmother, his other legal guardian, was not provided notice of the meeting with the principal, nor was she given an opportunity to weigh in on the decision to continue J.L.’s suspension and placement at Colonial Academy.

At the beginning of the second quarter, J.L. returned to East Stroudsburg High School South. Three weeks into the school year, J.L. threatened to kill another student, and he was expelled from school for one school year. Both grandparents filed an expedited due process complaint, challenging the expulsion, as well as the decision to extend J.L.’s placement/suspension at Colonial Academy. The grandparents claimed the alleged IDEA procedural violation (i.e., the decision to continue the Colonial Academy placement without notice to or input from J.L.’s grandmother) resulted in a substantive denial of a FAPE.

The Hearing Officer rejected the denial of FAPE claims. In particular, the Hearing Officer concluded the lack of notice to J.L.’s grandmother of the decision to extend his placement/ suspension at Colonial Academy did not seriously deprive her of her right to participation in the decision-making process concerning J.L.’s education. The Hearing Officer noted the grandmother had met with J.L.’s IEP team twice and approved both J.L.’s initial placement in the cyber program and his subsequent transfer to Colonial Academy at the beginning of the school year. The grandmother also participated in a third meeting at which she agreed with the decision to return J.L. to the high school.

The grandmother appealed the Hearing Officer’s decision to federal district court, which upheld the Hearing Officer’s decision. The district court reasoned the decision to continue J.L.’s placement at Colonial Academy for 16 days did not amount to a change in placement requiring notice and a hearing. Also, the district court agreed with the Hearing Officer that the decision to extend the placement/suspension did not seriously impede the grandmother’s participation in J.L.’s education.

On further appeal, the 3rd Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court. In reaching its conclusion, the 3rd Circuit reasoned:

Because of the circumstance-specific nature of parental involvement in educational decisions, a parent’s nonparticipation in one decision due to a procedural inadequacy is not automatically a significant impediment to that parent’s participation in the overall decision-making process…the District Court correctly held that on these facts [of this case], in which the grandfather as guardian consented to the extension and the grandmother as guardian was otherwise involved in the decision-making process, the grandmother was not significantly impeded from participating in the decision-making process such that J.L. was denied a FAPE. 
 

 

Legal Update for Special Education Law – January 2025 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. We would be pleased to provide such legal assistance as you require on these and other subjects when called upon. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1 Copyright © 2025 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints or inquiries, or if you wish to be removed from this mailing list, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.

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Two Tracks, No Preclusion: Ohio Supreme Court Preserves Separate Damages Claims After Chapter 2506 Appeals

The Supreme Court of Ohio has clarified that an administrative appeal under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2506 does not bar a separate action for damages and declaratory relief that could not have been pursued in the administrative appeal. The Ohio Supreme Court considered Sheetz, Inc. v. Centerville (2026-Ohio-3531) as a result of a certified question from the Southern District of Ohio. The question was whether Sheetz, the gas station/convenience store brand, was barred from seeking damages in a separate action since damages were not sought in their administrative appeal. Ultimately, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that res judicata does not bar a separate action for damages after ruling on an administrative appeal because R.C. Chapter 2506 is limited to judicial review and cannot grant affirmative relief. The case arose after Centerville’s city council rejected a site plan proposed by Sheetz, Inc. that had received unanimous approval from the City’s planning commission. Sheetz filed an administrative appeal pursuant to R.C. 2506 in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, and two months later filed a complaint for damages and declaratory relief under 42 USC § 1983 as a takings action with the city, city council, and other objectors as improper takings and a violation of due process, as well as interference with business and contractual relationship. The city and city council removed the § 1983 action for damages to federal court. Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas reversed the city council’s denial, and allowed the Sheetz project to move forward. Upon that ruling, the federal court issued a show-cause order questioning whether the § 1983 action was barred by the doctrine of res judicata via claim preclusion (which includes all theories of recovery).  Sheetz argued that Ohio courts of common pleas do not have authority to award damages or declaratory relief as party of the R.C. Ch. 2506 appeal, therefore res judicata could not be triggered to apply to the § 1983 action. Additionally, Sheetz moved to certify the issue to the Ohio Supreme Court, citing differing results between the second and sixth districts on this same issue. Centerville approached the question, not from a claim preclusion standpoint, but from the holding in Grava v. Parkman, Twp which states that a final judgment rendered on the merits bars all subsequent action based on the same transaction or occurrence.  In yet another approach, an objector argued that claim preclusion was satisfied because Sheetz could have raised its damages claims in the administrative appeal – Sheetz disagrees. In their analysis, the Supreme Court of Ohio broke down the elements of a claim preclusion analysis: 1) a prior final, valid decision on the merits by a court of competent jurisdiction; (2) a second action involving the same parties, or their privies, as the first; (3) a second action raising claims that were or could have been litigated in the first action; and (4) a second action arising out of the transaction or occurrence that was the subject matter of the previous action. The Court held that R.C. Ch. 2506 does not permit a party to argue damages as R.C. Ch. 2506 limits the common pleas jurisdiction as if it were sitting on appeal, and therefore can only affirm, reverse, vacate, or modify the appealed order, or can remand the case to the administrative body. Further, the Court held that Grava’s conclusion that a final judgment precludes additional litigation for different relief is inapplicable under this fact pattern because it was meant only to apply to those matters in which the plaintiff brings the exact same case twice, but for new relief. The Court found Grava was inapplicable because Sheetz could have requested damages or declaratory relief in the R.C. 2506 appeal. Therefore, Grava would be nothing more than dicta if it even did apply. Going further, the Ohio Supreme Court disavowed Sixth Circuit precedent which, in reliance on Grava and other district court decisions, permitted an owner to seeking relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alongside an administrative appeal. See Moore v Hiram Twp., 988 F.3d 353 (6th Cir.2021). The Ohio Supreme Court found that the Sixth Circuit had disregarded a critical decision in Community Concerned Citizens, Inc. v. Union Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 1993-Ohio-115, which clearly held that a R.C. Ch. 2506 appeal cannot be combined with a complaint seeking other claims for relief. Id. at ¶ 11. To that end, the Ohio Supreme Court has determined that the decisions Moore relied on (outside of Grava) are no longer good law, and that Moore was wrongly decided. The decision draws a clear procedural boundary: Chapter 2506 provides judicial review of an administrative decision, not a forum for independent claims seeking affirmative relief. Although Grava may place claims arising from a single transaction within the potential scope of claim preclusion, those claims are not barred unless the complete claim-preclusion test is satisfied. Because Sheetz could not have pursued damages or declaratory relief in its Chapter 2506 appeal, the separate action was not precluded. The remaining question for practitioners looking to apply or defend against this exception is when does the statute of limitations begin to run on damages and declaratory relief claims related to an administrative decision on appeal? A takings action in federal court has a 2-year statute of limitations, or as a state claim, 4 years (like the other tortious claims raised therein). Correlating this case with others, an administrative appeal will not likely toll the statute of limitations on claims based on a final decision by a municipal authority. Therefore, practitioners should look for these cases to be brought simultaneously.

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In Beatty v. Gardner, No. 25-2860 (3d Cir. Sept. 16, 2026), Kyle Beatty sued police officers Clinton Gardner and Calvin Irvin under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 after they stopped, arrested, and searched him three times during a drug investigation in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The officers initially smelled marijuana coming from the car in which Beatty was sitting and observed marijuana residue, giving them probable cause to arrest him. Beatty consented to the first pat-down, and the second search was conducted incident to his lawful arrest; neither search uncovered weapons or contraband. The officers then transported Beatty to the police station solely to strip-search him, but the strip search also revealed nothing. The District Court granted the officers summary judgment, concluding that the initial stop, arrest, and first two searches were reasonable and that qualified immunity protected the officers from liability for the strip search. The Third Circuit affirmed, but held that the strip search itself violated the Fourth Amendment. The court concluded that the search-incident-to-arrest doctrine does not automatically permit officers to strip-search an arrestee outside the jail or prison setting. Because strip searches are highly intrusive and the traditional justifications for searches incident to arrest (officer safety and preservation of evidence) did not justify the search of Beatty, the officers generally needed either the arrestee’s consent, exigent circumstances, or a warrant supported by probable cause to believe that a search beneath the clothing would reveal weapons, contraband, or evidence. Here, the officers had none of those justifications. Nevertheless, the court held that qualified immunity barred damages liability because, at the time of the search, the right against a warrantless strip search of an arrestee outside the institutional setting was not clearly established by Supreme Court or Third Circuit precedent. The court likewise upheld qualified immunity on Beatty’s First Amendment retaliation claim and affirmed summary judgment for the officers.