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14 © 2016 Winston & Strawn LLP
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Houston TeamNegotiates Successful Settlement for 2
nd
Grade Student
with Significant Physical Health Issues
Houston partner
Casey Berger
and associate
Melinda Lackey
represented
a second grade girl with extensive health issues, which include a multi-organ
transplant. She was necessarily on home-based care with an Individualized
Education Plan in place. However, the school district was not following through
with their obligations - she had not had any in-person instruction in several
months due to the district’s mistaken belief that she was potentially contagious to
non-direct caregivers.
The student is a very bright young girl, eager to participate in her education but
was simply not being helped by anyone. Her “computer-based” education was
also not sufficient as multiple lessons and assignments were not available and the
website generally did not work. Finally, she did not have the hard-copy textbooks
and work books that her mother could use to attempt to fill this gap. The Winston
team filed a due process complaint which quickly led to a settlement designed
to allow her to catch up with her class. This included more than 60 hours of
compensatory in-person instruction in addition to her normal in-person instruction
with a teacher that was already familiar with her, the hard copy text book materials,
and reinstatement of all lessons in the electronic curriculum.
Los Angeles TeamAdvocates for Mother of Three LearningDisabled
Children to EnsureNecessary Services
Los Angeles attorneys
Eric Sagerman
,
Jason Campbell
,
Julie Capell
,
Sara
Cieniewski
,
Francisco Flores
, and
Hwannie Shen
represent the mother of three
children with special needs who all attend school within an area school district. The
eldest child (17 years) has learning disabilities primarily as a result of a language
disorder; the middle child (8 years) has autism and exhibits behavioral issues; and the
youngest child (7 years) has autism.
While the school district recognized that all the children are legally entitled to special
services, the district was antagonistic to the mother regarding negotiations to create
formal Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for the students and, at times, was actively
disrespectful and hostile toward her. As her lawyer advocates, and with the help of a
capable expert, the teamwas able to provide the client with the leverage necessary
to effectively negotiate the annual renewals of the IEPs for all three children and
represented the mother and children at the IEP meetings. The teamwas also able
to negotiate all of the services and accommodations that the mother desired for
her children, and made progress in establishing a more pleasant and professional
relationship between the mother and school district.
Melinda Lackey
Sara Cieniewski