The Ramage Law Group—A Victory!

Your child has a right to a Free Appropriate Public Education and Sharon will fight for your child’s rights!

Today, we celebrate the victory for a student who should have been served appropriately through Houston Independent School District.  The ruling determined not only was the placement at HISD not appropriate, but that the student’s private placement was in fact appropriate!  As a result of the Hearing Officer’s ruling, the school district will be paying for the student’s private education.

THE CASE

The Ramage Law Group represented a student in a due process hearing against Houston Independent School District.  The student was identified with Autism, but also exhibited severe ADHD and deficits in math, reading, and written expression.  The school noted in all of the student’s IEP’s that he could not be successful in a full inclusion setting due to his need for intense instruction in a small group setting.  HISD never addressed the student’s ADHD or written expression deficits.  At end of 5^th grade, the parent applied through a lottery to have her son placed in a district magnet school and received acceptance prior to his transition ARD.  The District’s magnet school application contained no admission requirements and did not mention any limitations in programming based on special education.  The student’s IEP for 6^th grade required resource services in math and reading but did not address written expression or the student’s behavioral and organization needs based on his Autism and ADHD.

The magnet school never provided resource instruction for the student and did not call an ARD meeting to justify any change in placement or services.  At the student’s annual ARD meeting, the school completely eliminated the student’s pull-out services and promised to provide in-class support, an approach that had never been successful.  In other words, the school changed the student’s IEP to what they were doing, which was nothing at all!  The mother then hired a private tutor to continue to help her son while she began fighting the district.  The school actually started sending homework for the private tutor to teach the student at home instead of the public school! The magnet school suggested placing the student in Saturday tutoring which had over 100 kids in the tutoring session even though all of the student’s previous IEP’s clearly stated the student requires small group instruction.

Even though the school promised to provide in-class support, the teacher only worked with the student in math about one time per month.  The student began failing, so the magnet school placed him on a growth plan.  At a follow-up ARD, the school further took away his special education services and eliminated most of his monthly support (because they were not providing it anyway).  At this point, his mother gave the school written notice that she was withdrawing the student from the magnet school and enrolling him in a private placement where his needs would be appropriately met.  She also clearly articulated in writing that she would be seeking reimbursement from the district for not appropriately educating her son.

At the point that the student entered the private school he had only advanced about 1 year academically over a 3 year period. By the time the student left HISD, his autism related behaviors worsened.  He was stemming, he had increased anxiety, and was deteriorating in all academic areas. 

After enrolling in private school, the student began to flourish!  Although he is 2-3 years below grade level, his teachers at the private school are exposing him to grade level curriculum while they are providing remediation in all academic areas.  He is in a classroom setting with a 1:9 teacher ratio, his anxiety has decreased, and he loves school!

The Hearing Officer determined

HISD’s placement was not appropriate.

The private placement was appropriate.

The student requires additional time in the private school.

The Hearing Officer ordered the school district to reimburse the parent for private placement costs through the end of the 2015-16 school year and to provide an additional year of private school as compensatory education – a remedy to make up for the damage caused by the school’s failures.  

“My blessing came from a recommendation to consult with Sharon Ramage for legal advice. From the initial conversation, I was immediately confident that I had retained the right lawyer for my case. Mrs. Ramage answered all of my questions and led me through the legal course of my rights and the responsibilities of the school district. As we got closer to the trial, I was very concerned that over the course of nearly a year, Mrs. Ramage would not remember all of the pertinent information I'd shared with her. During the trial, I was amazed at how she recited the facts of my case as if they had happened to her and her child. I was completely blown away by her knowledge of the laws for students with disabilities, her style, her savvy and her complete control of the court setting. She's nothing short of genius. She's brilliant! I could not be more thrilled with the "monumental victory" that we claim today, based on Mrs. Sharon Ramage leading the charge with my case."

 – R.M.

Today, a child will continue to flourish in an environment conducive to learning and addressing his needs.  Today, a mother will rest easy knowing that she truly fought for her son even when no one else would listen.  Today, a child’s future no longer hangs in the balance and he has access to the necessary tools to succeed in school.  Today, we celebrate a victory not only for this family, but for all families of special education students.  The Ramage Law Group has authoritative solutions for special needs children!