Filed: May 06, 2002
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 01-30711 Summary Calendar OLIVIA BURKS, Individually and on Behalf of Her Child, Travis Pace; et al., Plaintiffs, MELVIN BARBER; EDITH BARBER, Individually and on Behalf of Their Minor Child Ericka Barber, Plaintiffs – Appellants, versus BOGALUSA CITY SCHOOL BOARD; LOUISIANA STATE BOARD OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION; LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION; STATE OF LOUISIANA, Defendants – Appellees. Appeal from the United States Distric
Summary: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 01-30711 Summary Calendar OLIVIA BURKS, Individually and on Behalf of Her Child, Travis Pace; et al., Plaintiffs, MELVIN BARBER; EDITH BARBER, Individually and on Behalf of Their Minor Child Ericka Barber, Plaintiffs – Appellants, versus BOGALUSA CITY SCHOOL BOARD; LOUISIANA STATE BOARD OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION; LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION; STATE OF LOUISIANA, Defendants – Appellees. Appeal from the United States District..
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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 01-30711
Summary Calendar
OLIVIA BURKS, Individually
and on Behalf of Her Child,
Travis Pace; et al.,
Plaintiffs,
MELVIN BARBER; EDITH BARBER,
Individually and on Behalf of
Their Minor Child Ericka Barber,
Plaintiffs – Appellants,
versus
BOGALUSA CITY SCHOOL BOARD;
LOUISIANA STATE BOARD OF
ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION;
LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION;
STATE OF LOUISIANA,
Defendants – Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Louisiana
(No. 98-CV-1333-N)
May 3, 2002
Before DeMOSS, PARKER and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
This lawsuit arises from Bogalusa City School Board’s and
Louisiana education officials’ allegedly not providing Ericka
Barber with a “free appropriate public education” under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. §
1400, et seq. The district court previously dismissed without
prejudice the claims of Travis Pace, a similarly situated
student; it then severed Ericka’s IDEA claim and decided it on
the basis of the parties’ briefs. The court concluded that no
violation had occurred. We dismiss the appeal.
IDEA requires, among other things, that school officials
create an individualized education program (IEP) for each
qualifying child. It is undisputed that Ericka is a qualifying
child; she has severe visual impairment and is mildly retarded.
An IEP is a written document describing the child’s present level
of educational performance, measurable annual goals for the
child, and the special services with which the child will be
provided. See 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d). Ericka’s maternal
grandparents and legal guardians, Melvin and Edith Barber,
challenged the school board’s compliance with IDEA, arguing that
the IEP Ericka’s school created for her in 1997 was deficient in
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
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numerous respects. After an “impartial due process hearing,” the
hearing officer concluded that the 1997 IEP was not in compliance
with IDEA, mainly for its not describing in detail the special
services Ericka needs to receive an appropriate education. The
school board appealed and a state-level review panel reversed.
The panel concluded, “There is no evidence that the Bogalusa
School System prepared an I.E.P. that was not formulated to
provide some educational benefit to Ericka.” Nevertheless, it
stated that “there should be an I.E.P. conference to address the
suggested services . . . immediately.” A new IEP was issued
February 1998, the “1998 IEP.” The Barbers appealed to federal
court. See
id. § 1415(i)(2)(A)(permitting appeal to a United
States district court after first exhausting state administrative
remedies).
Compliance with IDEA requires state officials both to heed
the act’s procedural prescriptions as well as to develop an IEP
“reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational
benefits.” See Board of Educ. v. Rowley,
458 U.S. 176, 206-07
(1984). Not before us or before the district court did the
Barbers complain about the 1998 IEP, which was issued several
months before they perfected their appeal. We therefore assume
that 1998 IEP comports with IDEA’s procedural requirements and is
calculated to provide educational benefits. Because the 1998 IEP
superceded earlier ones, the Barbers’ challenge to the 1997 IEP
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is moot. Cf. Daniel R.R. v. State Bd. of Educ.,
874 F.2d 1036,
1040-41 (5th Cir. 1989)(refusing to find that the issuance of a
new IEP mooted a challenge to the old one where the school
officials and the parents remained at loggerheads over whether to
“mainstream” the parents’ child).
In any event, we note that most of the claimed deficiencies
in the 1997 IEP were corrected by the 1998 version. In their
brief, the Barbers complain that 1997 IEP failed to prescribe
non-academic instruction, such as “child care, basic first aid[]
procedures, simple cooking, sewing, budgeting, money management
and shopping.” They also complain that the 1997 IEP only
accounted for half of each school day and failed to recommend
certain aids, including an itinerant teacher to guide Ericka
around the school, a video camera and monitor to enlarge and view
text, and a computer. The Barbers argue that 1997 IEP even
failed to accurately describe Ericka’s present educational
ability or set measurable goals, both basic requirements under
IDEA. Our own review of the 1997 IEP leads us to conclude that
the Barbers’ complaints likely had some merit. But the 1998 IEP,
which was attached to one of the Barbers’ district-court briefs,
is far more comprehensive. It includes detailed discussion of
Ericka’s strengths and highlights areas that need strengthening.
It restates her current educational abilities and suggests the
use of a “reading machine” and the assistance of a
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“paraprofessional or other adult.” The 1998 IEP also gives
objectively verifiable goals, and extensive everyday-living
skills are prescribed.
APPEAL DISMISSED AS MOOT.
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