ROYCE C. LAMBERTH, Chief Judge.
This case comes before the Court on the plaintiff's motion [18] for reconsideration of this Court's January 26, 2012 Memorandum Opinion. The plaintiff requests the Court amend its prior judgment denying
At the time of the initial filing, R.G. was a 17-year-old resident of the District of Columbia, who was eligible to receive special education services as a student with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ("ADHD"). Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J. ("Pl.'s Mot.") at 6. R.G. attended FPCS from 2007 until September 22, 2009.
On September 11, 2009, Friendship Public Charter School ("FPCS") suspended R.G. for coming to school under the influence of marijuana. R. at 101, 242. FPCS then convened a multidisciplinary team ("MDT") meeting three days later to discuss the incident. R. at 243. The plaintiff was present at this meeting. Id. The MDT determined that the behavioral incident was not a manifestation of R.G.'s ADHD, and the plaintiff agreed. Id. Because of the severity of this violation, FPCS expelled R.G. on September 22, 2009. R. at 265. After the expulsion, the plaintiff enrolled her son in Rock Creek Academy, a private special-education school for only special needs children. Pl.'s Mot. at 3. R.G. graduated high school from Rock Creek in June 2010. Def.'s Mot. for Summ. J. at 11.
Plaintiff filed a Due Process Complaint on November 10, 2009
The plaintiff appealed the Hearing Officer's determination by filing a complaint in this Court on May 27, 2010. On January 26, 2012, this Court issued a Memorandum Opinion granting-in-part and denying-in-part both parties' motions for summary judgment. Relevant to the pending motion, the Court denied the plaintiff's request for compensatory education.
Rule 59(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits a party, within
The plaintiff requests the Court reconsider its prior ruling in light of a recent opinion from a different judge on the D.C. District Court. The opinion, Brooks v. District of Columbia, 841 F.Supp.2d 253 (D.D.C.2012) (Howell, J.), awarded compensatory education to a student after she graduated from high school. Pl.'s Mot.
As previously stated, motions for reconsideration are generally disfavored. The plaintiff does not present this Court with an intervening change of controlling law. Rather, she presents what is at most, persuasive authority for the Court's consideration. Thus, the plaintiff fails to meet the necessary standard to warrant the Court amending its prior decision.
In any event, even if the Brooks case were controlling authority, the facts of Brooks are distinguishable from the case at hand. To begin, the Court in Brooks notes that, "[w]hile the [school] is under no obligation to provide continued IDEA-related services to disabled children who have received a high school diploma, the Court may nonetheless order [it] to provide compensatory education." Brooks, 841 F.Supp.2d at 258. More specifically, the Court found that the D.C. Public School system failed to provide a free appropriate public education ("FAPE") to the child by not reviewing her vocational evaluation report and amending the individualized education plan ("IEP") accordingly. This resulted in the child's IEP going unchanged for two years prior to her graduation from high school. The Court upheld the Magistrate Judge's decision to convene an MDT and determine "what appropriate compensatory education would compensate R.T. for DCPS's failure[.]" Brooks, 841 F.Supp.2d at 257.
In this case, R.G. was expelled from FPCS during his senior year for coming to school under the influence of marijuana. The plaintiff subsequently placed R.G. in a private school because FPCS failed to provide any interim general education curriculum for R.G. Although the plaintiff challenged the adequacy of R.G.'s education prior to his expulsion, this Court previously held that FPCS provided R.G. with a FAPE while he was enrolled. Further, R.G. matriculated from the private school, and the Court awarded the plaintiff tuition reimbursement from R.G.'s date of enrollment.
While the Court still strains to see what benefit compensatory education would provide to a child who has graduated from high school, the failure to amend a child's IEP for two years is sufficiently distinguishable from the case at hand. Although FPCS failed to provide R.G. with a general education curriculum after his expulsion in September, he was subsequently enrolled in a private school and graduated the following June. For these reasons, the Court does not believe compensatory education is warranted in this situation.
For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES the plaintiff's motion [18] for reconsideration.
A separate Order and Judgment consistent with these findings shall issue this date.