Parents say Penns Valley Area School District violated education law
The Penns Valley Area School District has been accused by the parents of a former student of violating the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Dr. Ann Stapleton and Mark Benfer along with their son, Benjamin, 22, all of Millheim, make the charge in a suit filed this week in U.S. Middle District Court.
They contend the district violated the act when it failed to implement the terms of a Jan. 26, 2008, Office of Dispute Resolution hearing officer’s order to provide 990 compensatory education hours.
Hearing Officer William Culleton found the district did not provide Benjamin Benfer services reasonably calculated to provide a meaningful education benefit during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 school years and from the first day of school through Sept. 25, 2007.
Cullerton also found the district failed to offer extended school year services necessary to provide the student with a free appropriate education in the summer of 2007.
His order specified the compensatory funds were not to be used in place of services offered in the student’s then current or future individualized education program. The court complaint does not state why the student needed such services.
Culleton specified how the value of the hours was to be calculated but the form of services was to be decided by the parents and could include any appropriate developmental, remedial or enriching instruction.
That could include after school, on weekends or during the summer and could be used after Benjamin Benfer reached the age of 21, the suit states.
His order permitted the district to challenge the reasonableness of the hourly cost of services, not the type of services selected.
Because of continued disagreements with the district, the parents withdrew their son in the fall of 2008 when he was in 10th grade and enrolled him in PA Cyber Charter School.
He graduated in the spring of 2011 and that fall enrolled at St. Francis University. After a year there, he enrolled in 2012 at the Mont Alto campus of Penn State from which he graduated in 2014 with an associate degree. He pursuing a bachelor’s degree at the University Park campus.
The district rejected Benjamin Benfer’s request the remaining compensatory education funds be used to pay his college costs, the suit states.
Superintendent Brian Griffith told the parents the district would not pay for the college education unless information was provided confirming how each charge, course or cost pertained to furthering specific individualized education program goals, the complaint states.
The district, through its attorney Jane Williams, continues to take the position that use of compensatory education funds to pay the college tuition was not contemplated by Culleton’s order, the parents note.
The decision to pursue litigation was made after a Nov. 4 letter in which Williams reiterated that position, they say.
The plaintiffs also accuse the district of retaliation by making demands and creating certain requirements when they requested the funds.
The parents are seeking a court order that would release the funds and declare the district violated the act and engaged in retaliation.
Specifically they want payment covering the total value, including tuition and costs, associated with their son’s enrollment at St. Francis and Penn State.
The district is aware of the litigation and welcomes the opportunity to support its position in the case, a spokesman said.
“At this time the district will not be able to discuss issues related to the case while the case moves through the legal process,” he said.
This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Parents say Penns Valley Area School District violated education law."